yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] Skrilax_CZ:
Cornholio did the in-circuit measurement for you here: http://xdaforums.com/showpost.php?p=35156074&postcount=195

Not necessary to desolder anything, one OP07 (op. amp.) will do. Also the capacitors (and some resistors) are there solely for EMC and can be omitted.
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] Gojira-r32:
preparations for when the photon Q arrives on mondag or thuesday :
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] pujdo1:
which sim card slot should i buy to do the mod ?
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] Gojira-r32:
ihave simcard reader from a galaxy note, is a standaard sized simcardreader.

But my simcard is a microsim, so i will be using a micro simcard adaptor, and everything that's sticking out of the simcard reader i will cut it off from the adaptor.

You also can use a direct micro simcard reader that you order somewhere on the net.

I prefered for this one as it is very thin.

Like connelioGSM said, the nano simcard reader is thicker, much thicker then micro or standard simcard reader, and thus more difficult to put it somewhere in the phone.
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] cybertim:
I also made this mod have a lot of pics made of the process but xda wont let me post links or something, all those aggressive anti spam stuff..

But i embedded the simcard reader by dremelling out a piece near the speaker (just like some others in this topic).

You can easily replace the simcard now by only prying off the backplate, but you need to cut off a bit of the plastics on the sim, because there wasn't enough room to fit the whole sim.

BTW; you need to change a bunch of setting on the phone before your sim works. I used the simcard app luckly so i noticed my simcard was working, but i couldnt make voice calls. You need to change all mobile settings to 'automatically' and also enable a setting called "allow gsm data".

I also did an motorola update, after this update (a newer software version) 3G also worked (before only GPRS worked).

After this i unlocked installed a recovery and rooted the phone and removed a lot of Sprint stuff.

Now we have to wait for a nice 4.1 or 4.2 ROM :)
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] Gojira-r32:
what update precise did you do ?

because on 2.3.4 you can unlock bootloader, but on 2.3.5 you can't unlock bootloader.

change all mobile settings to 'automatically' and also enable a setting called "allow gsm data".

after setting these settings everything works fine on the photon Q ?

i'm planning to do :

be on software 2.3.4

unlock bootloader for custom bootanimation

rooting

pimp my rom and rom toolbox for customizing and tweacks, like custom font letter type etc...

and then some more graphical tweaking of the phone, deoxydized, power menu and more.......

and offcourse the photone needs to be fully working on the cellular network here in belgium.
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] cybertim:
Here is a small howto of what I did to get stuff up and running:

Settings->System Update->Motorola software

After this process i unlocked the bootloader with help of the motorola website

And after this process you can't "easily" install a recovery rom, because it get's overwritten by the default recovery when rebooting.

So you need the motofail2go exploit to get superuser on you phone.

Then login to the phone, remount the system rw and remove the recovery-from-boot.p (or rename it to recovery-from-boot.bak or something).

Then I installed TWRP through the GooManager app from the playstore.

Then finally i could boot into recovery and start flashing all kind of mods (like the toggle bar and such).

btw I'm on TMobile in the Netherlands, and everything is working fine. But the settings default to 4G, and this network does not exists in the netherlands. There is also a 'call guard' function, much like the roaming guard, but this one warns you because you're on a GSM network (yes the old prehistoric european gsm network). You can safely disable this. Maybe in 10 years, when the mobile networks are up to par with the US we can finally buy these handsets here ;)
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] Gojira-r32:
but on what software you're running now then ?

2.3.5 ?

you didn't use photon-torpedo for root acces ?
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] downloader3230:
hi! tell me, please, how you, guys, removing the keyboard foil? it glued strongly, I afraid to broke it
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] cybertim:
I started peeling very carefully at the bottom right (where there is a lottle hole) then a bit around the corner..

After that just start 'pulling' it a bit it will get lose, just like a sticker.

Then try to do it on the other side as well.

When you have both sides up a bit you can start dragging both sides at once, so the middle will come off, then when there is enough surface lose, you can easily pull it off like a sticker without ripping it (it's pretty strong plastic).

The little black tapes on the top will stay on the foil if you remove it, no need to remove them seperatly.
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] CornholioGSM:
Hmmm good work, BUT this slot is for classic sim card and is too large for mod :(
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] Gojira-r32:
cks out of reader will be cut off from sim
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] LongF:
:good:

at first- respect! you gave and give many geeks the chance to have the phone they want to have.

your solution is a micro sim reader with push in and push out with the need to remove the backcover of the phone to change the sim, right?

thx
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] CornholioGSM:
look here:

...and here is inside i9300 slot
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] LongF:
thx 4 the pics, but unfortunately they only show the phone without backcover. do you mod the backcover to make the sim accessible or has the backcover to be removed for sim change?

the reason of my question: i usually don´t change my sim so i would leave the backcover unmodded and remove it for change, if it works.
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] CornholioGSM:
.... i leave back cover untouched :)
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] andrej_h:
My mod with Atrix-2 SIM Card reader.
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] Skrilax_CZ:
Photon Q has only ICS 4.0.4 for now. You must be looking on standard Photon (without Q).
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] agazza:
Sv: Good News !!! SIM CARD MOD IS HERE !!!

Is it hard to change some characters on the keyboard? Need some swedish letters

sent from phone
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] toerb:
no it's not..

I'm sitting on it all day but only because of page_up/down and home/end, these are the only badass key combos I don't get to work :/

just look into /system/usr/keylayout/keypad_8960.kl and /system/usr/keychars/keypad_8960.kcm

for the kcm file: http:/ / source.android.com/tech/input/key-character-map-files.html

for the kl file: http:/ / source.android.com/tech/input/key-layout-files.html
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] ftaka:
If you are missing any of the capacitors and resistors in this picture. It's ok.

http://xdaforums.com/showpost.php?p=35156074&postcount=195

Just ignore the missing capacitors and replace the resistors with short-circuits. I was missing one resistor and 2 capacitors when I did my mod and it worked for me.
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] downloader3230:
I lost 3 resistors: and some capasitors, but soldering contacts instead losted resistors didn't made this mod work. What should I do to make this mod work?
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] towardthesea:
Anyone can tell me if this phone can operate in Vietnamese carrier? I do this mod on my phone with a Vietnamese sim card and I check the connection thousands time and sure that it is right but the phone have still not recognized the sim card. Please help me! Thanks all

P/S: I also unlocked the boot loader with the help of Motorola website. Do I need to upload another cooked ROM to make it work with this MOD?
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] cybertim:
Try this app: com.gsmdev.simcard from the playstore

If your sim comes up in this app, your settings are wrong, you need to change the mobile operator network settings to GSM/UMTS and such.

Else your mod wasnt successful and you need to check all the wires and solder contacts.
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] CornholioGSM:
Yes...it must work. Download from market "sim card app", then set phone to gsm mode,insert sim , restart and run sim app.

If sim app show results is all fine...if not then you have wrong soldered wires.
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] MontyMontie:
Question: i just took out the outer plate where the sprint chip is located...but it looks like to me one of the tiny (resistor) or chip came off will that mess the phone up.

because I haven't tried the phone yet...if so then i'm in trouble :(

its like this tiny thing close to the chip I am suppose to remove...
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] cybertim:
Phone will still work, but your own simcard won't, check this thread there is a picture of which resistor is needed on what place on the pcb to make stuff work. By default there ok, but if you removed one in the process of removing the metal shield you will have to replace the resistor to make your simcard work.
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] towardthesea:
Thanks to your helps and now the phone can recognize the simcard: shows the Sim state, serial number, country ISO, SIM operator code, SIM operator name on 'SIM card app'. But it seem to have errors in network: the 'SIM card app' shows UNKNOWN in section Network type and empty for other network sections; there is a icon of signal error beside battery icon on the top right of the screen. Because of on the process of testing SIM card recognition, I do NOT use the battery cover (only connect the battery and simcard to the board) and I wonder whether this is the reason of network signal error (I find something like antenna on this battery cover with the terminals being able to connect with the board). Please help me make clearer. Thanks all
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] Gojira-r32:
what's the value of this resistor in the blue square ?
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] Skrilax_CZ:
@towardthesea: I think that as long as sim serial number displays then the connection is fine. What about SIM PIN?

@Gojira-r32: Looks like 1k7 to me on the picture.
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] Gojira-r32:
i lost that one and i don't think shorting it will work on simcard ?

so looking for a 1K resistor, can you, did you measure it ? ;)
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] cybertim:
Go to: Settings -> More.. -> Mobile networks -> Network Mode -> Automatic

Now wait a few seconds and test the sim app again, it should now list some network, instead of unknown gprs or umts?
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] Adamoos:
Thanks CornholioGSM for modding my Photon, everything works great :D
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] CornholioGSM:
....super....thank You :)
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] pigphish:
What happens to sprint service? Does it work but lose 4g lte. My scenario is I use sprint state side but switch to sim when I travel.
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] CornholioGSM:
Sprint is not problem - it is on CDMA.

Sim card is only for GSM/UMTS
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] rbadh91:
Sprint uses CDMA for 3G data and voice. Removing sim would have to effect on it. How about LTE? Supposedly they use sim card for lte service. Does LTE still function after removing sim card?
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] pigphish:
This is my question. According to this thread the 4g lte gets lost when you remove the embedded chip. They are trying to accomplish what you did here for the note 2 by keeping both the embedded chip and adding a sim slot for a second chip.
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] cybertim:
But how is this tested? (i didn't read the whole thread but the sim ic's look similar).

Since Sprint LTE is on 1900mhz and for me 4G in europe is on a completely different frequency.. so LTE will never work anyways.

Are they sure it isn't the MHZ compatibility? This can probably only be fixed with a different firmware, and this isn't an issue with the chip.
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] pigphish:
I may have misspoken, I believe it's changing the whole module then swapping as necessary. Meaning, use embedded chip in the USA and sim module elsewhere. No success with data is so far reported so your point may be right on... though it's no data period not just 4g.
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] Skrilax_CZ:
For 4G LTE on Sprint network as well, you are going to need the integrated sim card, that's all. Regardless of that, you'd need to replace the filters to be able to use it on European frequencies.
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] Lokifish Marz:
All of us in the U.S. are going to jail anyways as this is now illegal here.
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] CornholioGSM:
aaaaaa hahahahahhahahahahaaaa :)
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] pigphish:
The USA used to be an example of freedom... It's a real shame
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] wintrxtrem:
So if I did this SIM mod my phone would no longer connect to sprint LTE here in the US?
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] CornholioGSM:
...this is hard to say...it has been not tested. BUT maybe you can put after mod sprint sim into slot :)

...or you can test it - if you have smd hotair...then is simple desolder ic and then solder it back :)
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] autoprime:
Our Photon Q's should be part of the "legacy" devices... and will be exempt from any legal issues. Only devices purchased from today on are included in this new ruling. Subsidized devices while still under contract will be included in this new law. It seems that if you buy the phone outright you aren't part of these new terms.

Of course it seems nothing is set in stone and is now a legal grey area. Everyone will continue to unlock regardless... but those who make the tools to do so may need to be careful(if they live in the USA).
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] Skrilax_CZ:
Hmh, can't you just disable it by software? And I think Sprint doesn't use SIM cards at all, otherwise they would have used the same HW as the cancelled XT896/XT898 international model.

I think Ukraine is careless about the USA laws.
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] arrrghhh:
Well, Sprint never used SIM's before LTE. I don't know this for a fact, but it's my understanding that there has to be a SIM for LTE.

I think the question is, the SIM that is being used for international roaming - is this the same SIM that is used to authenticate to the LTE towers...?
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] autoprime:
same sim. there is one ICCID in your phone.. LTE/GSM share it.
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] wintrxtrem:
And even if I could get my hands on a Sprint iphone 5 SIM card I don't think it would work with the Photon. So this mod would break Sprint LTE, which is just starting to go live in my area :(
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] Skrilax_CZ:
Allright, I received my Photon Q a couple of hours ago (not yet SIM modded). How did you guys disable cdma completely?
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] CornholioGSM:
#*#*4636#*#* phone information, or in settings - mobile networks...
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] Conti93ITA:
Just done this mod on my Photon Q with a Wind nano SIM, an Atten 858D+ hot air station and a chinese welding station... Any suggestion on what absolutely NOT to do? for example some update?

Thanks from Italy!

Mattia.
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] CornholioGSM:
GOOD :)
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] oTToToTenTanz:
Nice job, @Conti. Mine is supposed to arrive in the next few days, I absolutely can't wait now.

Btw: where did you buy yours and how much did you pay?

As far as I followed this thread it is save to perform updates...you might have to rearrange some settings afterwards, but no real problem.
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] special77:
Can I?

Motorola Photon Q is my dream phone and I'm from Turkey.

I read all pages of this topic and I still wonder "I can do this or can't"

What if I buy it but I can't do?

Is this something like I will remove the Sim IC and will connect with cables? It's only?

Will not I need something else?
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] mohflrsea:
Sim card slot

Can anyone suggest a specific SIM card slot to purchase, Preferably from the US. I just want something the fits inside the case
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] Maxpowersxp:
all updates work including the small 8mb one that was released the other day
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] CornholioGSM:
...i9300 slot
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] micx_pl:
Another Photon Q free'd up! Another one will be out of Sprint prison in the evening ;) Thank you very much Cornholio for creating this tutorial, I wish we will finally find the best solution for placing and choosing SIM slot :) Right now, I'm experimenting with a "dual-sim" adapter on flexible ribbon, cause it's definetely sleeker than a slot. We will see what's gonna be. Thank you once again! Dzięki!
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] Skrilax_CZ:
On Android phones, Motorola is not SIM locking them when being flashed, so I would generally not expect that futher flash would lock the BP just to Sprint (I mean change the current status of SIM lock on the Q). No guarantee though.
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] Conti93ITA:
I bought it from US as a brand new phone, for ~150€ + 37€ of italian custom duties... Actually it was used, but for a very short period, in fact it doesn't have any damage/scratch at all (but no positive feedback for the seller!).

You will need a bit of experience for welding very small wires into very small solder pads, it's not that easy, that's all.

The fun fact was that I ordered the phone without knowing it had a fixed sim inside it... My reaction was like "Why the **** doesn't it have a SIM slot?!?"

However, here's the result:
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] mohflrsea:
So one like this one on ebay item number 140814822849 ? *The link was going to no item

Do I remove the sd card holder or what from there?
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] Momsey:
AW: Good News !!! SIM CARD MOD IS HERE !!!

My phone works great now, thank you so much for modding it, cornholio!
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] CornholioGSM:
...Thank You too :)
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] MontyMontie:
Cornholio.... :(...this mod is extremely difficult...should of mailed the phone to you... Tried it and managed to remove a few of the resistors... :( now I am stuck with

an ipod... is there anyway you can fix this. If you can :)
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] CornholioGSM:
...of course i can :) ...contact me on PM
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] Poursinet:
Sprint activation

Many many thanks to Cornholio. I've asked him to make the mod for me and I just got the phone back yesterday: he has done a wonderful job. Thanks again.

Got a more general question though: does anyone know how yo get rid of the "Activate device" screen that pops up every time i boot the phone ? I'm in Europe and with an european SIM so I do not think Sprint will answer me 'bout this :)
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] cybertim:
I removed it by (*need to be rooted and all) removing all the Sprint*.apk files from /system/app excluding the homescreen and message app as i recall (make a backup tho, so you can place back some apps starting with Sprint* if needed).

I also removed all the Blur* stuff.

Everything is almost stock now on my phone ;)
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] downloader3230:
@all. may I ask you guys to make Continuity Check on contacts on soldered sim? on 2nd pic details about it. I think that it should not be.

on 1st pic I show current situation with mod on my phone. questions:

1. will it mod work without soldering contact, which marked by red square?

2. if it will work, whats wrong with it?
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] towardthesea:
I still can access to read contacts information in the SIM card but no way to make the network signal available! Does it need to unlock carrier to use GSM as default rather than Sprint??? Thanks for helps!
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] CornholioGSM:
nonono...no network unlock is needed
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] Skrilax_CZ:
Question: the software didn't seem to me to be handling standard SIM PIN unlock (which would not surprising after all). Do you all have who made the SIM card mod have the SIM PIN disabled or am I wrong?
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] Conti93ITA:
Nope, PIN activated, and when i turn on the phone, after the Sprint splash screen I have to insert it
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] antonyfirst:
First of all, thank you Cornholio for such a wonderful guide. I have managed doing the mod by myself. My Italian microsim works, I can do both phone calls and sms. I seem to be unable to get data working (gsm and umts, 2g/3g). I have installed a sim card app which is suggesting that my phone has "network locked". Regardless, it recognizes that I have both gsm and umts. What's wrong here? Why cannot I make mobile data work?

Thanks for the help.

Tony
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] arrrghhh:
Did you configure the APN very carefully according to your carrier's spec...?

I know this is pretty sensitive for data connectivity on GSM networks.
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] CornholioGSM:
....apn setting is same as on galaxy nexus :)
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] antonyfirst:
Hey guys, I believe I might have to use QPST... is it really necessary?

Just internet isn't working.

What kind of debugging can I do? I don't have ##devel# on my phone, I might have to use a numeric code for it.

Seems I am having the exact problem that Max was having a few pages back.

Cheers

Tony
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] CornholioGSM:
okay...so what is your country and operator?
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] antonyfirst:
Hello Cornholio, my country is Italy, and operator is TIM. APN is: ibox.tim.it

MCC: 222

MNC: 01

Question: when in QPST, will I have to change the standard CDMA phone number (cdma tab), which is still the same as the original sprint one on the chip, to my personal phone number?

I already have my service programming security code; even if my QPST doesn't read my phone number, I can phone and receive calls, and sms

If dialing *#*#4636#*#*, on Phone Information, I can pass the ping host name, but I fail the "ping ip address". I have already flashed the PRL 54006 (best for World) from the other thread.

Thanks!

Tony
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] CornholioGSM:
....it's not enough.
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] antonyfirst:
It was. Anyway, looks like I have fixed it. I have changed PRL, and done several things using QPST as suggested on Cricket forums. Not all they describe is strictly necessary, and not all is identical, because in my case I didnt need to put a username and password for connecting data, but eventually, with advice in that thread, here, and another topic on the matter in the Photon Q subforum, I have managed to obtain my mobile data traffic.

It was software, though, and much deeper than simply configuring an apn (which I have been doing on several phones for years). Looks like some of you haven't had this problem at all.

Cheers!

Tony
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] Gojira-r32:
wld be nice if you shared how you did it all :p
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] antonyfirst:
www.cricketusers.com/sprint-motorola-photon-q-4g-lte/

Most of this is very useful. For us, the service programming code is our MFL code. Then you need another thread around here (perhaps in Q&A), the title is something like "Force roaming on photon q". About 6, 7 or 8 pages.

Then some additional trial and error and some logic. Hard to write down a precise procedure (I dont have time to redo everything and start from vanilla), but I should be able to replicate it with a few effort... or I can give some advice to a precise question.

Oh btw, as said I have changed the PRL to the one mentioned in a couple of posts before.

So far, so good.

Cheers
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] yesar:
today i got my photon q back from an excellent modding service - CornholioGSM ! Thank you very much!

after some fumble with apn settings, it works very well. now i have some work - transfer contacts, sms, apps, root the phone etc... ;)
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] wintrxtrem:
To all the people having cornholio mod your phone, can you post photos or video of your sim slot in action?

(I know he does great work, just want to see the awesomeness)
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] yesar:
He has photos of it on the first page, nevertheless the sim card is not fully inserted on his picture.

Also i'm not sure how to remove the sim card, it fits pretty tight but maybe this is because of my handcut microsim card (previously i had a normal size sim and i cut it to the proper size)
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] sasha19323:
Hello! I'd tried to mod my photonq, but i can't remove metal cover. Hot air temp. was 440C, but it not removed. Is it normal?