# 4.2.2 OTA signal question



## slider112 (Apr 10, 2012)

Hey folks,
Just a quick question I was hoping to get some clarification on:

Like many, I got the 4.2.2 OTA on Tuesday evening and everything went fine with the download and install. That being said, I'm having some signal issues that are a bit strange. For the most part the signal quality is fine. Not really having any connection issues, but I've noticed lower bars being shown overall. After doing some digging though I've determined that apparently 4.2.2 reports signal quality differently than 4.1.1 did... representing a much truer value based on dBm and not overly inflating things for constant 3-4 bars. Essentially it's like I remember way back with 4.0.2. I still find it a little odd that I can show -85dBm and only have 1 bar, but if that's how things are reported in 4.2.2 then so be it.

The thing that's bothering me though is this: at times my signal will read 0dBm 99asu. I'll have zero bars showing, but it will still show 4g in the notification bar and will say connected to the network in status. I can make calls, text, surf the web, download apps, even run speed tests without any problem (although not great numbers, they're not horrific either) Eventually bars and dBm "come back", but the amount of time for that to happen varies. Again, nothing seems to be affected by this, but it's just a little disconcerting to have happen.

So, has anyone else experienced this? Google searches show some talk of it but otherwise haven't turned up much. I've done a battery/SIM pull and that didn't change things. Is it possible something may have gone a bit sideways in the ota download? Was thinking a factory reset may help too but not looking forward to wiping my device only to find out this is pretty normal.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.


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## Art Vandelay (Jan 4, 2012)

Ive had 4g show with no bars, I haven't gone in and check the actual signal strength though.

If everything is working fine and its just a visual defect, I wouldn't bother doing the factory reset. I have noticed any performance issues with the signal.

Point is, I don't think you are alone in this, buy b/c it doesn't affect anything you can't find anyone talking about it. I doubt a factory reset would fix it.

You stock or rooted with custom Rom?

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using RootzWiki


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## jaykil (Jun 10, 2012)

I had the same problem. I flashed Xenonhd and the signal strength took a plunge. A couple of days later the new VZW radios leaked so I flashed them and had all kinds of problems for 2 or 3 days. Turned it out it had nothing to do with my phone, just a tower issue near my house. I have been monitoring the signal now for a month or so and realized it really was just a reporting issue as my phone is just as fast in the same spots as before, regardless of rom or radio. My bluetooth signal is a completely different story with the rom though. The range is now only a couple feet. I can't even use my bluetooth headphones with my phone in my pocket. No idea how to fix it either.


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## slider112 (Apr 10, 2012)

Art Vandelay said:


> Ive had 4g show with no bars, I haven't gone in and check the actual signal strength though.
> 
> If everything is working fine and its just a visual defect, I wouldn't bother doing the factory reset. I have noticed any performance issues with the signal.
> 
> ...


Thanks for the response. I'm stock, locked, not rooted... probably the last one...







I've been thinking of unlocking and rooting and just flashing back to the 4.1.1 radios and seeing if that makes a difference. Do I need TWRP or CWM to flash those or can that be done if I keep stock recovery?

As always thanks for all input, much appreciated.


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## calripkenturner (Feb 9, 2012)

It can be done without unlocking or rooting i believe. You should just be able to use fastboot


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## slider112 (Apr 10, 2012)

calripkenturner said:


> It can be done without unlocking or rooting i believe. You should just be able to use fastboot


Really? Through ADB push?


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## calripkenturner (Feb 9, 2012)

slider112 said:


> Really? Through ADB push?


No you would have to use fast boot in the boot loader to flash the radio images

Edit: My fault it looks like you do have to unlock the bootloader which would wipe your sdcard. I should have looked it up before I suggested it. Sorry. http://wiki.rootzwiki.com/Samsung_Galaxy_Nexus_%28toro%29#Flash_Radio_Updates There's the link if you're still interested.


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## AuroEdge (Aug 2, 2011)

Adb sideload stock 4.1.1 in stock recovery


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## slider112 (Apr 10, 2012)

slider112 said:


> Hey folks,
> Just a quick question I was hoping to get some clarification on:
> 
> Like many, I got the 4.2.2 OTA on Tuesday evening and everything went fine with the download and install. That being said, I'm having some signal issues that are a bit strange. For the most part the signal quality is fine. Not really having any connection issues, but I've noticed lower bars being shown overall. After doing some digging though I've determined that apparently 4.2.2 reports signal quality differently than 4.1.1 did... representing a much truer value based on dBm and not overly inflating things for constant 3-4 bars. Essentially it's like I remember way back with 4.0.2. I still find it a little odd that I can show -85dBm and only have 1 bar, but if that's how things are reported in 4.2.2 then so be it.
> ...


Just to follow up:

After several weeks now of running the 4.2.2 ota with the new FK01/FK02 radios I've made some observations I wanted to share. First, I ended up unlocking and rooting my phone. Yeah, about time I know...







As is standard with such things the phone was factory reset and wiped and I'm up and running again now with a stock, rooted 4.2.2 ota from VZW with TWRP. Anyway, first observation is that the factory reset and wipe did not change the odd signal issue that I was having and that I referenced in my first post. There are still many times throughout the day my signal reads 0 dBm 99 asu, I have the 4G symbol but no bars showing, yet I am in fact connected to the network and can operate as normal. Speed tests run fine, albeit with less than stellar numbers, but numbers that would indicate the weaker than normal signal being shown. Not a hindrance, but... annoying.

What I have also started to notice however is this: When I check what's been using battery my Cell Standby is higher than it used to be, and in turn my "time without signal" is definitely higher... I've seen anywhere between 10%-65%. Now, logically I know this not to be the case. I rarely, if ever, pick up the phone and don't have a connection... and my battery life, if anything, has gotten much better since the ota update was pushed. So, the only thing that I can deduce from all this is that when the signal is showing 0 dBm 99 asu the Android OS thinks that I don't have a signal/connection and it is being reported as such in the battery stats, even though it's not actually draining the battery. That's the only way that, logically, I can explain this. As I said, battery life has been great and signal has always been there, even when reading 0 dBm 99 asu. While I know functionally things are fine... It's weird. I don't like it. And I have yet to really find any discussion on the interwebz about it being an issue people are noticing. Can anyone else echo what is happening on my end on your device? I'm tempted to flash back to the 4.1.1 radios, which were great for me, and see if things go back to normal, but part of me is concerned that this is also just a signal reporting function difference between 4.1.1 and 4.2.2 and that the older radios may not change things at all.

Anyway, just wanted to share. Thanks for letting me vent. If anyone has any comments or suggestions they'd be very welcome.


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## tiny4579 (Oct 21, 2011)

Since I hate quoting long posts, (referring to the above post) I will say that yes the signal reporting did change but that wouldnt explain your issues. The actual dBm strength reporting never changed. A signal is a signal. What was referenced was just how signal bars were calculated. It could be a bad flash of the firmware or the signal reporting going bad. Try the old radios and see if your issue goes away. It is an odd one and not likely software related but rather radio firmware or hardware related.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2


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## slider112 (Apr 10, 2012)

Thanks tiny, appreciate the reply. I'd be surprised if it was hardware related. I've had this GNex since release day and never had these types of signal issues until the 4.2.2 ota. In fact, it's been just the opposite of so many GNex's out there that could never hold a signal, as mine has always excelled in that dept. I'll try flashing the old radios and see what happens... or maybe just flash the ones from the 4.2.2 ota again and see if there's a difference? My FK01/FK02 radios are straight from the ota... maybe something was screwy with them, who knows. At any rate, thanks for the advice, much appreciated.


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## tiny4579 (Oct 21, 2011)

slider112 said:


> Thanks tiny, appreciate the reply. I'd be surprised if it was hardware related. I've had this GNex since release day and never had these types of signal issues until the 4.2.2 ota. In fact, it's been just the opposite of so many GNex's out there that could never hold a signal, as mine has always excelled in that dept. I'll try flashing the old radios and see what happens... or maybe just flash the ones from the 4.2.2 ota again and see if there's a difference? My FK01/FK02 radios are straight from the ota... maybe something was screwy with them, who knows. At any rate, thanks for the advice, much appreciated.


try either flashing the 4.2.2 ones or the 4.1.1 ones again and see.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2


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## wakefinance (Dec 19, 2011)

slider112 said:


> Thanks tiny, appreciate the reply. I'd be surprised if it was hardware related. I've had this GNex since release day and never had these types of signal issues until the 4.2.2 ota. In fact, it's been just the opposite of so many GNex's out there that could never hold a signal, as mine has always excelled in that dept. I'll try flashing the old radios and see what happens... or maybe just flash the ones from the 4.2.2 ota again and see if there's a difference? My FK01/FK02 radios are straight from the ota... maybe something was screwy with them, who knows. At any rate, thanks for the advice, much appreciated.


Until the OTA was pushed, I had been using a 4.2.2 ROM with the 4.1 radios. After taking the OTA I noticed that signal was worse and 3g to 4g handoff was poor. I'm probably going to flash the 4.1 radios again. Those were the best for the phone so far as far as I'm concerned.


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## cedarhunter (Mar 12, 2013)

I know exactly what your talking about. I see the same thing on my phone - blank triangle 4g icon and in settings/about phone/status 0dbm 99asu. Just wanted to let you know your not alone. alas i've found no answer either...i've ceased to worry about it since everything seems to work just fine.


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## slider112 (Apr 10, 2012)

wakefinance said:


> Until the OTA was pushed, I had been using a 4.2.2 ROM with the 4.1 radios. After taking the OTA I noticed that signal was worse and 3g to 4g handoff was poor. I'm probably going to flash the 4.1 radios again. Those were the best for the phone so far as far as I'm concerned.


I agree completely. The best signal I had was on the 4.1.1 radios... I ended up flashing them tonight, gonna see how they settle in here.


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## slider112 (Apr 10, 2012)

cedarhunter said:


> I know exactly what your talking about. I see the same thing on my phone - blank triangle 4g icon and in settings/about phone/status 0dbm 99asu. Just wanted to let you know your not alone. alas i've found no answer either...i've ceased to worry about it since everything seems to work just fine.


Thanks cedar, that actually makes me feel a whole lot better about things. You're really the first person to confirm the exact same behavior... was starting to think I was the only one, but knew it wasn't likely. If you get a chance, check your time without signal percentage under the cell standby in the battery menu and see what it reads. I'm guessing it will read higher than you think, however you'll have not lost signal or have high battery drain at all. I think it's a false reading based on the Android OS thinking that 0 dBm 99 asu means no signal, when actually you keep signal that entire time. Right now I'm sitting at 22% without signal, supposedly, when in actuality I haven't been without signal at all for the last 8 hrs and have had minimal battery drain over that time... Just curious...


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## wakefinance (Dec 19, 2011)

I flashed back to the 4.1.1 radios, and my signal returned!


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## slider112 (Apr 10, 2012)

Strange... I flashed back to the 4.1.1 radios too and didn't notice much difference. I was still getting the 0 dBm 99 asu from time to time, and 3G/4G handoffs weren't nearly as fast. Anybody else have good results flashing back?

Wake, did you flash the ones from the main thread here?


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## DR3W5K1 (Feb 19, 2012)

Here try these they work fine for me. http://depositfiles.com/files/htslvc88z


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## slider112 (Apr 10, 2012)

DR3W5K1 said:


> Here try these they work fine for me. http://depositfiles....files/htslvc88z


Thanks; are these stock 4.2.2 radios from the ota update?


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## DR3W5K1 (Feb 19, 2012)

slider112 said:


> Thanks; are these stock 4.2.2 radios from the ota update?


That's what they are. There were two sets floating around the forums. These.... And another set that would give me complete signal drops.


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## slider112 (Apr 10, 2012)

Huh, interesting. I'll give em a shot. Do you have a link to the original thread where these came from? Would like to do a little reading up and edumacate myself...

Thanks!


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## masully84 (Jul 17, 2012)

slider112 said:


> Huh, interesting. I'll give em a shot. Do you have a link to the original thread where these came from? Would like to do a little reading up and edumacate myself...
> 
> Thanks!


http://rootzwiki.com/topic/25965-vzw-sprint-everything-you-need-to-know-about-the-cdma-galaxy-nexus/

Sent from my Nexus 7


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## slider112 (Apr 10, 2012)

Thanks; the link posted for radios in that thread is where I got them the first time... so if the ones that DR3W5K1 just posted are the same then I've already tried them.


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## DR3W5K1 (Feb 19, 2012)

YeA...... that's not where i got them. Meh it's fine though you don't have to Try them. I think I'm done trying to help the community. I might just lurk from now on.


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## tiny4579 (Oct 21, 2011)

DR3W5K1 said:


> YeA...... that's not where i got them. Meh it's fine though you don't have to Try them. I think I'm done trying to help the community. I might just lurk from now on.


don't get discouraged.

I can post the ones from the factory image that are fastboot flashable to see if that helps.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2


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## slider112 (Apr 10, 2012)

DR3W5K1 said:


> YeA...... that's not where i got them. Meh it's fine though you don't have to Try them. I think I'm done trying to help the community. I might just lurk from now on.


Lol... ok. Lurk away. No need to get bent. If that's not where you got them from that's cool. Do you have the link where you did get them? I'm asking for a few reasons; 1) I'm genuinely surprised that there are two different "versions" of radios from the 4.2.2 ota... I didn't know that.. 2) That these two different versions have produced different signal quality results... and 3) I'd like to cover my bases by checking the md5 sum on it so that I get a trouble free flash; which has been widely suggested across forums as good practice, for radios in particular.

Bottom line is I'm just doing my due diligence; sorry if I offended.


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## yarly (Jun 22, 2011)

slider112 said:


> 1) I'm genuinely surprised that there are two different "versions" of radios from the 4.2.2 ota... I didn't know that.. 2) That these two different versions have produced different signal quality results...


There is only one version when counting what matters (the firmware itself being the same). There's a fastboot version and a recovery version, but the firmware is the same in either. Run bsdiff on any of them, same results (short of the one where someone decided to use dd on it instead of the proper way using bspatch, but that one just has empty space and no functional difference in it)


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## slider112 (Apr 10, 2012)

yarly said:


> Just to follow up:
> 
> After several weeks now of running the 4.2.2 ota with the new FK01/FK02 radios I've made some observations I wanted to share. First, I ended up unlocking and rooting my phone. Yeah, about time I know...
> 
> ...


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## yarly (Jun 22, 2011)

slider112 said:


> Ok yarly, thanks for the explanation... makes sense. I've flashed several different radios and they've all acted very similarly on 4.2.2. I'm at the point now to where I just believe that there is an inherent difference in the way the signal is reported between 4.1.1 and 4.2.2. I've seen you post and offer insight on this topic on other threads; can you elaborate on whether this is in fact the case? I've quoted my observations below. Thanks in advance, appreciate it.


Yes, it is reported different for LTE if you are looking at only the graphical bars at the top of the device from 4.1 and 4.2 (4.2 is more like 4.0.2 signal readings). I mentioned it before in a few threads offhand. Search through my recent posts (via the "find content" button in my profile) if you would like a more detailed explanation. Tiny4579 has also said similar things about it as well if you wanted to look through his too.


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## slider112 (Apr 10, 2012)

OK, thanks, will check them out. Any explanation/experience with the 0 dBm 99 asu, but still having a 4G connection and full functionality? It seems to affect the cell standby time without signal and give a false high reading. That's new since 4.2.2 to me...


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## yarly (Jun 22, 2011)

slider112 said:


> OK, thanks, will check them out. Any explanation/experience with the 0 dBm 99 asu, but still having a 4G connection and full functionality? It seems to affect the cell standby time without signal and give a false high reading. That's new since 4.2.2 to me...


Dunno, never encountered it myself. Probably your choice of ROM.


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## tiny4579 (Oct 21, 2011)

slider112 said:


> OK, thanks, will check them out. Any explanation/experience with the 0 dBm 99 asu, but still having a 4G connection and full functionality? It seems to affect the cell standby time without signal and give a false high reading. That's new since 4.2.2 to me...


I think it may be a hardware or ROM bug. I think most ROMs leave that stuff alone so I don't know why it'd do that . But 0 dBm 99 asu is technically impossibly good signal not no signal so the ROM gets confused. I fear it is hardware related.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2


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## slider112 (Apr 10, 2012)

No ROM, I'm just running the official ota... stock, rooted 4.2.2.

I've had my phone since launch day and ran through every official VZW ota... Never happened until 4.2.2.


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## cedarhunter (Mar 12, 2013)

I may of course be off my rocker... As i said in previous post i've seen the 0dbm 99 Asu 4g thingy on my phone(which is rooted/rom'd). its been a bit since i've seen it. running vanir/commotio atm...I noticed it on other rom's more so than the current one. so wondering if rom related but funny it'd be doing it on stock.

This is first time I did not take ota. rooted/rom'd/flashed radio's shortly before ota...I'll try and look at "time without signal" again but when i have looked it's usually not to bad (6% to 12%) considering i go places a lot that have poor/no signal at all(put some mountains and backwoods between you and the nearest cell tower and see what your battery life is like lol.)


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## tiny4579 (Oct 21, 2011)

slider112 said:


> No ROM, I'm just running the official ota... stock, rooted 4.2.2.
> 
> I've had my phone since launch day and ran through every official VZW ota... Never happened until 4.2.2.


Just wondering if you still have it going back to stock 4.1.1 temporarily as a test.


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## wakefinance (Dec 19, 2011)

slider112 said:


> Strange... I flashed back to the 4.1.1 radios too and didn't notice much difference. I was still getting the 0 dBm 99 asu from time to time, and 3G/4G handoffs weren't nearly as fast. Anybody else have good results flashing back?
> 
> Wake, did you flash the ones from the main thread here?


No I used fastboot to flash them. It's really easy as long as you're unlocked. If you have the ADB files on your computer, you download the stock image from Google, take the radios from that file and put them in your ADB folder, and in a command window type:

fastboot flash radio «name of the radio»

fastboot reboot-bootloader

fastboot flash radio-cdma «name of the CDMA radio, which might actually be the LTE radio»

fastboot reboot-bootloader

And that's it.


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## slider112 (Apr 10, 2012)

tiny4579 said:


> Just wondering if you still have it going back to stock 4.1.1 temporarily as a test.


No, I was late to the party and didn't root until I received the 4.2.2 ota from VZW. No nandroids of my 4.1.1 stock setup to test with unfortunately. I will say, however, that this issue cropped up as soon as I took the ota... i was locked, stock, unrooted, stock recovery... Decided to do a factory reset and wipe to see if that would help, and in the process decided that since I was wiping anyway I'd just go ahead and unlock and root while I was at it. Made no difference, signal wise. Acted the same. Again, it's not horrible, and it doesn't really affect things on the grand scale... but it's annoying and it just doesn't make any sense to me. It's hard to figure out if it's a function of 4.2.2, the new radios, or both. Trying to isolate things is a challenge.


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## tiny4579 (Oct 21, 2011)

slider112 said:


> No, I was late to the party and didn't root until I received the 4.2.2 ota from VZW. No nandroids of my 4.1.1 stock setup to test with unfortunately. I will say, however, that this issue cropped up as soon as I took the ota... i was locked, stock, unrooted, stock recovery... Decided to do a factory reset and wipe to see if that would help, and in the process decided that since I was wiping anyway I'd just go ahead and unlock and root while I was at it. Made no difference, signal wise. Acted the same. Again, it's not horrible, and it doesn't really affect things on the grand scale... but it's annoying and it just doesn't make any sense to me. It's hard to figure out if it's a function of 4.2.2, the new radios, or both. Trying to isolate things is a challenge.


you can flash the factory image for 4.1.1 available on Google's site. Just search Nexus factory image.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2


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## area52 (Jun 7, 2011)

Where are you located? One thing I've noticed with LTE is the problem is usually with the tower. So you'll see it, talk about it on the forums and maybe 1 person happens to have the same issue. I have had that issue right after flashing the 4.2.2 radios and noticed my phone was acting very strange while the signal was all wonky.. (lag, freezes, etc) tried two roms and had the same issue. I was ready to flash back to stock and saw my wife's stock nexus just received the OTA and her signal got screwy the same time as mine. I haven't seen the problem again in a week so I'm thinking it's something on vzw's end and the new radio is causing the phone to interpret something differently. BTW I'm in Mesa, AZ

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk HD


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## abtre (Jun 7, 2011)

I've had the same issue as the OP since I flashed these radios a month ago. In addition, my signal "locks up" a lot. It will show that I have a bar or more of 4G service and am connected to Google's servers, but literally nothing will load. It's very frustrating and I've kind of just put up with it for lack of knowledge on what to troubleshoot. For reference, I live in the suburbs of Dallas, so I would hope that such a big metropolitan area isn't having tower issues for weeks at a time.


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## artvandelay7 (Apr 8, 2013)

Good evening! First time posting on the site... do appreciate any help/suggestions!

I've had the same issues as OP since OTA came out. Stock vzw gn, only OTAs since phone came out. I live in NYC and great/consistent 4g signal prior to 4.2.2 OTA. After the OTA, I've been noticing terrible 4g signal, many times with 0-1 bar, often -120 to -100 dbm. It seems when I reboot/battery pull the phone, I'll get a strong 4g signal (-75dbm) but then within a minute it will disappear. I have frequently seen the "0dbm 99asu" scenario, yet still maintain connectivity. Have also seen frequent swaps to 3g, and then to 1x!! Have done battery/sim pulls, also factory resetted just after the 4.2.2 came out just to start things fresh. 3g seems to work better and I've maintained a more consistent 3g connection. Like OP, I've also noticed a significantly higher "% without signal" and also awful battery life while the phone seems to search for signals.

Not really sure what else to try at this point. called vzw and got to level 2, and they couldn't help (they did see that I had lousy connections from their end), and escalated it to level 3. still waiting to hear back from them.

Any thoughts??

Thanks!



slider112 said:


> No, I was late to the party and didn't root until I received the 4.2.2 ota from VZW. No nandroids of my 4.1.1 stock setup to test with unfortunately. I will say, however, that this issue cropped up as soon as I took the ota... i was locked, stock, unrooted, stock recovery... Decided to do a factory reset and wipe to see if that would help, and in the process decided that since I was wiping anyway I'd just go ahead and unlock and root while I was at it. Made no difference, signal wise. Acted the same. Again, it's not horrible, and it doesn't really affect things on the grand scale... but it's annoying and it just doesn't make any sense to me. It's hard to figure out if it's a function of 4.2.2, the new radios, or both. Trying to isolate things is a challenge.


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## slider112 (Apr 10, 2012)

Art and abtre; thanks for posting and confirming what I've been experiencing since the 4.2.2 ota. The scenarios you describe are exactly what is happening to me, although my signal doesn't "lock up" as you describe abtre... that's a new one to me.

Art, your description of your issues are spot on to what I'm experiencing as well. I feel like I could have written your response myself... Clearly this isn't an isolated event, and it appears to not be location specific. At last count we have this happening everywhere from Arizona to Texas to NYC so far... and I'm in the DC/Baltimore area, so add that location to the list... very strange.


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## area52 (Jun 7, 2011)

Yeah that definitely blows my theory out of the water. I haven't seen this in a couple of days but I just picked up my phone and noticed this...







Sat that way for a few minutes then switched to 3g. Data was working the whole time

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2


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## slider112 (Apr 10, 2012)

That's exactly what happens to me; screenshot looks identical. If you check your time without signal under your battery stats it'll probably show an abnormally high number, even though you've been connected the whole time. I think the Android OS is reading the 0 dBm 99 asu as no signal and falsely reporting it as such.


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## area52 (Jun 7, 2011)

Yep time without signal is 30% but oddly enough only used 5% of battery life. Seems like there is some weird code in the new radio that is confusing the signal reporting. Did you say you had this happen with the previous radios? Cause it doesn't seem to have any ill effect on my battery life. 
What's killing my battery is sdcard for some odd reason. But I don't think that's related to this.... Off to find out what that's about

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2


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## slider112 (Apr 10, 2012)

Same here; no matter how high the time without signal percentage is it has absolutely no adverse affects on battery life. If anything battery has been better with 4.2.2 than previous versions.

To answer your question area, no, I never had this happen on previous radios, or on previous android builds for that matter. This all started when I got the ota to 4.2.2 and the new FK01/FK02 radios that came along with it. Unfortunately, because both came packaged together its been tough to discern which is the guilty party here... or it could be a combination of both working in tandem for that matter... who knows? I did flash back to the 4.1.1 radios while on 4.2.2 to see what happened and it made little, if any, difference. It's because of this that I'm leaning towards saying that this is an issue with 4.2.2 itself, or at the very least how 4.2.2 interacts with the VZW radios. For curiosities sake I may go back and flash other radios and see if the same thing happens, but in all honesty i think the results will be similar.

As far as your sdcard battery drain: have you downloaded files from your phones web browser recently? If so try moving those files out of the 'downloads' directory on your phone and putting them into another folder, any other folder that you create, and leaving the downloads folder empty. I've found that sometimes the phone will continue to use resources to 'look' in that folder if there are items in it, and by moving those items it shuts off the process, in turn saving you battery life. Strange, I know, but give it a shot.


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## artvandelay7 (Apr 8, 2013)

I actually have noticed much worse battery life over the last week or so when in LTE mode. It seems as if there's more frequent switching from 4G > 3G > 1x throughout the day, in addition to the zero-bar 0dbm/99asu situation as above. Maybe 10% battery used, 25% time without signal.

Today, I changed network to CDMA and I had really strong 3G signal the entire day, with excellent battery life. So this definitely seems to be an LTE issue instead of a CDMA issue. It does sound like there's some misreporting of true signal strength, but I think this might be leading to unnecessary switching from 4G>3G that might also be draining the battery.

Called VZW again today requesting status on my weeklong ticket, and they said it was still open & that they would get back to me with a status update... still waiting for that update. Like OP, I think I was pretty fortunate never to have any major issues w the phone until 4.2.2. Have been stock w OTAs since phone came out. Maybe my time has come.


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## tiny4579 (Oct 21, 2011)

If the theory is that 4.2.2 OTA is causing the signal issue you guys with this issue can flash the 4.1.1 factory image for toro and see if that still has the problem. It is available at google's website. It will wipe the /data partition by default though (which means /data/media/* meaning the virtual sdcard as well). Or you can remove the userdata.img from the zip that gets flashed with fastboot and also the -w part of the fastboot command from the .bat file. Then you don't lose sdcard but still have the 4.2 sdcard structure.


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## slider112 (Apr 10, 2012)

Thanks for the info tiny, appreciate it. Honestly, at this point I don't have any doubt that it's something in 4.2.2 that's causing the issue, and I'm confident that 4.1.1 doesn't have the same problem, so reverting back to 4.1.1 to test things just isn't worth it to me. My testing of things has really already happened, over the last 16 months. I've had my phone since launch day in December of 2011 and never unlocked or rooted it. It stayed completely stock and I took every incremental update that VZW pushed out along the way. I never had this issue on any of the other OS updates/radio packages, until the 4.2.2/FK01 FK02 radio update last month. There is something in that update that's causing this to happen. Whether it's just that 4.2.2 reads the signal differently, or how the new radios relay information to the new OS, or a combination of both, I don't know. I think it's probably much more widespread than just the couple of us in this thread, but it's not a big enough issue for me to revert to an older build for. It's more of an annoyance, at least for me, and I don't understand why it's happening, but at the end of the day it's not affecting my day to day use of my phone in the least. I just don't like picking up my phone and seeing zero bars showing, yet I'm fully connected to data. Annoying. I just wanted to see if 1) others were experiencing the same thing and 2) if someone had a quick fix. If there was a quick fix, like flashing different radios or changing some sort of setting then sure, I'd take it... but in lieu of that I'll just have to learn to ignore it and move on I guess


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## Burncycle (Aug 6, 2011)

For me it happens consistently on cyanogenmod but has never happened on project elite. No idea what the difference could be

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus


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## area52 (Jun 7, 2011)

Slider thanks for the tip on the sdcard. Seems to have dropped slightly in battery consumption. Still to high but not quite as bad. 
On another note have any of you run into issues with text messages not coming or going through? I'll get the notification but no text comes through. Since you guys are on stock I was wondering if you've seen that recently. I'm wondering if it's my hardware or perhaps the rom

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2


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## abtre (Jun 7, 2011)

A lot of my texts drop at random. Either they don't get mine or vice versa and we'll go hours thinking the other didn't reply. It's happened for as long as I can remember and the issue comes and goes with no pattern whatsoever.


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## wKovacs64 (Dec 23, 2011)

Does anyone know if this is just a "known issue" at this point and affects certain devices but not others? I have experienced it since 4.2 first rolled out. The battery drain from the lack of signal strength was so unbearable that I had to revert to 4.1.2, which I've been using until now. I decided to give 4.2.2 another try, so I flashed the latest AOKP. The issue was still present. I decided to try CM 10.1 instead, and the signal issue is still there but at least the battery issue isn't. I'm about to try PA and/or something else to see if I can find a ROM that isn't plagued by the issue but I can't imagine it would survive this long if it was really ROM-specific.

Is anyone aware of a fix or are some particular toro devices simply unable to run 4.2?


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## akellar (Jun 11, 2011)

KaosMcRage said:


> Does anyone know if this is just a "known issue" at this point and affects certain devices but not others? I have experienced it since 4.2 first rolled out. The battery drain from the lack of signal strength was so unbearable that I had to revert to 4.1.2, which I've been using until now. I decided to give 4.2.2 another try, so I flashed the latest AOKP. The issue was still present. I decided to try CM 10.1 instead, and the signal issue is still there but at least the battery issue isn't. I'm about to try PA and/or something else to see if I can find a ROM that isn't plagued by the issue but I can't imagine it would survive this long if it was really ROM-specific.
> 
> Is anyone aware of a fix or are some particular toro devices simply unable to run 4.2?


Roms don't impact signal. Blame Samsung/Verizon.


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## yarly (Jun 22, 2011)

akellar said:


> Roms don't impact signal. Blame Samsung/Verizon.


He's probably comparing bars instead of looking at numbers


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## wKovacs64 (Dec 23, 2011)

akellar said:


> He's probably comparing bars instead of looking at numbers


Actually, you and I had a conversation about this in private messages beginning 2012-12-02 where I used your app to show you the numbers. I don't care about the bars. Post 9 in this thread is exactly what I'm experiencing.


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## yarly (Jun 22, 2011)

Oh yes, thanks for reminding me, I had forgotten. I apologize for assuming you were only looking at the bars too on that note.

Odd thing is, 99 should technically not be possible because 99 is not the value it defaults to if something is wrong (it should go to 255 in that case). The only way at least in the Telephony layer of Android (where it interacts with the RIL) that it could result in that is if your signal is -41dBm (not very likely, haha). I should pull the asu from there just to see if it's getting readjusted elsewhere (it's really just 140 - LTE RSRP but dunno what they do when they dump it out in the settings area and havent looked). All of that takes place at around line 777 in https://github.com/a...alStrength.java

I have dumped out some debugging info if you want to run my app again and send me another screen shot when it happens (you can find the development version that's not up in the market yet at http://codingcreatio...nalInfo-dev.apk).


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## wKovacs64 (Dec 23, 2011)

yarly said:


> I have dumped out some debugging info if you want to run my app again and send me another screen shot when it happens (you can find the development version that's not up in the market yet at http://codingcreatio...nalInfo-dev.apk).


PM'd you some screenshots from the development version. It's reporting a bit differently than in the past, but the OS is still reporting 0 dBm 99 asu and racking up a lot of "Time without a signal" in the "Cell standby" details of battery usage. Voice, SMS, and data all work while it says 0 dBm.


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## yarly (Jun 22, 2011)

Looking at your screen shots it's strange. My app says you have a signal of 109dBm, which is believable if you're able to actually connect to stuff, so whatever is under android settings is off for whatever reason and no idea why (as I've tried both AOKP and CM since 4.2.2 and both report fine for me). Perhaps you flashed something wrong? Only thing I can think of would be that or perhaps flashed the radio firmware incorrectly or are using old binaries somehow? I think 109dbm might result in no bars on 4.2.2. Would have to look again. Not sure though why the OS is saying you have 0 dbm though as my app is most likely pulling from the same source for the signal and updates at the same time though I don't go through as much system abstraction (layers) as the settings activity might to get those readings.

Also, just to elaborate, 0dBm isn't actually the lack of signal one might think it to be. 0dBm (if it were possible) is equivalent to 1 milliwatt of power. Though of course none of our devices would ever attain that when connecting to a cellular tower 

EDIT: Actually I see your problem (maybe). When you're on wifi and your signal is poor, you're not really connected to the network for data. If you switch off wifi, I bet it will instantly jump to 3g as well and result in showing something like -120dBm 99 ASU for 3g. Feature/bug depending on how one looks at it, but I don't think the network gets updated really in cases like that until you switch off wifi now in Android.


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## hlaalu (Jul 13, 2012)

I get the 0 dBm all the time. I love 4.2 but my signal quality has been very unreliable compared to other versions. I drive from Cali to las Vegas a lot and notice that my phone has a harder time switching networks. The weird thing is I've flashed older radios that I had used with 4.1 but the results for me are still the same.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2


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## wKovacs64 (Dec 23, 2011)

yarly said:


> EDIT: Actually I see your problem (maybe). When you're on wifi and your signal is poor, you're not really connected to the network for data. If you switch off wifi, I bet it will instantly jump to 3g as well and result in showing something like -120dBm 99 ASU for 3g. Feature/bug depending on how one looks at it, but I don't think the network gets updated really in cases like that until you switch off wifi now in Android.


I should've taken those screenshots without wifi, whoops. I just took more with wifi disabled (see PM), but basically it looks the same except it will say "Connected" next to Mobile network state. Still shows 0 dBm 99 asu, time without signal is increasing, and yet data/SMS/voice will still work.

Interestingly enough... and I hate to even mention this because it muddies the already cloudy water... I am currently in a state where I'm running AOKP and the issue is still occurring visually but NOT draining my battery. I don't know how, I didn't do anything different other than flash a newer (3 days newer) AOKP build, but I don't think there was anything in Gerrit that would account for that. I was on AOKP 5-14 having the issue (with battery drain corresponding to the times spent without signal), tried CM 5-15 and had the issue (without battery drain), and then went to AOKP 5-17 and have the issue without battery drain. I still don't like the visual annoyance, but I can certainly live with it to enjoy all the modern AOKP features as long as the battery drain stays away.


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## wKovacs64 (Dec 23, 2011)

OK, I _think_ I've found a solution (albeit somewhat experimental).

There is a commit in AOSP (I502e1c3d) that is still under review which changes the calculation method for LTE antenna reception to use RSRQ instead of RSSNR (check out yarly's [topic='36320']thread[/topic] if you want to learn more about those). Many thanks to slider112 for steering me in that direction based on some information he gathered from multiple forums. I took a look at the modifications made to SignalStrength.java and sure enough, some of the most popular ROMs have not applied these changes (not surprising, since it hasn't been merged into AOSP yet - can't blame them).

I cherry-picked the commit into AOKP, rebuilt, and so far the problem has not resurfaced. I'm definitely showing more bars and different signal numbers and have yet to see the "time spent without signal" go up (and thus no battery drain). It's probably too early to declare certain victory, but it makes sense and if it still looks this way tomorrow then I'd say this is probably the ticket.


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## RdWarrior (Mar 27, 2013)

How is the fix coming? I'm getting tried of seeing time without signal?

Sent from my BAMF'd Galaxy Nexus


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## wKovacs64 (Dec 23, 2011)

RdWarrior said:


> How is the fix coming? I'm getting tried of seeing time without signal?


It's working great for me, definitely fixed the issue. I have slider112 testing my build as well but haven't heard his results yet.


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## yarly (Jun 22, 2011)

RdWarrior said:


> How is the fix coming? I'm getting tried of seeing time without signal?
> 
> Sent from my BAMF'd Galaxy Nexus


It's hard to say whether AOSP will accept it or not. The Qualcomm guy arguing against it has a valid point when it comes to relying on RSRQ and it being based solely on RSSI and RSRP (which are directly related and go up and down together in your signal readings), that does not make a very good indication of signal quality alone. However, SNR (what is currently used in AOSP) is not part of the 3GPP spec for LTE quality while RSRQ is. SNR does not directly relate or depend on RSSI or RSRP (RSRP being your normal signal reading you see under settings for LTE), thus it's a good secondary indicator of your current signal quality. Problem besides not being the recommended way to measure signal quality is it leads to the scenario Kaos and others are seeing.

What google decides to do, no one knows yet, since none have chimed in really.


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## slider112 (Apr 10, 2012)

KaosMcRage said:


> It's working great for me, definitely fixed the issue. I have slider112 testing my build as well but haven't heard his results yet.


The build Kaos forwarded to me is working great; all signal issues resolved and I'm getting 0% time without signal consistently... I'm also picking up 4g in more places and battery life is fantastic. Essentially, this is running just as well signal wise as Sourcery does with the same commit. Amazing this would make such a big difference; I hope Google signs off and makes it official, or at the very least all ROM developers add it to their source going forward. I know personally I won't run a ROM without it from here on out... just makes too big a difference for me. Many thanks to Kaos!


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## yawdapaah (Jun 15, 2011)

slider112 said:


> The build Kaos forwarded to me is working great; all signal issues resolved and I'm getting 0% time without signal consistently... I'm also picking up 4g in more places and battery life is fantastic. Essentially, this is running just as well signal wise as Sourcery does with the same commit. Amazing this would make such a big difference; I hope Google signs off and makes it official, or at the very least all ROM developers add it to their source going forward. I know personally I won't run a ROM without it from here on out... just makes too big a difference for me. Many thanks to Kaos!


Trying out Sourcery 5.3 to test this for myself.
Thanks


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## yawdapaah (Jun 15, 2011)

I don't understand the premise of this patch; maybe someone can explain. Because the 3GPP spec doesn't tell you how to measure RS SNR it can't be used for accurate signal calculations? How does that matter when the following isn't changed:

***RSRP threshold***
new original
POOR
>=-128 >=-128
NONE_OR_UNKNOWN
>=-140 >=-140



slider112 said:


> The build Kaos forwarded to me is working great; all signal issues resolved and I'm getting 0% time without signal consistently... I'm also picking up 4g in more places and battery life is fantastic. Essentially, this is running just as well signal wise as Sourcery does with the same commit. Amazing this would make such a big difference; I hope Google signs off and makes it official, or at the very least all ROM developers add it to their source going forward. I know personally I won't run a ROM without it from here on out... just makes too big a difference for me. Many thanks to Kaos!


Looking at the comments in the commit, it changes the thresholds for a good/bad signal. It follows that you should get more stable bars in places with "better" signal which happened in my 2 day Sourcery trial. However, the values for poor and no signal are unchanged. In places where the Gnex struggled before (around 1 bar level) there shouldn't be any change. (Someone explain if this is incorrect!). My experience was pretty similar to the one described by the guy from codeaurora; it'd see a lot of bars and try to access data then suddenly drop to 3G/1X.

Edit:
@slider112, my problem with the GNex signal is that it handoffs from LTE to 3G when other phones do not. I don't think this patch changes that (I may be wrong though lol).


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