[Motorola Atrix 2] PRichardson:
PURPOSE:

The goal of this project is aimed at helping junior developers and sr. dev. assistants to understand the:

Subtle differences in hardware, particularly the radio, processor, and gps, which exists between various devices which are all called "Atrix 2"

To understand which hardware versions of the Atrix 2, correspond to the various geographic regions of the world, and which carriers provide service to or sale these hardware versions.

To gain a solid understanding of the reasoning why various kernels, ROMs, radio drivers, gps drivers, system images, and frameworks can or cannot be mixed and matched to the various hardware versions of the Atrix 2.

WHY:

It can scarcely be overstated, how powerful one's first experience with flashing a ROM can be, on the uninitiated android user. It may push them far away, never to return, or it could be the hook that reels in one of the best developers ever to rise and serve our community.

Additionally, because these differences in hardware, represent CRUCIAL choices that a junior developer must be confident in their discrimination of, this well organized and researched forum resource might jumpstart the future growth of the development work being done on the Atrix 2 platform.

METHODOLOGY:

The XDA Forums must be searched carefully for the best possible keywords, related to hardware, etc., and then scaned prudently for deconstruction and understanding of reported trial/error and other experiences users have shared, which will shed light on hardware/ROM/radio/system.img compatibility.

The relevant specifications for all known model numbers of the Atrix 2 phone, must be filtered and posted here, for an easy, summative, side-by-side comparison of reported differences.

Senior Developers who have been working on the Atrix 2 and similar software, as well as hackers, ROM cooks, mod-ers, scripters, and even themers, must participate and correct any errors posted here, in order to synthesize an accurate, comprehensive, and up-to-date set of hypotheses which match hardware versions to software capable of running on them.

XDA Members who are Atrix 2 owners, or who otherwise might be in a position to know (such as through employment), need to share their understanding here, based on their part of the world or where they purchased their phone from, and thus add to the set of hypotheses, the possible exceptions to the rules based on international ROMs, and overseas versions of the hardware.

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MANUFACTURER PROJECT PAGES & SPECS:

ATRIX NAMES & MODEL NUMBERS:

(links below, lead to official Motorola product web pages)

ATRIX™ ME860, MB861

ATRIX™ 4G MB860

ATRIX™ 2 ME865

ATRIX™ 2 MB865

... BUT these are just the United States versions, and this still does not address the undoubted differences in software loaded (radios, etc) dependent on the Telecom Carrier (AT&T, T-Mobile, Sprint, Verizon).

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METHODOLOGY EXAMPLE:

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EXAMPLE FORENSIC DECONSTRUCTION, KNOWLEDGE BUILDING:

Take for instance, the case of multiple converging lines of evidence, which together can be used to create an educated guess, which is then tested by further research of reported user experiences. Thusly, a friend of mine was recently kind enough to let me know he had uploaded a ROM file, he knew I was eagerly awaiting:

QUESTIONS IMMEDIATELY PRESENTING:

Is my MB860 the same exact hardware that this ROM was previously running on(?), regardless of which carrier sells it? For instance, an ME865 is not the same hardwware as an MB865, but all ME865's are exactly the same hardware (in the US), regardless of which carrier they are sold for/by, and likewise, all MB865's are the same. Is this correct?

Is there enough differences between the ME865, and the MB865, such that some things can NOT be flashed on one, but they can on the other (like, the radio, versus a kernel, or ROM)??

REFERENCE THREAD & SEEKING ANSWERS:

I've read in a post (#3, in this thread) by Jim Bridgman that (referring to the MEARET ICS ROM that member Xanadu is running on his A2, that...

...which I interpret to mean ANY version of the Atrix 2 phone, which was manufactured for sale and use specifically in the United States, will not run the leaked ICS ROM (Mearet) currently in use by Xanadu.

But, just when I think I've got a grip on the meaning, Xanadu follows up, 2 posts later, that

... which is of course, one of the reasons I'm led to think that there could(??) somehow be two different version of HARDWARE which are both given the name MB865 -- one version is the US version, on AT&T, and the other is in Weinberg (presumably, in Germany, the location of member 'Xanadu').

Exactly one post later, I see further insights from member 'marcher233' (Beijing, China), who writes:

CONCLUDING HYPOTHESIS:

I strongly suspected, that AT&T was providing service in China and HK/TW (greed is the same, whether in communist nations or otherwise), so this bolstered my suspicions that just because two phone both read ME865, does NOT mean they are the same hardware. Afterall, there is actually another digit on the end, at least, on my phone.... it shows Model Number: MB8656

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NEW HW QUESTION:

Thusly, (and to some degree, spawned resultantly from the continue research stimulation) we arrive at yet more, NEW questions.

What is the significance of this last digit in the model number, which is so rarely found in the literature from the manufacturer?

Other than risking softbrick, what is the best method to determine if a kernel or ROM for one phone, is flashable on another?

Thanks so much, for any insights you can give me.

Best Regards,

Paul

:cool: