[QtMoko] GSM not turning on / registering

[Nick]

Quoth Michael Spacefalcon:
> Nick <openmoko-community at njw.me.uk> wrote:
> 
> > The phone that works is 3G, and it doesn't seem to have a 'force 2G' 
> > option anywhere.
> 
> The option in question often goes by different names: it may also be
> named "network type" or "network selection" etc, with the choices
> being GSM or WCDMA or both.  Try selecting GSM if you can find the
> elusive option.

Hmm, I didn't see anything like that even, but I'll take another 
look tonight.

> > I'm in the Greater Boston area,
> 
> Ahh - I didn't realize you were still here in the States - I remember
> you asking on this list a few months ago about GSM frequency bands in
> USA, with the intention of traveling to Boston area, but it was back
> in February, so I thought the trip was over and you were back home in
> the UK.

Yeah, I'm here for 6 months. It's a good place :)

> How long ago have you arrived in Boston?  Is the FR-not-working
> problem something that happened upon arrival in USA, or has it been
> working for you for a while in this part of the world?

No, it has worked fine (well, in fact) for the past couple of 
months, so it definitely *can* work here.

> Ahh, so you decided to be adventurous and use AT&T instead of the more
> tried & tested T-Mobile.  Before we spend an inordinate amount of
> effort figuring out why your FR doesn't work on AT&T in Boston,
> perhaps you could try a T-Mobile SIM card just as a quick test?  If
> you don't have one, just go into any T-Mobile store and ask them to
> borrow a SIM for a few minutes to test in your phone while inside
> their store.

I may end up doing that, but there isn't a T-Mobile store very 
conveniently located for me, so I'll at least try some fun logging 
of AT commands first.
 
> Also if there is any chance you might visit California before you go
> back to the UK, we could meet up and do some GSM hacking together. :)

Aah, that would be nice, but no, I don't think I'm going to get to 
the west coast this trip. It sounds like something well worth doing, 
and someday I'll make it there. I'll let you know if my plans change 
and I end up in California. Similarly, let me know if you come to 
Boston. :)

> > Basically because I just want a dumbphone that works, really, so 
> > tend towards laziness regarding my phone nowadays.
> 
> If you are using your FR as an oversized dumbphone, have you considered
> using a real dumbphone instead?  You might want to grab a Mot C139 on
> ebay while they are still available - it is one of the models which I
> am using for FreeCalypso firmware bring-up (along with the Neo FR and
> Pirelli DP-L10) before building my own dumbphone hardware, and it has
> the advantage of being a very simple dumbphone with full schematics
> available (unlike the Pirelli).

Hmm... I'll consider it...

Thanks, and expect some nice AT output later.

Nick