[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] Speedraca:
Order of operations?

Big thanks to Cornholio for discovering this mod, it's because of him that I just ordered a Photon Q off ebay. I've also ordered two different kinds of SIM card holders I've seen mentioned on this thread (the i9300 and one of the molex readers) and some kynar wire. Can't wait for all this arrive so I can start tinkering.

In preparation I've been combing though the material to try and come up with a kind of comprehensive, step-by-step guide for dummies to the whole process from getting the phone to actually getting it running on a carrier other than Sprint. I'm hoping you can point out any important information or steps that I'm forgetting?

Steps 1 through 4 are unrelated to the SIM card mod, but (to me) are necessary to get the phone up and running the way I want.

1. Unlock Bootloader: http://www.android.gs/how-to-unlock-bootloader-for-motorola-photon-q-4g-lte-xt897/

2. Install recovery: http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=2262001

There are a number of different software packages available (CWM, Open recovery, etc?) I went with TWRP.​

3. Get Root (previous link)

4. Install ROM: http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=2255134

5. Initial disassembly of phone: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RyugXiuxBp8

I used guitar picks to remove the back cover, and started in the bottom left corner as it seemed easiest to remove. You need a T5 screwdriver to remove the interior back plate that covers the battery. Not shown (optional?): removing foil from keypad, but apparently this is relatively straightforward​

6. Removing metal cover and embedded SIM chip (IC?): the thread that started it all! http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=1929143

Need access to a hot air rework station, 7mm nozzle, flux, tweezers, tinfoil (to cover the rest of the mainboard and act as a heatshield, per here) and good luck!

Set hot air rework station to 400 degrees at ~30% air flow power(?). Put a little flux around the sides of the chip. Should take around a minute to dislodge the cover, about the same amount of time to remove the SIM chip (also use flux). Don't go for much longer than that, or you risk damaging other components!​

7. Installing a SIM reader: this is where it starts to get tricky...

Diagram of wiring

I'll need a soldering iron (15-30 watts in power), solder that conducts electricity, the Sim reader, kynar wire and some tape to hold the wires down.

If things to south and some resistors get lost during any of the previous steps, this diagram may be helpful to show how things should look.

If things go well, I'll need a circuit tester to make sure the wires all have a solid connection.

I'd like to put the reader where Sensei Cornholio suggests, or may end up following Maxpowersxp's placement

Either way I like how these wires run between the other components.
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8. Testing Connections

If the wiring from step 7 is sound, voice and SMS should work once the SIM card is in. Note that I'll need to get my mini-SIM card cut down to a micro SIM card to fit.

Can use this app to check what settings the phone is seeing.

To get data working, I'll probably need to change the APN settings to the following:

Authentication Type - PAP

APN Type - internet (or default?)

APN protocol - IPv4

APN roam - ipv4

Mark Allow GSM DATA

These settings are changed on the operator page (wherever that is...)
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I think that's it!?!

Thanks Maxpowersxp and schmandroid for the suggestions!