yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[Motorola Droid 3] Skreelink:
Cdma does not work on verizon with the xt883 radio. You HAVE to flash radio/restore build.prop to get back. I keep a backup of both build.prop (appending .cdma and .gsm to identify each) in /system for quick swapping. I have been trying to make flashable zips for the radio to cut out the pc requirement, but no luck for an assert. I have however accomplished vzw data and receive text on the xt883 radio. Still no calls or send tex, stuck at emergency calls only.
[Motorola Droid 3] 5318008:
I get the Chinese update thing if I check for OTA updates, but it's easy enough to just not apply the advertised update. I've never gotten the crash though. I've got the XT883 radio plus one of the modified build.prop files floating around the threads, not sure which.
[Motorola Droid 3] BrianAnim:
I'll keep googling, but do you know where I can find a copy of the stock radio.img to flash, I dont want to re-flash the entire phone to stock haha.
[Motorola Droid 3] Skreelink:
I uploaded it awhile back in this thread. ;)

http://xdaforums.com/showpost.php?p=28817296&postcount=309

Here you go, stock 890 radio, if you needed the 906 radio, I can upload that when I get home from work.
[Motorola Droid 3] BrianAnim:
I renamed the two radio.imgs GSMRadio.img and CDMAradio.img and flashed the CDMAradio

I've also taken the stock build.prop from another droid 3 and copied it into the /system folder.

I've updated the .zip if anyone wants to give it out / save it, its has a readme thats a little easier to follow than the initial instructions, as well as the backups for the radio.img and build.prop are labeled and also easy to find.

http://briananim.webhop.net/ftp/droidapps/unlockD3GSM.zip

Thanks Skreelink, you're a lifesaver!
[Motorola Droid 3] Skreelink:
No problem. ;)

When I hit check for updates, I get "Check for updates not available at this time"

As for build.prop... mine's heavily edited from my playing around with the radio... Still can only manage VZW 3g and receive texts... no calls/send texts. Anyone know how to 'disable' the 'emergency calls only' problem? ;) It's basically the same as a GSM phone without a SIM (as I stated before, the XT883 likely takes an RUIM for CDMA, which verizon does not use... need to somehow make it read the NV programming instead of looking for an RUIM.)
[Motorola Droid 3] Antigen:
I have an OTAed to 906 Droid 3.

I did a 1 click back to 890.

As far as I understand the bootloader, kernel and stuff remained unchanged (906).

Whenever I fastboot flash the radio image from the quoted post - my radio data gets wiped. No MEID, no IMEI, nothing. Is it normal?

Please let me know, kinda stuck and have no idea what to do.

PS fastbooting 1 click restores the radio data in settings.

Please, anybody...
[Motorola Droid 3] RWALEY:
Sounds like you have not copied over a proper build.prop
[Motorola Droid 3] Antigen:
You were 100% right.

I figured it out yesterday after my last post.

In fact, I did not think that build.prop can cause this kind of "damage"

It is freaking awesome to have a bad ESNed $80 D3 on T-Mobile.

D3 is a very good phone. The only things that puts it in a cheap price category is 512MB and a 4" display. But for me - 4 is the right size and 512MB is more than enough.

I'm very thankful for everybody who was working hard on this to work. You, guys, rock. Thanks.
[Motorola Droid 3] Gvndeb60:
Reading over this thread, I see no issue making this work on AT&T for me. However, I am wondering if you guys think this would be reliable enough for my mother in law. She would not be able to remember to select radios or anything, simply on and off. Everything I am reading says it should meet those needs, correct? Thanks!!
[Motorola Droid 3] Skreelink:
Long as she doesn't intend to be swapping networks and the like. Settings won't change between reboots, service will still work great. After you set it up, nothing much to remember except enjoy it. ;)
[Motorola Droid 3] Gvndeb60:
Thanks for the confirmation, this phone will be perfect for her.
[Motorola Droid 3] nemiroG1:
I bought another D3 for a friend, with the same requirements as you have for your mother in law. Having been using my own D3 for the past 6 months on T-Mobile and then Straight Talk (AT&T SIM), I see no issue with it at all.
[Motorola Droid 3] MrObvious:
As long as you don't swap ROMs you're fine. Once it is set up you are golden. The only downside is you may have to manually pick the network (3g or 2g of that carrier) because if you choose automatic it will drop off if the signal gets weak.
[Motorola Droid 3] Skreelink:
I've never had to manually choose the network, I leave it on automatic and it all works fine. It switches between networks as it needs to, including when your current carrier isn't available and roams where it can (if it's included in your plan).

The only time I manually choose the network is if I'm in an area I know there's only 2g, so I manually set GSM only so it doesn't search while I'm there to save battery.
[Motorola Droid 3] Gvndeb60:
Ok, I am getting some mixed answers......I need to set it up and hand it to her and that is it, she will be out of my state for half of the year. Thanks again.
[Motorola Droid 3] Skreelink:
You can do that. Try setting it up and slapping your own sim in it if you have one. Try rebooting, doing this and that, and just test it out. ;)

After it's initially setup, radio flashed, build.prop in place, and a sim inserted, all should work without any further 'tinkering' on her part.
[Motorola Droid 3] RWALEY:
I live in an area with poor reception and I have never had to do anything manually.

The phone has always been on Automatic and it has worked just fine.

I have setup multiple XT862s with XT883 radios for people and it has been no issue. It is just a radio swap. The XT862 and XT883 are the same hardware, it is not a very risky thing to do at all.

Just stick with a GB based ROM for reliability. No experimental ICS stuff or anything like that.

Probably a good idea to go with a ROM that has been removed of Verizon bloat as well.

Eclipse or MavROM would be a good choice
[Motorola Droid 3] Gvndeb60:
Thanks everyone for the good info.
[Motorola Droid 3] contracara:
Flashing XT833 radio

I'm having the trouble flashing the xt883 radio img.

I've pressed M+Power, and selected AP fastboot flash mode.

The phone screen reads: Battery OK,

OK to Program

Transfer Mode.

USB Connected

from the computer command line I type in the fastboot line and it just hangs on "Waiting for devices"

I've got safestrap installed, if that makes any difference (?)

What am I doing wrong?

Any thoughts? Thanks.
[Motorola Droid 3] Skreelink:
Make sure you have the proper drivers and try another cable. Any sort of programming is finicky about the cable you use. Best to use an oem cable or one that specifies otg capable. Some are for charging only (most generic cables)
[Motorola Droid 3] nemiroG1:
Agree with this wholeheartedly. Those thin cables often will not work properly. I have a retractable cable that will work for most things, but not programming, for instance. Use those thicker cables, and you should be OK. Also, if the Motorola drivers are not installed, it won't ever work. Lastly, do you have USB Debugging selected in Settings->Applications->Development?
[Motorola Droid 3] contracara:
Flashing XT833 radio

Thanks for the help.

Turns out I was using the wrong fastboot. I'm on ubuntu, and I was using the i386 version.

Finally got my hands on a 64-bit version and BAM.

Not to hijack this thread, but I flashed the XT883 radio because I was (and still am) unable to get any sort of mobile data connection (on GSM). Voice and sms is fine. Phone's unlocked. I've done all the APN tweaks and enabled data, etc.

Is there anything I could be missing?

Thanks.
[Motorola Droid 3] RWALEY:
Try a different ROM if you have not already.

There have been known issues with the Verizon stock ROM interfering with GSM, especially with the XT883 radio.
[Motorola Droid 3] glennj99:
Good to know, but you need to unlock with the PIN using the stock ROM first, from my experience.

Glenn
[Motorola Droid 3] RWALEY:
Yes, if you are using an XT862, it must be SIM unlocked with unlock code on stock Verizon ROM.

Attempting to unlock on a different ROM or using XT883 SBF has resulted in phones getting stuck in limbo. Still SIM locked but the system thinking they are unlocked.
[Motorola Droid 3] rustyxj6:
Thanks to the OP and other contributors who figured this for us. Got a working Droid 3 on T-mobile now. At first there were some Chinese stuff but once I switched to English they all went away.

Even though I've been with Android ever since the OG Droid came out I'm still unfamiliar with some Android jargon. For example I guess that "pushing" the build.prop to the system folder mean to erase, copy and paste the new build.prop into the system folder.

So with T-Mobile I think I have to use global mode and not GSM/UMTS. I wonder if that's true for AT&T also. Right now Global mode seems to work just fine.
[Motorola Droid 3] Skreelink:
Push is an adb command for moving a file from pc to the phone over the debug bridge. I just use airdroid to move files wirelessly, then a root explorer to put in place/set perms.

I am currently using Straight talk at&t sim, using gsm/umts mode. Global keeps both radios on and wastes more battery, especially since cdma will not work with xt883 radio. Gsm/umts mode turns off the cdma radio.
[Motorola Droid 3] rustyxj6:
Ok thanks for the explanation. Well with whatever I did the CMDA radio doesn't find a signal even with Verizon coverage. Iin GSM/UMTS mode T-mobile EDGE or any data connection does not seem to be working even with the proper APN set up. Once it switches to global mode then it connects to EDGE on T-Mobile.

I don't have an activated AT&T sim card to try that out.
[Motorola Droid 3] Skreelink:
Using the XT883 radio, you will be unable to use Verizon's CDMA service. The XT883 radio expects an RUIM for CDMA networks (which Verizon does not use except in their 4g lte phones). An RUIM is similar to a SIM, except for CDMA networks, primarily ones outside of the US (Such as China... primarily china... ;p )

If you require Verizon signal/service, you must flash the stock radio back onto your phone using the same method, just replacing the XT862 radio img in place of the XT883 radio img.
[Motorola Droid 3] leerpsp:
I flashed my verizon droid 3 with this and one mouth after I flashed this I got the unlock code today from unlockshack and it unlock when I was all redy on the xt883 it unlocked and after that I rebooted the phone and now I have a phone to use on any network in the usa so thanks so much for this guide
[Motorola Droid 3] Skreelink:
Ha, I got bored and enabled 6 signal bars, I noticed signal bars are included for 4 (Used standard for CDMA), 5 for GSM (after changing VZW Global phone to 0), and 6 hidden which you can enable with a line in build.prop.

Uncomment this line by taking off the # (Or if your build.prop does not include it, add it in);

#ro.mot.phonemode.numsignalbars=4

(should be right after the VZW Global Phone line)

Then change the 4 to a 6, save, reboot. You'll now have 6 signal bars, looking all fancy and whatnot.

I did this after discovering that the system DOES include all the required icons for G/E/H/H+ it just doesn't distinguish between them, just groups UMTS, HSDPA 7.2, and HSPA 14.4 as '3G'. It even has 4G LTE icons built in. I've decompiled SystemUI.apk and changed bools.xml option to TRUE for distinguishing network type, but from my tests, it still doesn't work. I'll be looking more into it for fun testing though.
[Motorola Droid 3] nemiroG1:
I tried setting it to "7", just to give it a whirl, but 6 bars is all it will give. Thanks for figuring this one out!
[Motorola Droid 3] Skreelink:
Question; you mentioned in another thread you roam on local towers, do they happen to give 3g data roaming? As I recall, most roaming agreements are talk/text only or just EDGE data. I roam occasionally on local towers and is only EDGE, but I don't know if that's because of roaming on 2g only or if they only have 2g (and is really... bad... can barely even google on it, I could do better on dial up.)
[Motorola Droid 3] nemiroG1:
Local stuff here is EDGE, and it is AWFUL. EDGE in other places seems to function, here it might have full signal, but it will just sit there, no actual data passed, will not even connect to Google. I end up rebooting the phone, or running Network Booster to cycle the radio several times a day, just trying to get that signal meter to turn blue :) I would *LOVE* to find a real solution to setting the ROM to allow data roaming all the time. It seemed like CM7 on my HTC Desire Z/G2 would allow you to set that, and forget it, even through reboots. None of the ROMs I have tried for the D3 have done that.
[Motorola Droid 3] Skreelink:
Possible Stability Mod

I've figured out with some testing that five bars is more accurate than the six, so I'll be keeping with five. I also figured out that data seems more stable if you set ril hep to 0

In build.prop this line: "ro.ril.hep=1" change to 0. (If you enable the '3g speed hack, this line appears enabled, if you didn't use the 3g speed hack, just add this line at the end of your build.prop) Personally I don't see much of a difference with the other lines of the 'hack' but the hep seems to help stability.

Data seems to connect faster/more stable, less of the 'connected' but not working crap. I hate when 3g connects and indicator remains white/data doesn't work and you have to toggle airplane mode, sometimes multiple times. I also seem to get more stable speeds (Average 4~4.5Mbps instead of several averaging between 1.5~4Mbps) and roaming/EDGE data is actually more usable! (Even on crappy local roaming EDGE!) Especially using Opera Mini, browsing is fairly decent, even took a spin around failblog.org to test a lot of images and worked nice. :D

Can a few people test this and reply with some results? I'd like to know this find isn't just placebo despite testing it many times. :)
[Motorola Droid 3] nemiroG1:
Trying it, will let you know.
[Motorola Droid 3] Endoroid:
Testing
[Motorola Droid 3] seventieslord:
testing.

---------- Post added at 08:00 AM ---------- Previous post was at 07:52 AM ----------

confused. am I entering ro.ril.hep=1, or ro.ril.hep=0?
[Motorola Droid 3] volcomnator999:
so i followed all the steps and put in the correct apn. still cannot get any data on at&t plan....any ideas? prop.build needs to be changed?
[Motorola Droid 3] Skreelink:
ro.ril.hep=0
[Motorola Droid 3] gierso:
Most likely but i dont know

But when you do the hack you edit radio with radiocomm so i assume you would have to redo hack (dont know if it works with chinesse rom)
[Motorola Droid 3] BenSWoodruff:
I can't say for sure, but if you were to attempt this, I'd suggest trying it and letting us know your results :-) if the wifi hotspot hack replaces the radio.img, it might be that you'll just have to pick one or the other to work with. Maybe finding a way to edit the xt883 radio.img with whatever the other hack includes could work?

Sent while mobile using Tapatalk.
[Motorola Droid 3] ericerk:
i need help asap plz!!!!
[Motorola Droid 3] BenSWoodruff:
Care to explain your issue?

Sent while mobile using Tapatalk.
[Motorola Droid 3] gierso:
Help with?
[Motorola Droid 3] ericerk:
Unlocking, i did everything, yet it still won't unlock / let me use tmobile sim i have no bars with crossed out circle
[Motorola Droid 3] BenSWoodruff:
Did anyone else manually tweak their build.prop file, because from what he told me it sounds like that may be the issue. Having a hard time getting info, but I replaced my build.prop and he said he "moded" his using Astro. I also used Root Browser, while he said he used Astro. I've had problems with Astro getting root permission to edit the /system folder, so I thought that may be another issue.

More details would help to clarify what issues people are having, just fyi for anyone who tries this and can't get it to work. Tell us what steps you took, literally, then what you think the problem may be and we can trouble-shoot after that point. Sorry to lecture :-\

Sent while mobile using Tapatalk.
[Motorola Droid 3] ericerk:
What roms can i run?
[Motorola Droid 3] BenSWoodruff:
I don't know exactly why simply sim unlocking will not also allow use of any GSM carrier anywhere (probably because Verizon locked it down somehow), but I only get edge for data on T-Mobile, because this phone doesn't use 1700 MHz frequency. This is only after having performed the steps in the OP, fyi.

Now, to settle a dispute for me, is 3G available via only AT&T bands and CDMA? I believe T-Mobile relies on 1700 MHz for 3G, but I also noticed T-Mobile has 1900 MHz for edge and 4G (HSPA+)[from wikipedia]. Since the xt862 shows compatibility with 1900/2100 W-CDMA, does that mean with some additional tweaks, T-Mobile users could also use 4G? Also, does T-Mobile use 2100 anywhere in their network for 3G? The wikipedia page says that they bought both 1700 and 2100 for 3G use, but this doesn't make sense to me at all. If it were true, we'd be getting 3G (through T-Mobile) on this phone too, right?

Thanks.

Sent while mobile using Tapatalk.
[Motorola Droid 3] tspx23:
it will never get 4g on t-mobile since it needs two bands for it to work correctly.

verizon is lame and blocked it from reading the gsm freq used in the states.

As for ATT I believe it would work, but someone really needs to confirm. Sorry for the lack of updates I don't have a Droid 3 any longer...
[Motorola Droid 3] BenSWoodruff:
Thanks. That's settled enough for me lol.

@ericerk, see that? No 4G on T-Mobile. Needs two bands, not just one.

Sent while mobile using Tapatalk.
[Motorola Droid 3] ChocolateShein:
So what exactly need I do to apply this hack to another rom?
[Motorola Droid 3] junkboy:
I want to confirm that att 3g is working 100% on my Droid 3. Flashed a couple differents roms and it worked.

---------- Post added at 11:22 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:14 PM ----------

you either push the modified build.prop to the /system or edit yourself.
[Motorola Droid 3] sic4672:
For people wondering about the wireless tether hack, it seems plausable:

http://xdaforums.com/showpost.php?p=18312819&postcount=69

I don't know for certain until I try myself.
[Motorola Droid 3] RWALEY:
How well does the Droid 3 operate on ATT or GSM in general?

I have used the Droid 2 Global on GSM and it definitely has radio issues at times. Does the Droid 3 suffer from any similar issues?
[Motorola Droid 3] tspx23:
It's pretty stable... what radio issues did u have on the d2?
[Motorola Droid 3] RWALEY:
Frequent disconnects on UMTS requiring the phone to be restarted were the biggest issue. 2G only on GSM was much more stable. In addition, it was particularly a problem in my local market (Phoenix) because ATT only uses 1900. In Los Angeles it was much more stable due to the 850 band.

It all traces back to being forced to use the old D2G radio baseband because the newer releases could not be hacked to work on ATT/T-Mobile.
[Motorola Droid 3] BenSWoodruff:
My experience with the xt862 with xt883 radio.img on T-Mobile has been pretty good. With the additional build.prop tweaks mentioned in comments (not just the replacement from the guide), the overall usability gets better because the settings don't need to be fixed every time you lose signal or reboot the phone. Now it doesn't boot up back in global mode, which helps. It warns me no gsm networks are available when I lose signal, but that's no big deal. You just need to make sure to tap 'CANCEL,' not 'OK,' when that warning comes up, because it will switch you back to global mode.
[Motorola Droid 3] ChocolateShein:
Might you inform another idiot how you got past <waiting for device>?
[Motorola Droid 3] volcomnator999:
so i went back and redid everything...added a ton of at&t APN's even edited the apn_conf at no avail...i can call fine but nothing seems to get the data going. any ideas that might get the data working? ive been reading a lot and it seems that some people have this problem but have no solution
[Motorola Droid 3] nemiroG1:
Have you modded your build.prop? Did you install the XT883 radio successfully? What ROM are you running?
[Motorola Droid 3] volcomnator999:
yes, i modded the build.prop and put it in the correct location. Everything flashed fine. I also tried mavericks rom but no go. I can get on at&t's network and make calls. Its just being weird. Can you suggest a build.prop that might work? Thanks!
[Motorola Droid 3] Endoroid:
It does seem like my phone drops the data connection less, i've still had to toggle airplane mode a couple times, but it does seem to be less often. Good find!
[Motorola Droid 3] Skreelink:
Good to hear, I very rarely have to toggle airplane mode now (I think once maybe twice in the last two weeks), if you want, I can post the entire 3g section in my build.prop. Keep in mind for me, I use straight talk, mvno with att sim. Regular att sims should be more stable as they have higher priority on the network. :)
[Motorola Droid 3] nemiroG1:
Post it up!
[Motorola Droid 3] Skreelink:
ro.ril.enable.3g.prefix=1

ro.ril.hep=0

ro.ril.hsxpa=5

ro.ril.enable.dtm=1

ro.ril.gprsclass=12

ro.ril.hsdpa.category=28

ro.ril.enable.a53=1

ro.ril.hsupa.category=6

This is the last lines added in my build.prop, as I said, I think most of the lines are placebo, but never know... they might help. ;)

I did a couple of tests with the ro.ril.hep line, that one I found does help stability when "disabled" as I posted before.

Also just as an interesting note, I also added this line;

ro.config.vc_call_vol_steps=50

Which adds 50 steps to the in-call volume, and actually gives you a bit of an increase in call volume, which is pretty low on the D3 ESPECIALLY with automated/computer recordings.

Well, there it is, use it at your own risk, if it works for you, hurrah! If not, at least you tried it out and makes me feel better that I can at least attempt to help carry this phone. :)
[Motorola Droid 3] nemiroG1:
OK, been testing the ro.ril.hep=0 thing for a week, and can honestly say that it helps pretty significantly for me. Thanks for that! Now, if you can find me the hack that will keep my data while Roaming (straight talk, mvno), that would be the cat's meow!
[Motorola Droid 3] Skreelink:
Glad to hear it works well for you! ;)

I've been looking into the toggling for roaming, it turns itself off the next time it gets a non-roaming and you have to re-enable it. It's not too much trouble (have to do it once a day), but it'd still be good to figure out how to make it always-on. It seems to be a Droid 3 specific issue too. Sadly I've made no headway on my other project... Trying to get the icons to distinguish signal type (3G for UMTS, H for HSDPA, H+ for HSPA) even did some deconstructing of the SystemUI.apk and enabled data distinguish but it didn't seem to help.

I've thought (out of boredom) of changing my EDGE icon to 4G... just for the lolz. :D (Or get someone to 'shop me up some 5G icons, that'll mess with someone's head.)
[Motorola Droid 3] nemiroG1:
If I only had to do it once a day, it would be no big deal. The unfortunate truth is that I am doing it 25-30 times a day! I am in a fringe area, and each time it loses and regains signal, I'm doing it again.
[Motorola Droid 3] Skreelink:
You could force it to connect to a certain carrier instead of back and forth. Might be roaming, but at least stable. Under mobile networks use carrier select.
[Motorola Droid 3] nemiroG1:
I'll give it a shot.