yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] flintston314:
Seems like that Nano SIM Slot has the same shortcomings the Micro Sim Slot for Apple products have....they are tray operated and thus end up bigger than a push/pull Micro Sim Slot.
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] CornholioGSM:
capacitators connected to ground is not needed...post photo of your missing parts :)
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] ftaka:
Here is my rework. The phone does not detect the card.

I have also checked my connections with a multi-meter and it appears to be connected.
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] CornholioGSM:
So....

... you have missing three parts (maybe more under wires).

Not big problem.

Now check with multimeter this :

http://xdaforums.com/showpost.php?p=34345379&postcount=152

and post results.

PS... you have dirty sim pins
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] ftaka:
Positions from the original image:

Not sure what units these are but...

Top row: 451, 730, 770

Bottom row: 0, 850
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] CornholioGSM:
okay....i am not now in my work...please wait few hours - i will check it on another opened photon and then let you know :)
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] gehstock:
Missing parts needed for extSDCard
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] CornholioGSM:
post more details...
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] gehstock:
After my second Mod, i must resolder the Left One , to fix the SD card. Without, SDCard not works in Recovery and need Some Time to Work in Normal Mode
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] CornholioGSM:
C = Capacitators....not needed
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] ftaka:
ok so that means I am missing the resistors the which iI assume are needed. Are the values indicating the resistances or what should the values be?
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] CornholioGSM:
...all was measured with Continuity Check...
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] ftaka:
Oh haha. It usually shows the measured resistance using that mode (since conductivity is not very useful).

In any case I was able to get it working! All I needed to do was replace the bottom right (040) resistor with a solder blob. This is probably to connect the data line. The resistor on the left is likely to be a pull up, which is probably good to have but works without.

Thanks for your help CornHolioGSM!
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] CornholioGSM:
...I ve made mod for user Flintston314.

there are pictures :
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] flintston314:
I am unbelievably impressed by it. You did an amazing job fitting that reader into the back housing. This guy is awesome and deserves a medal for his work :)

Really awesome, looks like the phone already came with a micro sim slot attached. Thanks a thousand times again :)
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] NikolauZi:
will post my photon q tomorrow :) can't wait to have it back here. thanks in advance, cornholiogsm!
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] Arch@ngel:
Will it overheat or any problem after you stick tapes on the chips?
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] thedoginthewok:
This is excellent. I want to do this, too, but I noticed that the shipping from mouser is extremely expensive.

Does anyone know another way to get this micro sim slot? 20€ shipping for 8 weeks delivery times seems excessive.
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] flintston314:
It wont take 8 Weeks, that time frame is only for direct factory order (if you need e.g. 50.000 pieces). They have more than 1000 in Stock, took roughly 2 Weeks to europe.
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] CornholioGSM:
you can use i9300 reader :)
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] Diam0n_UA:
hi2all

I bought this cool phone and make this mod

but phone tell "no sim card"

also i lost some resistor and soldered jumper instead it

I test hookup with mutitester and it show norm parameters (approx 500)

i thik that sim not take power :(

Can you measure volage on sim card?

Sorry for my pure English.
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] CornholioGSM:
ooh :( please read this thread...........one page back is schematics
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] Maxpowersxp:
i didnt use much tape only to really assemble it and so far there are no ill effects it works perfect.

also good work CornholioGSM on the micro sim mod.:good:
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] Diam0n_UA:
I read the whole topic before I write this message.

My question concerns the value of voltage and not the scheme

In any case, the problem was a bad jumperabout voltage, it must be equal to about 1.8 volts at the upper contact

Thank you for this mod. He is very cool

Now I am suffering with the setting GPRS, localized for the Russian language and custom firmware (bootloader is unlocked!)

But these issues are not in this thread, if you know where to find a solution would be very grateful

Thank you again
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] thedoginthewok:
Okay, I have a problem. I ripped of the copper part of the PCB on one of the Pins.

I marked it blue in this picture:

How can I solve this?

Also, it took me five minutes to get the Sim chip of (with 420 degrees), how did you do it that fast in your video?
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] Diam0n_UA:
you can use these pins (see attach, i can't insert image)
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] CornholioGSM:
...simple...conect it like on origial picture with small wire :)
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] CornholioGSM:
...fast ??? it is not fast :) ...video is in real time
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] nutpat:
Why did it took us 5 minutes then? We now soldered it to that point shown in the picture(where the pad is missing) but it still shows

that no sim card is inserted. I can choose GSM directly after boot without getting the message, that no sim is connected (but no notice of SIM connection). If I switch back to Sprint and then to GSM again, it says No Sim Card inserted. I don't know what else to do!
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] Diam0n_UA:
Check your connection with sim. I had the same problem.

Also, check, that sim slot pins are connected in the right order
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] TimeFireSPD:
CornholioGSM, I sent you a Private Message.
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] bean1975:
While it is really great to liberate the phone this way, I am wondering -- is there no way to write the SIM chip..? I remember SIM cards have some copy protection but I presume this has been ahem fixed by now :)
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] flintston314:
From my knowledge, the latest SIM Chips (v2) can not be cloned and thus for sure can not be programmed onto the IC. Apart from that, SIM Cloning is regarded illegal within most EU countries....I for sure prefer a legal solution.
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] Rippa_MD:
Where can I purchase the the external gsm card holder/magazine on your final test video?
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] CornholioGSM:
...this was unsoldered from old nokia only for test...this cannot be installed inside phq, because is too large.
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] Rennert:
Which apk or file is this? Can't find on my phone.

...Tapatalk
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] CornholioGSM:
...just search in market "sim card"...and first app is this app
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] Gojira-r32:
Does the phone needs to be activated first with sprint before you can put other simcard in it?
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] CornholioGSM:
...activation is not needed
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] Gojira-r32:
cool, first update software, then unlock bootloader, rooting, my simcard installation ,

and having big fun with the phone.

That should be the complete plan then ?

the activation is for the simcard itself to work, not for the phone itself ?
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] CornholioGSM:
...Little upgrade :) :) :)
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] Gojira-r32:
looks nice, hope it's a click in and not just a slide in, but i recomment other cable,

use kynar wire, very small, full copper with little silver in it for better conductivity and still strong while it's so small wire.

I will / whant to use a Nano sim card reader from iphone and give it a place somwhere in the phone,

phone it's on it way to me now, will post pics to of my mod :D
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] CornholioGSM:
...this cables is good - is not needen better conductivity for sim connection.

Sim slot is push in/out.

nano sim is good, but at now you can use only iph 5 reader and this reader is with sim tray :(

...so better is this SIII reader.
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] WillUnik:
Hi,

And does this new upgrade works with galaxy S3 sim connector ??
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] CornholioGSM:
Yes...inside is S3 connector :)

But this new mod is not too simple.
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] Gojira-r32:
you have a good point here :D
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] fritzum:
Hey,

I hope I didn't miss this anywhere in this thread... but could anybody give me instructions how to open the phone without scratching it?

Thank you!
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] CornholioGSM:
...wait util monday for video :) ...just please post me on monday pm
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] flintston314:
The latest mod is very nice, although this would only be a benefit if it could be accessed from the outside. I still think the mod you did on mine is absolutely perfect.

I am so damn happy with the phone, its awesome. Not to mention your great work, thanks again :)
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] Gojira-r32:
i can't wait untill i get mine, so i can use it.

will buy several simcard readers in different sizes and will see what will fit the best where in the phone,

maybe if i'm lucky i can make something so the simcard can be accesed from the outside of phone,

for now i wait untill the video is online for removing the backcover :good:
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] fritzum:
Hey,

thank you in advance for the video!

By now, I found instructions here:

youtube.com/watch?v=RyugXiuxBp8

Didn't ned any tool for removing the back cover, went well with my fingernails.

Tomorrow is soldering day... this phone really rocks on wi-fi already (especially for 200$ new), can't wait to be able to use it as an actual mobile phone... :)
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] jesziicuh:
Ok so heres a stupid question lol..why not use the sim card slot on the side ?is it not compatible with gsm cards or something ?just got a photon 4g lte and i was thinking of putting it on straight talk. I've rooted a few phones before and if the guide is simple as it says i would have no issue following it.just curious on the easiest way to get this done.also everytime i searched all my searches came back with the first generation photon soo yeah thanks in advance ;)

---------- Post added at 04:21 AM ---------- Previous post was at 03:49 AM ----------

It is that a SD card slot? I thought u could use this phone overseas? would flashing it to boost or metro pcs be easier ? And if so is there a guide?
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] CornholioGSM:
This phone HAS NOT sim slot...on the side is only micro sd slot.
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] jesziicuh:
Ook just confused from the results that came from my web searches. I did see the first one had a sim card slot.

Well is there anyone in nyc who can unlock it on prepaid ?

I'd like to put this on prepaid but i'm not that confident seeing as there is some equipment involved.
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] WillUnik:
If you live in united state, why don't you just simply use the Sprint cdma ??
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] autoprime:
it can be easily flashed to Cricket and other prepaid carriers that accept any ESN/MEID. MetroPCS... Page Plus...

Look on craigslist for local flashers.

AFAIK, you won't be able to put this on Boost due to it being near impossible to edit the MEID on current motorola devices.
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] jesziicuh:
I'm under my aunts name and we've been disconnected twice over my cousin not paying the bill so i'm just gonna go my own way with my phone but sprint wants a $200 deposit from me so figured this is easier

---------- Post added at 04:42 AM ---------- Previous post was at 04:39 AM ----------

Ok so metro pcs is an option? Umm well wont all carriers have that issue? Especially since im not sure of the status of this acct and if will have a bad esn. So would that matter? And yeah ill definitely check for someone who can flash it over. Just wasn't sure if that was possible becaseui saw nothing online when researching
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] autoprime:
metropcs/cricket/etc accept "foreign" MEIDs that didnt orignally come from their system.. in other words... they will accept any bad esn phone from another carrier.. no meid edit needed. Boost on the other hand will NOT accept any meid.. so when flashing to boost the meid has to be manually edited to a boost meid. since thats not doable on a moto... you wont see these phones on boost. theyre on all the other prepaid non-sprint networks tho. no boost.. no virgin.. not 100% on Ting.
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] fritzum:
Hey Cornholio... by removing the keyboard foil, do you mean the whole white thing, or only the transparent foil on top of the white foil?
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] jesziicuh:
Ok so i called and they said they don't activate foreign phones anymore under metro pcs and cricket also says they need a cricket phone and local cell phone stores say they don't flash it. So im not sure what else to do :/ i mean is there any guide online for me to do this myself?

---------- Post added at 11:34 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:30 PM ----------

Or is there anyway to do this without all the equipment? I would really love to keep this phone and set it up on prepaid
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] jesziicuh:
well mainly without that hot air nozzle

I dont own that so anyway around it ?
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] CornholioGSM:
...both :)
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] fritzum:
Thx, just saw it on the photo directly after asking :)

Soldering went well, phone runs on my German Sim card now. Yeehaaa!
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] MontyMontie:
I order this phone off ebay a few days ago and its already been shipped, I live in the caribbean so we don't have sprint and it has a bad esn. Thought I could just flash or unlock but now I am seeing that I can't even insert a sim card....this is a big disappointment. I have Cable and Wireless and Digicel carriers I think Digicel is linked to At&t maybe if I flash the phone to that it might be useful. I don't want to open a new phone and then mess it up is there any other option like re-programing the sim chip
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] NikolauZi:
I think FedEx, UPS or whoever has no problems shipping your phone to CornholioGSM ;)
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] MontyMontie:
So if I ship it to CornholioGSM (sounds like a beavis and butthead reference) they can mod it and send it back...how much does it cost?
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] CornholioGSM:
I'm Cornholio...i need TP for my banghole :) :) :)

...Contact me ower PM
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] Rennert:
and you can trust him. He does some nice work:)

...Tapatalk
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] CornholioGSM:
Thanks...

btw Rennert - your photon is on the way back to you :)
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] MontyMontie:
I'm sorry guys..if you were local I wouldn't mind..but i can't... my phone cost me 300 bucks...to just mail that to someone named Cornholio (no offence) is too random for me...I think I will do it myself...but you are Awesome for doing this man...I have a HTC hero laying around I think I will experiment on it.
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] CornholioGSM:
...what is wrong on my nick ??? :)
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] Rennert:
Must change your name to CornholioLTE, it's faster *smile*

...Tapatalk
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] Stilez:
I've been tracking this mod and have a question.

Heating stations are not something many people own, but a lot more people (including myself) have high quality cutting equipment - fine edge 0.3 - 0.5mm diamond wheel, dremel or the like - and confidence about using that, if care is taken to shield the rest from metal dust/heat.

In this mod, the videos show the sim shield, which looks like it can be cut around from the side or top without contact on the PCB and without damaging the shown surface components. The sim chip itself seems soldered on the back to a large ground pad, but the functional connections look like traditional side-pins which can be cut and eased away from the chip and soldered directly to a separate sim card (leaving the sprint sim chip in place but disconnected). The replacement sim card is normally placed the other side of the adjacent socket or near the USB, so the original sim chip doesn't need removing to make room for it.

Also if this does work, which surface components under the shield must be intact for the sim card mod? (Some surface components are easily replaced by solder bridges, as they relate to the sim chip only; others can be avoided if the sim chip shield is cut carefully and lifted away a little on 3 sides first)

Can someone who's done the sim removal, comment if it would be feasible to simply work around the sim chip like this and avoid the need for a heating station? It's cruder to cut access to the sim chip and cut through its pins, rather than desolder, but it's internal so I'm not too worried about looks. It might make sim replacement more accessible to others, and it could mean no need to remove the keyboard film, or to remove and replace the main pcb, both have advantages. Would it work?

Also Cornholio - congrats on the mod. Maybe add fritzums link for disassembly to the first post as well, from post #236?
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] jesziicuh:
Anyone in ny wanna mod my phone like tomorrow? Lol in queens nyc
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] CornholioGSM:
...dremmel is good too...but beware for metal dust!
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] iMaterial:
Wow, this mod looks tricky, how much did you guy have to pay for the phone in the US and where did you get it? Ebay only?

Is this phone the current "King of qwertys"? :p
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] CornholioGSM:
...yes my phone is from ebay...i have bought it as unactivated brand new :)

Now is this phone best qwerty phone...power is good...only problem for me is maybe poor battery holds:(
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] iMaterial:
There are no 3rd party makers or something that makes a battery replacement that has more power/juice? 2000-2500mAh, or something. :p
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] Stilez:
Thanks - I wonder if you can look again at my post/question (#258), as it's a mod that could kill a good quality phone, is it possible to comment more on the questions I asked (about the possibility, ease, risk, etc of a "cutaway" mod)? Thank you :)
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] CornholioGSM:
......................check PM
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] arrrghhh:
This is throwing the thread off-topic, but the battery is non-replaceable. I mean, if these folks hacked the SIM card maybe they can shoehorn in a bigger battery - but the battery itself is not meant to be 'user-replaceable'.
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] fritzum:
I would rather not use a dremel - the sim chip is really small, maybe ~1/4 square centimeter. Definitely smaller than it seems in cornholio's video.

The risk of breaking something is pretty high.

Hot air rework stations are not that expensive, i did it with an aoyue 906 that i got for around 85€. There are even cheaper ones though.

About buying the phone: you can check for new photon q's with a bad esn on ebay.com. i got mine for 200$ buy-it-now, but if you are a little bit patient, you might get one even cheaper.
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] iMaterial:
Ganz klar, but what about S & H and other fees to get it to Köln, DE? :p
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] toerb:
I've got mine for 200€ inclusive taxes and transport. Juste use Borderlinx.

You can estimate the final price on their homepage

--

toerb
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] Aleks_li:
Hello!

I'm from Russia, the English language does not know much, so that translate through a translator, try to use simple words. =)

I want to also order the photon I attach to it the sim card.

That's what my question:

He will be able to work in gsm networks in Russia? Or do we need to do unlock?

And I realized that after installing the SIM card, the phone to flash a special firmware, all right?
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] CornholioGSM:
...in russia yes - phone is unlocked, no special firmware is needed.
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] Aleks_li:
Ok, thank you!

How to take it apart? Maybe there is something, if it was a video, it would be very cool!
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] MontyMontie:
-Is it possible for you to make a complete video of this. I am watching the pictures you gave and I see the IC neara sim card slot is that the same mother board on

the Photon Q...and does that IC exists on most CDMA phones as well
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] andrej_h:
Hello!

Work in Ukraine GSM or CDMA network.
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] Aleks_li:
Perhaps you misunderstood me. I mean, how to disassemble the phone, not the chip.

Just afraid to spoil the look of it is usually difficult to make out the phone
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] CornholioGSM:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RyugXiuxBp8&feature=youtube_gdata_player
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] WillUnik:
I tried yesterday to take off the IC with soldering iron. It didn't worked. So when I saw some guys were doing it with dremel I tough I could do it with a cutter. So I cut, I cut, I cut, (it's completely nasty right now) but the cutter can't cut the metalic part. And so when I turn on the phone, it tells me the IC is still there. My question is here :

What heat is necessary (or what heat did you use) to take off the IC ??

And except a hot air station, what device can unsolder the IC ??

Thank you
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] iMaterial:
Wow, 200€, with all included. That was cheap! Doesn't just the phone cost a lot more, without contract, in the USA? :p
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] WillUnik:
I guess he bought a bad esn phone and not an unopened brand new phone.
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] toerb:
The phone has bad esn but it was unopened.

In the soldering process, I've killed the push/push mechanism of the sd card slot.
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] Paitor:
Hi, I'm from sweden and have used a MyTouch 4G Slide (MT4GS) for a year now. It seems like the camera is broken in some way so I need a new phone. Photon Q 4G LTE seems like a good alternative.

What worries me is the battery life. MT4GS was bad, didn't last a day, had to charge after work, but with an Anker 1900mAh battery and CM9 it became good enough for a daily use. So, when people here say bad battery life. What is that in figures? Lets say I run gmail sync. Goggle talk, make a few calls, send some texts and read the news for 10 minutes during a day. Will it last?

Sweden operators use other frequencies for 4G (2600/900/800)MHz so 1900MHz that Photon Q 4G LTE use won't work. HSDPA is good enough for me though.
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] Gojira-r32:
with use of Smartoptions in the photon, you can configure like that, so you're batt will last longer ;)
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] MFighter:
sim missing?

Anyone who directly soldered the sim to the cable has had ans issues with the phone saying no sim?

I zu NK its my reader Messing up, but just Tod be sure....?
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] Gojira-r32:
check connections, as before where members that shorted out,

and or check on other phone if you didn't burn the simcard while soldering to hot
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] Rennert:
No problem with directly soldered sim

...Tapatalk
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] intijk:
About the capacitors and resistance aroud

After I soldered all the five wires I found it doesn't work , then I found when I remove the metal cover, I accidentally touched several capacitors and resistances and they are not there any more, I think this is the reason lead to previous failure. Is there any chance to remedy, it looks like 5-6 components(capacitors or resistances) lost.....:crying:

I want to buy some components of them(I have some 1K resistance but they are two big), can you give me a clear graph show which is resistance and which is capacitor?

And I also want to know what the software you use to check the sim card info, I didn't find that in my phone.

Thank you !
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] BAMF:
I think you're pretty well screwed here. Best bet is to buy another phone with a busted screen and take the board out of that. Surface mount components typically don't have markings to show their values, and to measure them with a multimeter they have to be out of circuit. I doubt anyone is going to desolder tiny components from their working phone to measure resistance, etc. Sorry, wish I had something better to tell you.