Database Develop

[Q] Droid 3's Future / Current Status

Have a few questions for people on the Droid 3, since I haven't been able to find anything elsewhere. Currently have an Epic 4G on Cricket and was thinking about buying a Droid 3 and going to Page Plus to save money (I don't use a LOT of data, and if I do, I'm usually at work/home, so 100MB should be fine if/when I'm on the road or away form home). I had an original Droid, but needed something with a slightly larger screen, better keyboard, front facing camera, etc (which the Droid 3 now has).
1. Is the Droid 3 locked like the Droid 2/X was? I believe it was an encrypted bootloader or something like that. I know HTC apparently is getting away from using locked bootloaders after massive public backlash. It looked like there were a few bootloaders in the development section. In the end, I'll likely want to jump on the CM train and get their firmware, which may take a while. But like most people at XDA, I don't like running stock ROMs.
2. How is the development area for Droid 3? I know Samsung actually has a public portal for releasing source code to kernels, etc, after the OTA (sometimes right before) is released. Does Moto open source its stuff? Just trying to get a feel for how long it'll be (months vs. weeks) for some ROMs, even if they're just deodexed.
3. Is there a better phone to get than the VZW branded one? I saw one from some nigelelectronics or something like that, which was unlocked (the x860 I believe). I don't mind VZW, since I could put it on PagePlus for $30 a month. Is the $200 extra worth it? Does that mean it'd work on AT&T/T-Mobile (I like T-Mobile's month-to-month plans best) and be capable of getting updates for stuff like CyanogenMod, AOSP ROMs, etc? i.e. are they all really the same hardware and can accept flash's from each other's ROMs, but they have hardware locked in different places (i.e. VZW locks out US GSM carriers in the radio, I thought?). I know Samsung Galaxy S's phones share similar core stuff, but modems, keyboard, cameras, etc, are all different and/or not present, so it makes a common ROM for them all impossible.
Sorry for the novel! Just trying to understand where things are at... Thanks in advance!

The bootloader is encrypted. There will be custom roms for it, but we will be unable to use any kernel other then Motorola's. DX and D2 eventually were hacked with 2nd-init which allowed roms like Cyanogenmod and MIUI to run on them. As far as development for the Droid 3 so far, it's pretty much non existent. We just got our hands on some fastboot recovery files that will allow us to recover from any bricks. Now we need a custom recovery and then the roms will begin to roll out.

Thanks for that! Just a few other quick questions.
Given that -- 2nd init I assume is another kernel (or maybe emulator) that runs after and connects into the encrypted one? Is CM a possibility for Droid 3, I think is the real question (and not a "anything is possible... someone might break the encryption or Moto might unencrypt it).
Also -- any thoughts on the different versions of the phone hardware? All mostly same hardware so the ROMs all work on the same phones? Or totally different? Just curious if anyone has thoughts on this from the differences between Moto Milestone 2 vs Droid 2 (but Droid 3 is the Global version as well, since it has SIM enabled by default... so comparison may not be as good)?
Thanks!

2nd init is not another kernel. Its in the name. it is a second init process over the original init that gives us control over the initialization of the system.

Does that same process work for the Droid 3? Is that a possibility, then? Or is that something known that Moto patched (or maybe potentially left in for developers)?

It took a couple people over a year to successfully get 2nd-init to work properly. I wouldn't expect CM7 or MIUI for quite a while. We will have other roms though. Apex and Liberty used motos kernels on the DX and I have to say they were amazing roms.
Sent from my DROID3 using xda premium

I think CM7 will be adapted to the D3 sooner then many would expect. The Droid X already has it and the bionic has similar hardware. I do not think we will have to wait as long as the Droid X did.

Ics?

Has anyone seen any news on weather or not we will be getting ics for our DROID 3? Not cm9 but the official. I poke around twitter and google but can't find anything new, its all outdated.
Sent from my DROID3 using XDA App

Motorola does not list the Droid 3 on any of their roadmaps...it is like they just forgot about the device.
I would not hold my breath but at this point there is no official response in ether direction.

We are all waiting for Motorola to issue some updates... I think they are going to make the announcements all at the same time, of which phones will and won't make the upgrade.
D3 is in good shape though, it runs almost the same CPU and GPU as Galaxy Nexus, just has half the memory. Let's keep our fingers crossed!

prsterero said:
Has anyone seen any news on weather or not we will be getting ics for our DROID 3? Not cm9 but the official. I poke around twitter and google but can't find anything new, its all outdated.
Sent from my DROID3 using XDA App
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I remember seeing somewhere that motorola is redoing their software update page on their website, I know they are working on it as we speak. I would hope that it's soon, I remember google saying that the updates should be quicker with ICS but saying and doing are two different things.

prsterero said:
Has anyone seen any news on weather or not we will be getting ics for our DROID 3? Not cm9 but the official. I poke around twitter and google but can't find anything new, its all outdated.
Sent from my DROID3 using XDA App
Click to expand...
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Even if Moto and Verizon don't officially give ICS to the D3, you can bet that shortly after they release it for either the Razr or Bionic that it will be ported in it's "blurred" setup to the D3.

mikedyk43 said:
Even if Moto and Verizon don't officially give ICS to the D3, you can bet that shortly after they release it for either the Razr or Bionic that it will be ported in it's "blurred" setup to the D3.
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Keep in mind that if they don't release it for the Droid 3, the "ported" version based from those won't get the new kernel that those devices get along with their ICS upgrade...

If they release just one of the phones Hash supports for ICS with a camera, that is all we really need anyway.

MrObvious said:
If they release just one of the phones Hash supports for ICS with a camera, that is all we really need anyway.
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Not if the app relies on the newer kernel that the upgrade will bring to the other devices...
Sent from my Xoom

Motorola released their "staging plans" for ICS upgrades...
https://forums.motorola.com/pages/00add97d6c
DROID 3
USA
Evaluation & Planning
Further details to follow.
They state that some products may not make it beyond the Evaluation stage....
Categorized in 1 Gig ram devices and 512 Meg Ram devices. Bionic, Razr and Droid4 are also listed as "Evaluation & Planning".

This is good news, but dumb because all those 4 phones should have been evaluated when being made for ics compatibility
Sent from my XT862 using Tapatalk

prsterero said:
Has anyone seen any news on weather or not we will be getting ics for our DROID 3? Not cm9 but the official. I poke around twitter and google but can't find anything new, its all outdated.
Sent from my DROID3 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
http://bit.ly/MotoSoftUpdate
there is some info (but not confirmed)
same update page but custom url
---------------------------------
i hope D3 and bionic get Official ICS (mb200 in latam didnt get 2.1 so i would not give all my hopes again and then rant a "never more and/again Motorola" quote

Dri94 said:
This is good news, but dumb because all those 4 phones should have been evaluated when being made for ics compatibility
Sent from my XT862 using Tapatalk
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I wonder if they had to build their new blur before making the actual ICS builds for their phones.
Still I'm happy that they have at least acknowledged that the D3 might get updated to ICS maybe someday possibly a remote chance.

Interesting...the Motorola Razr is in "Development" status but the Droid Razr is still only "Evaluation and Planning" stage....
Verizon must be a big part of the problem....as even the 3G Xoom's are "Evaluation and Planning" while the WiFi Xoom already has it (and non-us WiFi are in Development).

tcrews said:
Interesting...the Motorola Razr is in "Development" status but the Droid Razr is still only "Evaluation and Planning" stage....
Verizon must be a big part of the problem....as even the 3G Xoom's are "Evaluation and Planning" while the WiFi Xoom already has it (and non-us WiFi are in Development).
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I noticed the same thing... It looks like for the first time Canada might be getting something quicker than the US... (At least in the RAZR ICS upgrade department).
All I care about is that the RAZR upgrade code leaks so that way we can get the cameras working within CM9, then maybe I'll jump ship from stock.

danifunker said:
All I care about is that the RAZR upgrade code leaks so that way we can get the cameras working within CM9, then maybe I'll jump ship from stock.
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that still really doesn't help as Hashcode has pointed out the dependencies the ICS camera has on the ION driver inside the ICS kernel....which are not present in the Gingerbread kernel that will still be running on the Droid 3 with CM9.
These dependencies won't go away on a Razr ICS camera....as the kernel will be getting updated along with the OS when they push it out.

tcrews said:
Verizon must be a big part of the problem....as even the 3G Xoom's are "Evaluation and Planning" while the WiFi Xoom already has it (and non-us WiFi are in Development).
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I agree. All Verizon dual-core phones - even the Bionic, Razr series and D4 - are the same status. I think that Verizon's approval process and bloatware install requirements have become too unpredictable to allow for a definitive upgrade period.

It wouldn't surprise me if a working ics blur rom existed at moto and was stable. The hurdle has always been verizon. I can't understand the forced bloat concept considering most users don't use it and will root now to rid themselves of it.
Sent from my DROID3 using xda premium

Question about Droid 4 development

This is a general question from me trying to understand things better. Before the D4 I had a samsung stratosphere. Completely unlocked bootloader with full capability to flash custom ROM/kernel images. Despite this no AOSP ROMs could be build due to lack of driver sources. It was the same situation with the Epic 4G. The Droid 4 on the other hand had the bootloader locked with the key thrown away. Despite this CM9 and other AOSP ROMs are up and nearly fully operational, even with ICS booting on GB kernels. What makes this possible on D4 but not the stratosphere?
My guess is that driver software is available for the D4. This is due to the fact that Motorola uses parts from other OEMs (TI CPU ect) with public drivers. Samsung on the other hand uses their own proprietary parts and keeps the drivers private. Is this an accurate assessment?
It would seem then that the most important thing to making development possible for a phone (apart from popularity) is driver availability, NOT whether or not the bootloader is unlocked. Is that true? Regardless, I will probably steer clear of samsung for future android purchases. HTC still seems best and motorola acceptable. If only HTC still made high end QWERTYs.

Usually devs just pull the proprietary files off the phone and use it in the compile/builds. This has been going on for Motorola phones since the original Droid.
Sounds like no one invested in seeing what proprietary files were needed from the Stratosphere or Epic 4G.
Public AOSP code mixed with copying in private/proprietary files is how most ROMs are made. The higher the user base of a device, the higher the development activity and the larger number of devs finding out what all is needed to be pulled from the stock device to compile a fully functional ROM.
Since some proprietary files are used....you need them for the same version OS you are building, ie...use stock phones ICS drivers for ICS builds or stock phones GB drivers for Gingerbread builds. You can sometimes hack drivers to work but with lots of limitations. Also drivers depend on the kernel so a matching kernel is needed......requiring the device to have the needed kernel level or an unlocked bootloader to be able to replace the stock kernel.

We wont be seeing an unlocked bootloader? Ever?
Sent from my DROID4 using xda premium

twizzles said:
We wont be seeing an unlocked bootloader? Ever?
Sent from my DROID4 using xda premium
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All signs point to no...we will never see an unlocked bootloader on the current Motorola devices.
With Google owning Motorola Mobility and already replacing MM CEO with one of their own from Google........it's possible future devices may be unlock capable.
Current devices....no, not ever.
The first locked bootloader on a Motorola droid was the Droid 2. It still has not been unlocked, hacked, cracked, etc... How long has it been out?
Motorola released a special Razr Dev model with an unlockable bootloader...retail price, zero warranty, nothing you do on it would transfer over to the normal Razr or Razr Maxx.......so why would anyone buy it? Great PR for them to say "see..we released an unlockable device and no one bought it".

Well that just sucks. Thank you for the info
Sent from my DROID4 using xda premium

I have to say, I don't mind not having an unlocked bootloader. I had the Galaxy Nexus and ran multiple different setups on it. The radio still sucked though. With the Droid 4, I don't feel the need to do a lot of hacking. The phone is well built, radio is awesome, it just works.

GermanGuy said:
I have to say, I don't mind not having an unlocked bootloader. I had the Galaxy Nexus and ran multiple different setups on it. The radio still sucked though. With the Droid 4, I don't feel the need to do a lot of hacking. The phone is well built, radio is awesome, it just works.
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I kind of agree with you for the most, but still I prefer the option and think we should have it as an option. It's one way to keep a device relevant throughout your 2 year contract. For example....the Droid 3. I have one, bought online day of release. In less than a years time it has become a non-supported, forgotten device from Motorola. The locked bootloader prevents devs from picking apart the Droid 4 leaked ICS kernel and compiling one with Droid 3 specs (less RAM, etc..) and bringing a fully functional ICS build to the Droid 3. Unlocked...that would be possible.

JKingDev said:
This is a general question from me trying to understand things better. Before the D4 I had a samsung stratosphere. Completely unlocked bootloader with full capability to flash custom ROM/kernel images. Despite this no AOSP ROMs could be build due to lack of driver sources. It was the same situation with the Epic 4G. The Droid 4 on the other hand had the bootloader locked with the key thrown away. Despite this CM9 and other AOSP ROMs are up and nearly fully operational, even with ICS booting on GB kernels. What makes this possible on D4 but not the stratosphere?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I, as well, went from the Stratosphere to the Droid 4. I love my Stratosphere and still have it, but the lack of development on it is just down right aggravating. That is why I took it upon myself to learn how to compile a kernel to provide everyone with root and recovery for it. Otherwise we wouldn't have the ROMs we have for it now. If it wasn't for the Droid Charge using the exact same dev board as the Strat, I doubt we'd even have that much. I had to take the Charge build of CWM and packed it in a Strat kernel and tweaked the scripts, thank god at least that worked.
JKingDev said:
My guess is that driver software is available for the D4. This is due to the fact that Motorola uses parts from other OEMs (TI CPU ect) with public drivers. Samsung on the other hand uses their own proprietary parts and keeps the drivers private. Is this an accurate assessment?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am not sure about the Motorola drivers, but you are right about Samsung. The first time I compiled the kernel, I was missing 11 modules. I couldn't figure out what I did to keep them from being compiled... and then I learned the sneakiness Samsung uses to get around releasing the source, they compile the kernels for the file system and radios and dynamically link them in the init.rc script. Apparently a lot of them do this, actually.
JKingDev said:
It would seem then that the most important thing to making development possible for a phone (apart from popularity) is driver availability, NOT whether or not the bootloader is unlocked. Is that true?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually both are true to some extent, with a locked bootloader you are stuck with OEM signed boot images and can't recompile the kernel to your own needs, or compiling one with ro.secure = 0 so you get root access in adb (which is how I rooted the Stratosphere). Then you need the drivers to talk to the hardware too. Without them, you'd need to reverse engineer them or use the currently complied ones (also, like we did with the Strat). Finally, you have to have the source for the RIL (Radio Interface Layer) in Android so Android as an OS knows how to talk to the drivers to make calls, send messages, use data, etc. THIS is where we are currently hung up from using AOSP on the Stratosphere. I know work is being done on the RIL for the Charge and since its the same board, we might get lucky and be able to reuse most (if not all) of the same code and bring new life to it. But, I wasn't getting my hopes up and decided to get a D4 anyway.
JKingDev said:
Regardless, I will probably steer clear of samsung for future android purchases. HTC still seems best and motorola acceptable. If only HTC still made high end QWERTYs.
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You and me both. I was in love with the keyboard on my HTC Touch Pro 2 and wish they'd release something like that running Android on Verizon with newer hardware. Closest they had to a QWERTY on VZ was the Merge, and they botched that up from the gate. I also have the Rezound and am trying to design a way to attach a sliding keyboard to the back battery cover to give me something closer to what i have been wanting in a phone.
I think us QWERTY loves on VZ are at the mercy of Motorola and Motorola alone with the original Droid line of sliders.

KnightCrusader said:
I, as well, went from the Stratosphere to the Droid 4. I love my Stratosphere and still have it, but the lack of development on it is just down right aggravating. That is why I took it upon myself to learn how to compile a kernel to provide everyone with root and recovery for it. Otherwise we wouldn't have the ROMs we have for it now. If it wasn't for the Droid Charge using the exact same dev board as the Strat, I doubt we'd even have that much. I had to take the Charge build of CWM and packed it in a Strat kernel and tweaked the scripts, thank god at least that worked.
I am not sure about the Motorola drivers, but you are right about Samsung. The first time I compiled the kernel, I was missing 11 modules. I couldn't figure out what I did to keep them from being compiled... and then I learned the sneakiness Samsung uses to get around releasing the source, they compile the kernels for the file system and radios and dynamically link them in the init.rc script. Apparently a lot of them do this, actually.
Actually both are true to some extent, with a locked bootloader you are stuck with OEM signed boot images and can't recompile the kernel to your own needs, or compiling one with ro.secure = 0 so you get root access in adb (which is how I rooted the Stratosphere). Then you need the drivers to talk to the hardware too. Without them, you'd need to reverse engineer them or use the currently complied ones (also, like we did with the Strat). Finally, you have to have the source for the RIL (Radio Interface Layer) in Android so Android as an OS knows how to talk to the drivers to make calls, send messages, use data, etc. THIS is where we are currently hung up from using AOSP on the Stratosphere. I know work is being done on the RIL for the Charge and since its the same board, we might get lucky and be able to reuse most (if not all) of the same code and bring new life to it. But, I wasn't getting my hopes up and decided to get a D4 anyway.
You and me both. I was in love with the keyboard on my HTC Touch Pro 2 and wish they'd release something like that running Android on Verizon with newer hardware. Closest they had to a QWERTY on VZ was the Merge, and they botched that up from the gate. I also have the Rezound and am trying to design a way to attach a sliding keyboard to the back battery cover to give me something closer to what i have been wanting in a phone.
I think us QWERTY loves on VZ are at the mercy of Motorola and Motorola alone with the original Droid line of sliders.
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Click to collapse
Thanks for the replies. It is interesting stuff. And KC I definitely appreciated your work on the Strat. So I guess it really was a question of popularity being the problem for stratosphere. I definitely know it wasnt the most popular device but it also seemed like reverse engineering drivers for the Samsung devices was so much harder. The charge was relatively popular and years later the RIL has still not been successfully reverse engineered. All the moto devices get cracked so quickly. Is it only because they are more popular, or are there other reasons that make them easier to hack? Thats what leads me to think maybe it's samsung's use of proprietary hardware that makes things more difficult. Does that have something to do with it?

Any Hope of a Workaround for US GSM-based Carriers?

I recently purchased a used droid 4 on ebay. Unfortunately it has been upgraded to the OTA release of ICS 4.04. Anyone working on lifting the simlock associated with the version of the bootlocker included with ICS (I'm assuming the bootloader is the origin of this simlock but technically I could be wrong)? Or is it a lost cause because it is signed? I know it's written to protected ram so any workaround would be nontrivial but does anyone have any possible exploit ideas? Motorola is unlocking a couple other models that they have out. Would petitioning them to include the droid 4 in their list of unlockable devices be a surefire path to getting the simlock lifted? Or should I consider this a lost cause and return my droid 4 to the ebay ether?
If anyone is considering working on this issue I would be more than glad to contribute. While I'm no Android expert I have a decent understanding of the OS and work in command line Linux for a living so I'd be glad to help. The selection of qwerty phones today is beyond attrocious.
One last thought. Is the idea of spoofing the carrier a possibility?
Sent from my SGH-T839 using Tapatalk

Hi blackstar,
So, I recently got a Droid 4 off of CraigsList that I wanted to use on StraightTalk, but found out that what I had perceived (that 2G/Edge was working on GSM North America) was incorrect.
They're not completely sure WHERE it's broken at the moment as far as SIM lock. Some have suggested it might be baked in the ROM -- but more than likely it is built into the modem.
Here have been some stabs at it -- and what to do in regards to getting the modem setup/altered.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1916869
A thought, though -- since we have SafeStrap and Root, doesn't that let us essentially bypass the bootloader in some ways? My understanding is that the bootloader was required to boot the device to a "correct" image and lock the load to Motorola's firmware, but SafeStrap/root gave us access to actually overwrite the RAM/memory and replace the existing kernel with a new one for the chance at custom ROMs. So, I'm not entirely sure it has to do with the bootloader.
To me, it seems like something that's potentially baked into their ROM or in the modem firmware. If it's in the modem firmware, it's a matter of figuring out what keys/values need to be adjusted and then run it. There have been talks about AT&T getting the Photon Q (Asanti) -- rumors that were back around April of this year... but we have yet to see it there and no news about it showing up anytime soon. Not sure if they scrapped the keyboard and then shipped it as a different device.
I would imagine that if we can have the lowest level debug logging enabled and plug in an American SIM, you might be able to figure out what is breaking. Not sure how low logcat can go...
That's my understanding of the current situation, from a programmer's point of view (though I don't code for Android). Spoofing might be interesting -- but if it's locked at the radio firmware, I don't think spoofing can adjust the frequencies. But more power to you if you can figure it out (and force me to find ANOTHER Droid 4, haha).
Good luck! Definitely talk with the OP of the Topic I sent you, since s/he has a pretty deep interest in this as well.
OH, and one more thought -- there was a thought to grab an AT&T version of the Bionic and Verizon version, wherein they had the same radios, but different firmware, and do a diff on them to figure out if some settings had changed, and then potentially patch that into the D4. That might be a good strategy, but that would require us to get dumps from a few different people -- something you might be able to facilitate if you guys all work together.
One final thought -- is there any way we could have a sticky'd topic for people to post their findings, so we don't have to keep scanning and finding this?

Much thanks terinfire.
Let me start off by saying I don't have any definitive information with regards to any of the good questions you posed but if I find out anything I'll be sure to update the thread.
I spent a good chunk of the weekend trying to educate myself on the situation. From what I understand (anyone feel free to correct me or point me to the appropriate thread if I'm completely reinventing the wheel), it seems like it comes down to two most likely scenarios. Either Verizon added an MCC/MCN lock in the baseband when pushing out the OTA ICS release or they placed a restriction in the radio interface layer (RIL) of the ICS ROM. My research hasn't quite enabled me to determine which scenario is more likely. My unscientific intuition (and wishful thinking) is that the restriction is in the ROM somewhere in the RIL (if that makes any sense, still learning the Android OS architecture).
I will post what I've mentioned above in the the forum you mentioned; hopefully I can garner an audience. I will also look into getting a sticky topic created.
Not too sure how to implement any of my intuitions noted above with regards to this problem but I will try and learn as it goes.
One more note - so it is claimed that the Samsung Galaxy III for Verizon can be unlocked to use domestic GSM carriers. I've found no confirmation. (https://plus.google.com/103583939320326217147/posts/b7JbBKjJVSQ)
Pertinent links I came across in my research that may be useful:
MCC/MCN Codes: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobile_Network_Code
Radio Interface Layer: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radio_Interface_Layer, http://www.kandroid.org/online-pdk/guide/telephony.html
RIL Header: https://code.google.com/p/linux-on-android/source/browse/radio/headers/ril.h
Qualcomm MDM660Device Specification: http://www.scribd.com/doc/54154049/...odem-Device-Specification-Advance-Information

[Q] Flashing Canadian 4x (P880g)

I've been going bonkers trying to get my p880 flashed to 20a. I tried the LG-KDZ Hacker method first (many times), then the KDZ_FW_UPD method, which also failed. Finally, I tried using LGFlashTool which also failed, but the failure log gave me a hint as to why:
"Invalid Target P880 <> P880g"
Has anyone successfully flashed a Canadian 4x with a non-Canadian firmware?
Can anyone think of a way to do so? Or is there a reason I shouldn't?

Mods? Just delete thread.
Nevermind; I've done a more indepth search and come across all the previous unanswered threads. Mods--you may as well just delete this thread.

Yeah, good luck finding any info on the P880g. No one at XDA is working on it, so the best we can do is pray that LG releases something official for it.

jphillip said:
Yeah, good luck finding any info on the P880g. No one at XDA is working on it, so the best we can do is pray that LG releases something official for it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I asked on their Facebook page and they replied "At this time there is no scheduled upgrades for the Optimus 4X within Canada."
I was a bit surprised at the hostility towards the P880g posts I found. It's not like our variant has its own forum. It's also not like variations in devices are uncommon. Back when I had a G1 (HTC Dream), the Canadian version ran different S/W but could run USA roms without issue--providing your radio and bootloader matched. But that was just a S/W issue. We *may* have different hardware. However, given how small the Canadian market is and that the P880g has only been released here (as opposed to the dozens of countries the P880 is available in), I'd be surprised if our *hardware* was actually different. I haven't been able to track down what chip the P880 uses, so I don't know if it's capable of 1700. If it is, we might be alright running p880 roms. If it isn't, then we'd need some real dev work.
The real issues right now are the locked bootloader and the model check. That's what's preventing us from seeing if a P880 rom would run. I'm no dev but if I can figure out how it does the model check then I'll try and flash v20a and see if I lose connectivity.

Now that makes me curious... check this comparison: http://pdadb.net/index.php?m=pdacomparer&id1=3314&id2=3972
The only difference between the two is Band 4 on the P880g, and Band 9 on the P880... plus Android 4.0.4 vs. 4.0.3 (a minor software update). The listed chips are the same. So what is it in the hardware that makes a difference for frequencies? Is it even hardware, or simply a ROM limitation? Do they have physically different antennas?
Perhaps it is simply a matter of flipping a couple bits in a P880 ROM to enable Band 4, and disable Band 9 and the model check. I wish I had a shred of the technical knowledge necessary to experiment with this stuff.

jphillip said:
Now that makes me curious... check this comparison: http://pdadb.net/index.php?m=pdacomparer&id1=3314&id2=3972
The only difference between the two is Band 4 on the P880g, and Band 9 on the P880... plus Android 4.0.4 vs. 4.0.3 (a minor software update). The listed chips are the same. So what is it in the hardware that makes a difference for frequencies? Is it even hardware, or simply a ROM limitation? Do they have physically different antennas?
Perhaps it is simply a matter of flipping a couple bits in a P880 ROM to enable Band 4, and disable Band 9 and the model check. I wish I had a shred of the technical knowledge necessary to experiment with this stuff.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The 'chip' in question is the radio/wireless chip, rather than the cpu/gpu. It's not typically listed on spec sheets, and is the sort of thing you need to do a teardown to find out. For example, if you check out this teardown: http://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/Nexus+One+Teardown/1654/2 , the Qualcomm RTR6285 is the Nexus One's radio chip. Sometimes radio chips will support more frequencies than they use. If the P880 and P880g have the same chip, then accessing frequencies is a software matter and easier for a dev to deal with.
I'm no dev either, but hey, devs are made, not born. I like my P880g as is, but I'd really love to be able to customize it more and or update it as time goes by and 4.0.4 begins to seem a bit long in the tooth.

nemesishaven said:
I asked on their Facebook page and they replied "At this time there is no scheduled upgrades for the Optimus 4X within Canada."
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I ve checked also with videotron, no scheduled update for their LG 4X firmware