[8525, TyTN, MDA Vario II, JasJam Software Upgradin] Mikeapollo:
I see your point - thats why this thread is labeled potential problems... It is a warning and is not an alarmist statement of "This will kill your device" it is merely a caution that there are well documented cases of instability with this radio and there are growing numbers of dead radio modules which have all been using 1.54.x at time of death - and that death has occured within a few weeks of starting to use it.

Again, if you think that there is a sudden spate of dead radios because "things have worn out" then look at the evidence - Not everyones device is dying at the same rate but users of 1.54.x are seeing their devices dead within a very close timescale - usually 6-8 weeks of use. We've had lots of dead radio threads here but the amount over recent time is unpresedented and it's affecting both "young" and "older" devices.

If you cross-reference posts from the threads about 1.54.x some posters from there also posted in other threads about "odd" problems - then a month later have posted in the bricking threads saying their phone one morning just said "No GSM". Some of these devices appear to have been "new" - so unless they were exceptionally heavy users I think the rules out the devices wearing out. Again tho - they could have just been runts as you can get a duff one out of the box... :rolleyes:

Radios normally don't just fail like that - the normal thing that happens is they degrade over time. The PGA that holds the firmware is also very resilient - once it's written unless something dramatic happens it will rarely just "grow" bad blocks overnight on it's own - particularly if it's turned on at the time - as it's structure is different to NAND memory (where your OS image is held).

So while it is certainly true that flashing 1.54.x will not instantly kill the device unless you're seriously unlucky - it looks like there may be an issue that either grows over time (a progressive effect) or causes dramatic sudden failure under certain usage scenarios (which may or may not be common to all areas/networks/bands/etc).

So if you're in a strong signal area and the radio hardware never needs to be driven "hard" by the firmware you may never experience a problem with this radio - but if you're in an area of variable or weak coverage it may just be driving the whole shebang too hard.

As Ree-shar has correctly said, the programmable arrays (where the radio firmware is held) and the output drivers in radio hardware are effected by heat - and looking at the facts, driving a higher power (gain) will generate more heat and drain a battery faster - that heat could be a factor in either the GSM hardware simply failing or (as has also been seen) the blocks in the PGA where the firmware itself is stored going "bad" therefore making it impossible to flash another radio image to it.

Again, it's not being alarmist it's about exercising caution that there could be a problem for SOME people with this radio and reminding the casual users of this forum of the basics about the radio images - and in particular :

having the latest release is NOT always the best option for your device,

many radios are developed for certain countries/networks/etc so one developed for an AT&T device in the US may not quite perform as intended when used in Europe so try and use one at least that is roughly native to where you are first if you can

Problems with heat, battery life, long drop out periods or "odd" radio issues can be a warning that something may not be right.

It is very possible for firmware to kill actual hardware (something people often forget).

Changing your radio will NOT fix broken SIM cards, WiFi, Bluetooth or external GPS problems, Nor will it magic up a signal from nowhere if you live in a crap coverage area.

Using firmware that drives the hardware harder in order to increase the gain of both the transmit element and recieve element in any radio module is usually at the expense of the lifespan of the radio device.

Always experiment cautiously, be aware of the risks and minimise them and read other peoples experiences before just taking the latest image and flashing it (ie - read the wiki, cross reference posts and take some time to do some research BEFORE flashing that new radio/rom/whatever!.