Android APN Problem

[iMORT3rnAL]

Hi,

Last week I asked the below question on XDA-Developers and haven't received any replies yet. Perhaps some of you might have the same problem...

Hi people,

I did some googling and found that a lot of people struggle with this, but no one seems to have a definite solution.

Recently I flashed a newer ROM on my SGS I9100, Resurrection Remix v3.0.2 (JB 4.1.1), and noticed that I have no data access on the mobile network. I checked and found that there were no APNs in the list and I couldn’t add any either.

I tried the following which was suggested by a few people:
- Reboot the device
- Disable/enable flight mode and reboot
- Choose “3G Only”
- Add APN and wait a few minutes before saving
- Add APN and use back button instead of menu option to save
- Reinstall ROM

None of the above solved the problem. I also replaced the apns-conf.xml file with one from a known working ROM, but that didn’t work either.

I then tried different kernels, modems and ROMs, but to no avail.

(Kernals, modems & ROMs listed in order by which it was tested)

Kernels:
Siyah 4.0.1 (From ResRemix)
xxKernel (came with cMIUI, didn’t check the version)
Siyah 4.1 Beta6 (from ResRemix)
Siyah 4.1 RC1 (From website)

Modems:
XXLPJ
BVLP7
XXLPX

ROMs:
Resurrection Remix v3.0.1 (JB v4.1.1)
Resurrection Remix v3.0.2 (JB v4.1.1)
cMIUI v2.8.10 (ICS 4.0.4)
Resurrection Remix v3.0.5 (JB v4.1.1)

Finally I decided to go back to ResRemix v3.0.1 and it works again. But now I need to know why, because it means that I’m stuck on an old ROM.

My next step would have been to replace the SIM card, but I now know it's a software related problem.

Just to confirm, my data is working with the following: (It also works with other combinations of kernels and modems, but not ROMs)

Resurrection Remix v3.0.1
Siyah v4.1 RC1
XXLPX


Any ideas as to what might be the problem?

 

[Tim the Techxpert]

Tricky one but what I suggest you try is
Install a new SD card and a new ROM. That will recreate the config file and not update the existing one.

By having the same SD card and the old XML file you are looking for an update and not overwriting.
The new ROM might have new features that are written into XML differently.

Good luck

 

[randomwalsh]

Had the same problem with a friends phone.

Also had to revert back to ResRemix 3.0.1 for data to work again.

Also tried all types of roms and kernels. But nothing.

 

[yeldoom]

Do you have a firewall app installed?
Are you rooted?

 

[iMORT3rnAL]

Tricky one but what I suggest you try is
Install a new SD card and a new ROM. That will recreate the config file and not update the existing one.

By having the same SD card and the old XML file you are looking for an update and not overwriting.
The new ROM might have new features that are written into XML differently.

Good luck

The apns-conf.xml file actually resides on a partition that I wipe before flashing a new ROM. But to make sure that I don’t miss anything, I wiped the below before flashing cMIUI v2.8.24 (JB v4.1.1).

SD card
Internal system storage
Internal non-system storage
Cache partition
Dalvik cache

That didn’t fix the problem, so I decided to dig even deeper. I checked the system logs after trying to create an APN and found this, “Failed setting numeric 'null' to the current operator”. I tracked this error message down to a file called TelephonyProvider.java, but I'm still strying to figure it out...

{
// null out the previous operator
db.update("carriers", s_currentNullMap, "current IS NOT NULL", null);

String numeric = initialValues.getAsString("numeric");
int updated = db.update("carriers", s_currentSetMap,
"numeric = '" + numeric + "'", null);

if (updated > 0)
{
if (Config.LOGD) {
Log.d(TAG, "Setting numeric '" + numeric + "' to be the current operator");
}
}
else
{
Log.e(TAG, "Failed setting numeric '" + numeric + "' to the current operator");
}
break;
}

I also tried modifying the preferred-apn.xml file and also deleting the telephony.db database file, but nothing.


For those of you that have problems reading the logs in ICS/JB, you need to run the following from a terminal emulator:

su
pm grant com.nolanlawson.logcat android.permission.READ_LOGS

 

[iMORT3rnAL]

Hi,

Without going into too much detail, it turned out to be a problem with the radio interface layer (RIL) which comes with the new CyanogenMod based ROMs. To resolve, install GetRIL from the market, make a backup of a working RIL and then restore over a problematic RIL. After rebooting, the access points should all be there.

If you need more detail / help, please PM me.