yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] The Solutor:
And droid 4 problem is not the lack of Cyanogen/custom ROMs, but the lack of the unlocked bootloader and and the screen. Which is just 4" while the phone is even bigger than the 4.3" Photon Q, and is pentile (read brighter than the traditional RGB LCDs, but with poor contrast and washed out colors, the tiny details and fonts are also affected).

---------- Post added at 08:37 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:27 PM ----------

Basically the thing should work considering all the resistors as wires, and all the capacitors as open circuits, if I'm not wrong the 1712 R should work even if left open, just try both ways.
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] milannalim:
Did anybody have any issues with the following message on startup:

OMADMClient_sprint_client has stopped

After you click OK, the message reappears and does not let you continue with anything else except the Settings menu from the pull-down status bar.

This happend this morning with my daughter's PQ, so I am not excactly sure what went on before that, but I suspect, that she accepted one of the offered Sprint updates that came on a few days ago (she told me that she changed all the manual updates at the Google Play to automatic :mad:). I've tried stopping some services and apps in a few minutes time I had, but there were no changes.

I know that factory reset is the action I should take, but would like to save some data from the phone (at least the photos) before.

P.S. I solved the problem - manual deleting of cache and killing processes that start with 'OMADMClient..' removed the popup and I got control control over the phone without the factory reset! :)
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] atomphil:
this mod on hackaday.com

http://hackaday.com/2013/12/02/adding-a-sim-card-to-the-photon-q-4g-lte/

.:atomphil:.
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] Schattenspieler:
Would it be possible to do something like add ball-pins directly on the pcb and put the SIM on it? Or are the messurements not matching up?
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] CornholioGSM:
...what you mean???
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] The Solutor:
I believe he's asking if it's possible to mount the SIM/SIM holder like a BGA IC directly in place of the old one.

I
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] CornholioGSM:
ok......so no....this is not possible because free space after desolder ic is small
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] Schattenspieler:
Hmm, too bad. That would've made it a lot easier, especially because no cutting would be needed.
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] CornholioGSM:
this is the simplest way what i have found....
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] The Solutor:
I believe that, if the number of mods is relatively high, could be worth to order a flexible pcb, ready to be soldered straight over the original pads at one end, and ready to be soldered to the sim holder on the other end.

This way, will be surely easier to place the sim holder in the place usual place, but *could* be possible to consider other solutions, including the one asked by Schattenspieler.

Obviously the flex pcb is not a viable solution for a single user, but for someone that has moddedd 80+ phones could be well worth. (and the pcb could be also sold online) ;)
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] Schattenspieler:
I just thought, it may be possible, because the arrangement of the solder joints seems to be the same as on the SIM. But the gaps between them are apparently too small.
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] Sandy123uu:
Anybody tried this?

google.com/search?q=sim+extender
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] The Solutor:
It's basically the my idea,

I mentioned in my previous message. To speedup the work, with the difference that in the premade flex cable you linked the end meant to be soldered has the wrong pads size and spacing, so would be impossible to solder it BGA style right over the PCB, so wouldn't be so helpful
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] w0ng88:
Hi all

I have recently fixed the network drop issue. So far using photon q for 2 days without incident (used to be disconnected up to 6 times per day). As per Cornholio mention, the disconnection issue is 99% likely due to bad connection. Using a sim slot from samsung galaxy note 8 solves this issue for me although soldering is a bit of challenge. Hope this helps current or future modders out there. Haven test out how it will hold up when temperature hits 60 degree tho.
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] The Solutor:
I'm still convinced that if you want to do a semi "industrialized" mod, the custom flex cable is is the way to go.

Upu can shape it in any way to place the sim holder in any place like battery back , the side of uSD, the place used by the CornholioGSM mod, and so on.

You can shape it to use any sim holder you want/like, including the extra thin ones used on some dual sim adapters.

Like this one

And surely a custom made flex cable will be cheaper than a custom made sim holder, can be realized in small quantities, even at home using the right UV lamp and chemicals, and would be also relatively easy to solder in place even with a very basic soldering iron (and a bit of experience in soldering).

After the prototype is finalized a single A4 foil of flex PCB can be used to made dozens of stripes, maybe also with 2 of 3 different shapes meant to different sim holders and/or different sim placement.

This is the first google result.

http://www.leiton.de/en-kalkulation-preis.html#ergebnis

they have a 250€ thresold for the order, so I calculated a supposed 5x50mm PCB for a 25 item order, just to have an idea of the price.

The single stripe will cost less than 10 euros.

Likely with a better refined search, the cost can be further lowered.

So I strongly suggest this path to Cornholio or to anyone wants to do the mod in less artisanal way
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] thamsimon:
You mean this hwtools.net/Contact%20Us.html. sorry i'm not able to post links.

I'm only afraid that the batter and housing will not be able to close. i have yet to receive my set from my clients and i will take a look from here.

For us the soldering of the cable or sim slot is no longer a problem. problem is where should we place the sim.

I'm thinking of asking the manufacturer to produce a flex cable so we can route it to the location where CornholioGSM usually put.
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] The Solutor:
Sorry but I can't understand the purpose of your link.

I mean the world is plenty of places where a custom PCB, can be made/ordered.

In large quantities, small quantities, and even prototypes.

Flex PCBs can be also bought as a virgin sheets and developed in house with little efforts.

As I said this is only one possibility, the other ones are

#1 (nanosim only) above the original SIM IC contacts: in that case a small (2cm long or so) PCB could made the life simpler

#2 On the other side of uSD slot (trough a C shaped PCB),

#3 In the place used by Cornholio

#4 And even outside the case, if a cover is used (for the record this one is the one I'm using)

Please, define "us", my idea was that you/Cornholio/or someone else, interested to mod a relatively relevant number of phones, could order a number of flex pcb (maybe already coupled with the SIM holder on one side) and then sell the complete mod (as Cornholio is doing right now but easier/faster to realize) or just the flexpcb, to simplify the life of people interested to do the mod at their homes.

Or just to halve the shipment timing (no need of two way shipment).

That said, I believe that a super tiny sim holder, if soldered to a flex PCB foil will be way less thick than the usual metal push/push SIM holders, firstly because the sim holder itself, secondly because the lack of any soldering bumps.

This way i believe it can be placed on the back of the battery leaving a barely noticeable bump on the back cover.

More or less what happen with the original Photon 4G, if used with the extended battery meant for the Droid 3, which is more than 1mm thicker than the stock one.
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] Schattenspieler:
I would definitly prefer something like that. And the space should be enough to place a nano simcard holder next to the µSD card slot, right? I mean, there is even room for a SIM slot beneath the rubber protecting the µSD card. Taht would be really convenient.

That said, I really doubt that we get anywhere near the 5k quota. I dunno how many phones have been modded alltogether up to now, but my guess is even a quota of 500 would not be easy to accomplish.
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] Steve_McQueen:
Excellent Mod done by CornholioGSM.

** apologies for late reply post->Christmas time. **

No problems encountered whatsoever. Now in use for nearly 3 weeks.

Here some pics on the phone delivery and excellent craftsmanship, attached to the post

Very well and nicely done!

Thnx again!
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] niko99:
Yeeeeaa ! sticker where to insert sim :D sweet ! :D good job Cornholio
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] Ryant-182:
bootloader?

for some reason I can't find what files need to be dowloaded to change the bootloader and other things before the hardmod is done! Can somone help me out
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] arrrghhh:
http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=1856480
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] eis0r:
can anyone recommend proper wires for this mod?

i tried Kynar AWG30 but found them not flexible enough.

headphone wires are too thick imo...

thanks!

Gesendet von meinem DROID4 mit Tapatalk
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] The Solutor:
Personally I used the wires taken from an 80 pin PATA flat cable, they are small enough and practically free.

But you can use any insulated wires borrowed from inductors, transformers, loudspeaker's coils and so on, they can be found also on some earphone's cord, especially the cheap ones provided with cellphones and smarphones.

Unlike the usual rework wires they aren't insulated with a plastic/rubber tube.

Instead they are painted with an insulating enamel, and usually they looks like a naked wire, sometime the enamel is red, orange or green shaded, so they look metallic green, metallic red and so on.

So they are easier to manage, to bend and they are smaller, but removing the insulating paint is harder than removing the insulating layer from a classical wire like the PATA ones I mentioned earlier.
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] CornholioGSM:
...0.3mm painted wire
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] Ryant-182:
having a hard time with the built in sim!

I was not able to get the covering off by heat, i ended up using pliers like somone else said, and that worked :D but! heating the sim is not working aswell.. I have a kendal 2 in one hot air/soldering station. It is at 350, 380, 430, nothing no matter how hot it gets or how high the air is set, it wount budge! help anyone? :l
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] CornholioGSM:
....test set temperature to 430+, but with low pressure.

how to set pressure is hard to say - you must know it.

For remove sim ic shield is good approx 460.

hot it with gap approx 1cm.

Don't smash sd slot - cover it!!!!
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] Ryant-182:
Thanks! Yes i have been using coins to cover the surrounding parts and it has kept them safe! I will try to do 460 with low pressure and let you know how it goes :D
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] Ryant-182:
this is the station I have, and this is what the sim looks like :l it got prty scuffedc up from my tweezers/needle noses, still wount come off! :(

Sorry for the crappy pic quality!
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] abbie7:
Today I went to the beach, and when I came back my phone says no SIM card found. It worked since October 2012, and today not anymore. My sim is directly soldered to the phone. This was done by CornolioGSM. Does anybody has an idea how this can happen?
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] CornholioGSM:
hmmm :( this station is not good for this work. 430 is maximal temperature?

uuuu...long time :) It is problem with old s3 slot...contact me on PM
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] Ryant-182:
no it can go to 460 or 480 i believe
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] CornholioGSM:
...ok set it to 460-470 ......... cover sd slot !!!
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] MFighter:
hi all,

tried doing the mod again for a friend, but ripped off the resistor, including the pads -,-

1. Is it needed?

2. where do I have to solder a wire to fix it? pads are entirely gone and only plastic visible with scope :-S
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] CornholioGSM:
without pads?

This can be problem because one way goes directly to processor.

It is really needed - this if for sim VCC.

Make macro photo an post it here or to my pm.
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] Techman666:
Can anyone give me a contact to a person that could do this modification to my Photon Q ?

I tried to send a PM to CornholioGSM but his mailbox is full :)

And does anyone know an estimated price of such modification ?
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] Ryant-182:
I tried it again and just endup eating the whole board in the process, it was at 460 then 480 and nothing worked:l I dont want to ruin my phone, but i also dont have the cash to put in another $100 to have it professionaly done :/
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] The Solutor:
Keep in mind that every heating cycle affects chemically and physically the soldering alloy.

This was true for the good old tin/lead alloys, and is even more noticeable on the crap unleaded alloys used nowadays.

So, if you fail on the first or second attempts, every further try will be harder and harder, because the alloy will melt at higher temperature in each turn.

I can only suggest to look at the B plan on message #1017 (and following), if you don't want to look to a professional serviceman.
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] Ryant-182:
CRAP!

Well crap. I tried that method and got the top half(I assume of the ic off) i was left with a thin whitish square that was blocking what i needed, I tried the method oncemore and the screwdriver tip went right on through the board! :D uhgg! the phone still turns onm have wifi, and runs without an issue....what now!? :l
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] CornholioGSM:
Maybe not too big problem :)
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] martisver:
Thanks

Hey, I bought this smartphone last week for my wife, removed sim chip, temperly used sim socket, and lastly replaced it with micro sim socket, from molex. Thank you CornholioGSM for guide. some pictures how mine phone looks now.
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] Fever905:
I just got this phone in the mail today. I didn't know it had no sim slot! I'm in Canada... is there anywhere near Toronto I can get this done?

I like the way martisver did it. I dont need a slot, the sim card can go in the back like that just fine. May I ask does it have to be a MicroSim? Can I use my classic Sim from my Blackberry?
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] bob_the_vampire:
Hi I transferred the mod onto an other board, everything went well but now the phone don't read the serial number of the sim card, it can see it's a telus card and some other info but not the S/N.

Any idea what is wrong?...
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] Fever905:
Was thinking about this, can't you cut your old school Sim Card with an xacto knife to make it the size of the microSim? Like the one that fits the iPhone 4? How many sim card sizes are there... 3 I thought? Would that work or do I need the tiny one?

---------- Post added at 10:37 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:28 PM ----------

Bob, you're in Canada if you have telus right? What part of Canada? I'm in Hamilton Ontario... Maybe we can collaborate. I'm about to do my phone and I may have a really good electronics guy that can help.
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] Fever905:
Precison Machine

A coworker of mine suggested another way of removing the IC.

He suggested grinding off the chip. He has a high precision tool that can grind the chip down to the pins. Would this work? Is there anything there that could be damaged?
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] koldor:
Well... here another one tried the mod... with no success... i didn't take care enough of the resistors and small capacitors and they are gone... result is sim card not being read ... now trying to contact CornholioGSM if he can get anything from this mess, or even sending him another to get the job done... such an idiot of me no sending it as i got it!
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] CornholioGSM:
you can damage sim ways...you must be very cocentrated
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] Fever905:
I'd like to send you my phone for the modification. Can you do it for me? I pm'd you but no reply. Thank you.
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] KylarBStern:
Thank you

Many thanks to you kind sir. Been using my phone since the beginning of January. Beautiful work You're doing !
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] koc:
Cornholio, do you still do this mod? I did PM you, but with no answer.

K.
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] CornholioGSM:
yesss i still,

but no private message fro you :(
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] niko99:
Hi Cornholio, im also send you a message yesterday about second mod for me , do you receive my message ?

best regards
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] palmwangja:
vibration motor

looks like my vibration motor was borked.

It didn't want to rotate when its shaft was positioned in a certain way. very weird.

Is there any way I can fix this ?

no warranty as we all know :o
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] CornholioGSM:
delivered....and i have replied now :)

...standart problem.

Yess you can change it.

Good for photon is vibration motor from old nokia phones - 6300,6303,n80,n73 etc etc.

Because motor boty is soldered directly to mainboard is needed hotair for desolder.
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] divie:
Anyone in the Netherlands that can perform this mod?

Sent from my Milestone 2 with tapatalk 4
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] lusk:
Hi Cornholio, I've sent you a question about SIM MOD via PM.
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] Die Bruine:
Just send it to Cornholio. I did, five times :)
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] berlin2014:
I received my modded Photon Q from cornholio today, working perfect with T-Mobile (Deutschland).

Because I read about the problems some people had with their photon q's I bought three in total, in case the first mod wouldn't work. If anyone is interested: I have one Photon Q new, never turned on or used, still in its original packaging without sim mod, and another Photon Q, used but in good condition, with sim mod done in south korea (I also have a new spare battery and display glass for this one). Pick-up in Bremen or Berlin, send me a message if you are interested.
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] CornholioGSM:
PLEASE...who from you here is Anzarol Jonathan from Belgique????

your photon is done...contact me on PM
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] klimb:
Hi, are there any news about lost signal and absent sim card to photon Photon Q?

I can tell you my experience to this problem, maybe it helps further.

I bought my Photon Q 4G LTE (Sprint Edition) in summer 2013 in minor used condition, with a bad esn (blocked by sprint), directly from a us seller for about 135 USD including the shipping costs to europe. After receiving the marvelous thing, i immediately started to desolder the sim chip and replaced it with direct wire connection (no sim card holder) to my sim card. I worked with a very high precision, also kept the wires as short as possible. A short test was successful, so i assembled the phone to it's original state. After the hardware mod was done, i installed cm in the first released version, it was very stable from the beginning on. In the meantime i updated cm a few times, until now i'm using cm11. Since about a month i've a problem related to the sim card absent state, followed by a lost network signal. I've tried to change a few settings like preferred network-types and so on, but the only solution is to reboot the phone. I had never problems like this before. Since the problem appears the first time about a month ago, it happens now a few times a day. If there is no solution soon, i've to move to another phone model. I read many threads regarding this problem, but none with a solution or hint to solve this.

Updates regarding this problem?
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] senia:
I solved my problems in this way:

* changing ROM to cyanogenmod

* using a "true" mobile operator, not a virtual one.

I have not problem since these changes, and I'm enjoying with the photon.

Enviado desde mi XT897 usando Tapatalk 2
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] klimb:
CM i run since the beginning and with a virtual mobile operator too. It worked over 7-8 month without a problem.
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] Die Bruine:
Unless I'm mistaken there is a specific model SIM holder which shows this "defect". Just wait 'till Conrholio has had the time to respond. He fixed mine, which had the same issu (one of 5).
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] klimb:
I don't use a simholder and still have this type of defect.

Further experience: Yesterday i've disabled wlan and inbetween 30h the fault happend only once, the days before with enabled wlan it happened many times a day, fortuitously?
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] CornholioGSM:
...was it modded by me?

Dissassemble it and post picture.
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] CornholioGSM:
wrong...delete
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] klimb:
No, i did the mod self-performed.

Picture will follow, because i need to open my phone soon, because of sim card change.
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] CornholioGSM:
hmmmm....check ground wire....and maybe change sim card
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] klimb:
Hi and thanks for hint. I'll check very thoroughly when i open my phone within the next days.
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] b_force:
Well, I was reading this topic because I'm really looking for a new phone (for travelling)

This is definitely one of the phones which is usable for me.

For what I understand, people still have to find a solution for the SIM card (like an holder or so).

As I'm a PCB designer myself, I was thinking about very thin PCB board or even flexible PCB board (which can be extremely thin, but is also a little bit more expensive).

How much room/height is left to make some sort of SIM card slot?

Maybe I can find a solution for it by making a PCB (but a really need some measures than)

Totally different question from my side, but what are the (major) differences between the Phonton Q and the Droid 4?
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] eis0r:
u can use www.gsmarena.com to compare the phones...
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] The Solutor:
http://xdaforums.com/showpost.php?p=48751746&postcount=1060

They are (rougly) the same size. The PQ, is like a pizza with less border, given its display is larger than droid's one.
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] b_force:
Thanks :)

Ok, Well I can get some first prototype for around 5 dollar a piece (maybe just a little bit more).

It all depends on quantities, if we can get around 150-200 pcs, than you can count on just a few dollars after that.

But again, I need some measures to see what I can do :)

Ow, almost forgot.

I can just order by Mouser without any problems, so maybe that's also handy :)

BTW, for what I understand, you only have to softmod the Droid 4, isn't it?
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] pc-coholic:
Together with a collegue of mine, we are currently doing exactly this: designing a flex-pcb (0.15mm), that has a nano-SIM-socket. The special thing: The nano-SIM-socket is a "push-push"-type and does not require a tray for the simcard.

Additionally, the SIM-socket is so small, it even fits the phone without removing the small shield on the phone.

Currently, we are waiting for some more sockets from the company who produces them, as they are not available yet from distributors...
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] The Solutor:
It's hard have an idea of the space available, given the coplexity of the housing and the board itself, just with some measures.

Unmodded PQ are cheap especially for people living in the US, I suggest to buy one, maybe even a broken one, just to use it as guinea pig.

I skipped the d4, but afaik they are working out of the box.

Then some tweaking is still needed

Eg: what I discovered years ago on D3 and D2 global is still valid.

http://xdaforums.com/showpost.php?p=18910050&postcount=1
[Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE] kabaldan:
1. Droid 4 bootloader can't be unlocked

2. TI has left the phone/tablet CPU business (unlike MSM8960, OMAP4 can be already considered a legacy SoC)