Unlocked Droid Pro on both T-mobile and Verizon

[substanceneil]

I got my non-stock Droid Pro working with both CDMA (verizon) and GSM (t-mobile). As mentioned above, however, the phone can only access one network at a time. I use Netswidget to quickly switch back and forth between the two. Kind of a pain in the rear but still nice to have it working.

Now that that's settled, I am going to attempt to update the software. The version on the phone is 2.26.6. I want to use the 2.26.20 SBF and then hopefully run a OTA update to 2.26.60.

The reason for this is that the DP i have has horrible (unusable) voice quality outgoing through the mic. Wired or bluetooth handsfree works and sounds perfectly. But I am hoping a software update might fix this as I am getting tired of searching for my bluetooth everytime I need to answer the phone.

Wish me luck!

 

[substanceneil]

I was able to upgrade to the 2.26.20 SBF. The update fixed my audio problem, but I lost my ability to use a T-mobile GSM card (like the stock phone). For some reason, my clockworkmod bootstrap recovery, while it seemed to work and reset the firmware to 2.26.3, did not recover the functionality.

So i fixed my audio but lost my GSM capability.

Not exactly what I wanted. Anyone have any idea why the recovery did not completely recover? I also tried doing a data wipe from the bootstrap recovery, and then restoring, but still the same. GSM/T-mobile disabled on the software level.

Neil

 

[Penguissimo]

The SBF probably included a radio upgrade, while nandroid backups don't include the radio. Sorry, man, but unless you can track down a copy of the radio that thing shipped with, I'm guessing you're stuck

 

[substanceneil]

Penguissimo:

I am a newb with android and did not realize that there was system data that nandroid will not back up. I think you are right--the radio software was updated and I lost my T-mobile GSM capability. The nandroid restore did not restore the old radio software. I tried various methods of restoring including data wipes and factory reset, etc...

Interesting things with my updates:

1) the voice quality improved completely, but only for a few calls. even before my restore, I was back having to use a BT to make calls.

2) the SBF update worked well, but the OTA update led to a issue wtih the touchscreen. I wasn't able to even unlock the phone. I had to re-SBF. I tried several times. looks like the newest software has some incompatibility with my DP's touchscreen.

3) The battery life is now WAAAAY better. I used to use an extended battery and keep my old standard in my wallet. I used to limit GPS, wifi, etc. Now I can last nearly two days without such judicious use of my radios.

Live and learn.

I am leaving my job soon, and will lose my free Verizon connection. At that point, I will upgrade my T-mobile to include a data plan and shop for a new phone. Nexus S looks nice. CLIQ2 looks nice. Any suggestions?

Neil

 

[Penguissimo]

Penguissimo:

I am a newb with android and did not realize that there was system data that nandroid will not back up. I think you are right--the radio software was updated and I lost my T-mobile GSM capability. The nandroid restore did not restore the old radio software. I tried various methods of restoring including data wipes and factory reset, etc...

Interesting things with my updates:

1) the voice quality improved completely, but only for a few calls. even before my restore, I was back having to use a BT to make calls.

2) the SBF update worked well, but the OTA update led to a issue wtih the touchscreen. I wasn't able to even unlock the phone. I had to re-SBF. I tried several times. looks like the newest software has some incompatibility with my DP's touchscreen.

3) The battery life is now WAAAAY better. I used to use an extended battery and keep my old standard in my wallet. I used to limit GPS, wifi, etc. Now I can last nearly two days without such judicious use of my radios.

Live and learn.

I am leaving my job soon, and will lose my free Verizon connection. At that point, I will upgrade my T-mobile to include a data plan and shop for a new phone. Nexus S looks nice. CLIQ2 looks nice. Any suggestions?

Neil

Glad so many other things were an upgrade for you! Sorry you lost the T-Mobile ability, but it sounds like it won't really be an issue down the road anyway. It's interesting that there are so many quirks with the release software on a pre-release phone.

As far as T-Mobile phones go, you've got a nice selection of choices right now. The Nexus S is of course a solid way to go, especially with the promise of early Google updates, but you don't get an SD card slot, so you have no way to upgrade the storage. There's also the G2 if you're interested in a vanilla Android experience and a hardware keyboard, the myTouch 4G (or however they capitalise that) if you're into Sense, the Vibrant if you like TouchWiz but hate using GPS, and the CLIQ 2 if you hate yourself. T-Mobile is really the place to be right now if you're an Android geek...at least until the next round of Motorola and HTC phones come out.

 

[bjwheeler]

Interesting thread. I just unlocked my DP that I've had for six months and put in a live AT&T SIM card. It didn't work, so I came to this forum to find out why. If anyone figures out a way to unlock the phone so US SIMs will work, please post back here. I'd love to have a live US SIM in the phone and be able to switch back and forth from Verizon.

 

[SlickClick]

Dam this really sucks..!

Neil; you should have backed up all the radio settings using cdma workshop or something like that to keep these unknown GSM settings....

I think this is still a do able idea..! And I feel it violates the federal law passed to allow for useage of phones like this one... class action law suit vs motorola & verizon anyone..?

On a side note... Neil does the droid now ask you for a "SIM Network Unlock PIN"..?
Id love to get past that part in the least then work on radio settings LoL

 

[androiduser102]

So I put my sim card in from tmobile in the phone ran it as gsm and only got 2g.

Anyone find a solution or way around it to get unlocked from verizon and my 4g to work on the phone at all ?

 

[lunatic59]

So I put my sim card in from tmobile in the phone ran it as gsm and only got 2g.

Anyone find a solution or way around it to get unlocked from verizon and my 4g to work on the phone at all ?

The Droid Pro supports GSM bands 850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz and UMTS bands 850, 1900, 2100 MHz. T-Mobile uses 1700MHz for 3G data.