Unknown Baseband / No IMEI [SOLVED]

[mithrandir]

Hi,
I don't know exactly what happened and am a bit hopeless now. Maybe after flashing a kernel, maybe after trying to get a mobile connection with linux (ofono) the modem stopped working. System information in Android shows no sim cards (also not the esim), no IMEI numbers and baseband version is unknown.

Already tried full reflash and restoring the nvram backup.

Anybody else also experienced this? How to find out if the modem is broken or just the IMEI numbers are lost? Any ideas for recovery? Maybe using SN Writer (https://forum.hovatek.com/thread-12306.html)  if it is just the IMEIs? This requires two database files (MD1_DB and AP_DB) which should be part of the ROM. Where to find these files? Other ideas?

Thx+regards
Mith

[Weasalopes]

This sounds like the problem I'm having, just using different terminology to describe it. I can't make a cell connection because the system no longer recognizes that there is a SIM card installed. System information says there is nothing in card 1 or card 2, even though the SIM card it was happy with previously is still there.

SIM (card 1) no longer being detected

When you say "modem", are you meaning the cell phone functionality provided via the SIM card?

I also have GSM Baseband version: Unknown
IMEI (Slot1) IMEI SV (Slot1) IMEI (Slot2) IMEI SV (Slot2) all unknown.

But I think all of that is due to it no longer recognizing the presence of a SIM card. I'm not certain of that, since I didn't actually look at their status prior to installing the SIM card the first time around, so what I have written down in my records reflects their information when there is a recognized SIM card present.

[mithrandir]

@Weasalopes: Yes, this looks like it is exactly the same problem. Have you created a nvram backup and tried to restore it? For me this did not help, but might be worth a try.

Also Erkan from planetcom support told me to try as follows from a root shell:

echo 'AT+EGMR=1,7,"IMEI"' > /dev/radio/pttycmd1
(replace with the IMEI from your box)

Afterwards reboot the Gemini.

A bit googling tuned out that
echo 'AT+EGMR=1,10,"IMEI"' > /dev/radio/pttycmd1
should work for the second sim.

But all this also did not work for me, still no IMEI and unknown baseband. You might give it a try, perhaps it solves the situation for you.

Trying the new firmware files next, but  I don't think this will help.

Mith

[Weasalopes]

@mithrandir: Yes, I did have an NVRAM backup (and boy was I glad I'd done that before a previous problem!), but flashing it had no impact on this problem.

I'd already tried the new firmware, but that didn't solve the problem.

The suggestion from Erkan sounds like it has to be done from inside Linux?

At least I don't know of anyway of getting to a command line inside Android, and from what little I know of Linux that sure looks like a Linux command string. If so, not something I can attempt, since I'm currently running single boot Android.

I will admit to getting real tired of having to re-enter all my master passwords each time I try a new solution; high security passwords are a right pain to enter manually.

Doesn't help that everytime it starts from scratch it defaults to the UK keyboard; I've finally got it drilled into my thick skull that Fn+K=@

There are reasons I'm glad it's not just my Gemini having this problem; that makes it likelier that a solution will eventually be found.

I had a pretty good grasp of how to tweak the config.sys and autoexec.bat files with DOS, back in the day, and my COBOL card decks were a third the thickness of any of my classmates back when I was a CS major 1980-1982, before I flunked out of the required Calculus and Probability/Combinatorics classes, but it's been a long time since I've done anything major at this level of hardware/software interface. (And, yes, my COBOL programs _did_ do what we had been asked to accomplish, despite using only a third the code that everyone else used; my mind really did mesh with COBOL, which says some odd things about me.)

I've been running MS Windows machines because it met my needs, and my mind just doesn't seem up to grasping how Linux works at the command level; the terminology has no meaning to me, I mean, sudo? Where in the world did they get that term?

And finding a basic primer for Linux has, so far, been something I've been unsuccessful at.

I have a copy of The UNIX Primer that was published while I was in school, but it really bears no resemblance to modern Linux; it's all back in the teletype/VDT days of mainframes and dumb terminals; I have vivid memories of a teletype catching on fire while I was using it when the building had a power surge occur. I also have a copy of Linux: The Complete Reference Sixth Edition, but it was published in 2008, and only covers up through kernel 2.6, but I should still give it another try. But it seems like all the Linux references out there are for sysadmins and programmers, not end users who are in charge of their home computer network. Everything presumes a far greater knowledge base than I have.

But all of that has nothing to do with our current problem, does it now? Except to show just how out of date my knowledge is.

~~~~

[mithrandir]

@mithrandir: Yes, I did have an NVRAM backup (and boy was I glad I'd done that before a previous problem!), but flashing it had no impact on this problem.

I'd already tried the new firmware, but that didn't solve the problem.

The suggestion from Erkan sounds like it has to be done from inside Linux?

At least I don't know of anyway of getting to a command line inside Android, and from what little I know of Linux that sure looks like a Linux command string. If so, not something I can attempt, since I'm currently running single boot Android.

I will admit to getting real tired of having to re-enter all my master passwords each time I try a new solution; high security passwords are a right pain to enter manually.

Doesn't help that everytime it starts from scratch it defaults to the UK keyboard; I've finally got it drilled into my thick skull that Fn+K=@

There are reasons I'm glad it's not just my Gemini having this problem; that makes it likelier that a solution will eventually be found.

I had a pretty good grasp of how to tweak the config.sys and autoexec.bat files with DOS, back in the day, and my COBOL card decks were a third the thickness of any of my classmates back when I was a CS major 1980-1982, before I flunked out of the required Calculus and Probability/Combinatorics classes, but it's been a long time since I've done anything major at this level of hardware/software interface. (And, yes, my COBOL programs _did_ do what we had been asked to accomplish, despite using only a third the code that everyone else used; my mind really did mesh with COBOL, which says some odd things about me.)

I've been running MS Windows machines because it met my needs, and my mind just doesn't seem up to grasping how Linux works at the command level; the terminology has no meaning to me, I mean, sudo? Where in the world did they get that term?

And finding a basic primer for Linux has, so far, been something I've been unsuccessful at.

I have a copy of The UNIX Primer that was published while I was in school, but it really bears no resemblance to modern Linux; it's all back in the teletype/VDT days of mainframes and dumb terminals; I have vivid memories of a teletype catching on fire while I was using it when the building had a power surge occur. I also have a copy of Linux: The Complete Reference Sixth Edition, but it was published in 2008, and only covers up through kernel 2.6, but I should still give it another try. But it seems like all the Linux references out there are for sysadmins and programmers, not end users who are in charge of their home computer network. Everything presumes a far greater knowledge base than I have.

But all of that has nothing to do with our current problem, does it now? Except to show just how out of date my knowledge is.

~~~~

Erkans suggestion has been from Android side. It can also be applied via adb shell (usb debugging active) or Termux. But it should make no difference wether it gets applied from Android or Linux, imho.

To try out get your device rooted by flashing the patched_boot.img and installing magisk. Then open a Terminal via Termux or adb and issue the su command. Afterwards continue as described above.

Mith

[mithrandir]

I have just got my baseband back by flashing the Baseband fix from http://x1grand.blogspot.com/2017/07/perman...ix-for-mtk.html using TWRP.

If you also want to give it a try install twrp  from here: http://x1grand.blogspot.com/2017/07/perman...ix-for-mtk.html. I just opened a root shell in android (Termux and then su) and installed via dd:

dd if=/mnt/m--external_sd/twrp-3.2.1-0-gempda.img of=/dev/block/platform/mtk-msdc.0/11230000.msdc0/by-name/recovery

Then boot into recovery by  holding ESC.

In TWRP select Install. Then select the downloaded Baseband 20fixer.zip. Then swipe to flash. Afterwards I wiped Dalvik. Don't know if this is really needed.

Mith

[Weasalopes]

I have just got my baseband back by flashing the Baseband fix from http://x1grand.blogspot.com/2017/07/perman...ix-for-mtk.html using TWRP.

If you also want to give it a try install twrp  from here: http://x1grand.blogspot.com/2017/07/perman...ix-for-mtk.html. I just opened a root shell in android (Termux and then su) and installed via dd:

dd if=/mnt/m--external_sd/twrp-3.2.1-0-gempda.img of=/dev/block/platform/mtk-sdc.0/11230000.msdc0/by-name/recovery

Then boot into recovery by  holding ESC.

In TWRP select Install. Then select the downloaded Baseband 20fixer.zip. Then swipe to flash. Afterwards I wiped Dalvik. Don't know if this is really needed.

Mith

Took a bit of work to get to this point.

After (finally) having flashed the rooted android, installed magisk, installed termux, downloaded the twrp.img file and placed it in the SD cards root directory, I then found that I couldn't get any of the things to work.

Kept getting messages that it didn't recognize the directory/file name.

So I did some research, to figure out what was going on.

Everyone has been presuming far more basic knowledge of Linux than I have. I know absolutely _nothing_ about Linux.

I haven't a clue how to get a listing of the directory structure. Of how to determine just what my installation is calling things.

I could tell that, by comparing your command string with that at the Gemini Pda twrp site, that I needed to insert the proper name for the SD Card as it was labeled by my installation.

Thankfully, researching just what mnt stood for led me to the concept of having to mount things.

one site suggested /fdisk -l to get a list of what was already there in regard to mounted devise; no good.

Finally, out of sheer frustration, I just typed "mount" and hit enter. Voila! A whole humongous list of stuff suddenly appeared!

Scrolling through it, I spotted something that looked like it was supposed to relate to SD cards that was in a /mnt/ directory tree.

So I took a chance, that that was the label for the SD card I had installed in the Gemini's expansion slot.

Entered the whole dd etc., string, replacing your /mnt/ directory location with that from my data dump, and... it still choked.

But. It choked on the _destination_ end of things, not the _origin_ end of things.

So I went and compared your destination string with the destination string from the twrp page, and spotted that you had made a typo! it's supposed to be mtk-msdc.0 not mtk-sdc.0

Made the correction (and boy was I ever happy that I'd discovered the up arrow key caused previous lines of code to become active for editing again...)

Finally. Results.

I haven't actually rebooted into recovery yet. I'm kinda afraid to.

I can copy by rote with the best of them, but there's a certain basic knowledge required to determine what your specific computer is labelling a local variable that I didn't have. Thankfully, I lucked out, royally.

OK, I've powered down. Next step, recovery.

[mithrandir]

[...
So I went and compared your destination string with the destination string from the twrp page, and spotted that you had made a typo! it's supposed to be mtk-msdc.0 not mtk-sdc.0
...
I haven't actually rebooted into recovery yet. I'm kinda afraid to.
...
OK, I've powered down. Next step, recovery.

Sorry for the typo. Wrote on a different device due to not having set up network at that point of time, so no copy+paste... Corrected in my above post. Glad to hear you got the recovery flashed. Booting into recovery should be safe. Nothing to fear... What happpens after installing the Baseband fix I cannot predict, but for me it worked.

[masterkush]

When I insert a sim card in the sim card slot it does not detect it and just says no signal.

I have a x27 unit and in settings the option for sim 1 is greyed out. Only sim 2 can be switched on or off.  I had flashed the unit to quad boot as follows:
1. Android
2. Recovery
3. Sailfish OS
4. Debian

I can see both imei in the settings though!
What should I do? I really need the sim to work otherwise the device is not worth keeping for me.


Please help!

[grw]

I have just got my baseband back by flashing the Baseband fix from http://x1grand.blogspot.com/2017/07/perman...ix-for-mtk.html using TWRP.

If you also want to give it a try install twrp  from here: http://x1grand.blogspot.com/2017/07/perman...ix-for-mtk.html. I just opened a root shell in android (Termux and then su) and installed via dd:

dd if=/mnt/m--external_sd/twrp-3.2.1-0-gempda.img of=/dev/block/platform/mtk-msdc.0/11230000.msdc0/by-name/recovery

Then boot into recovery by  holding ESC.

In TWRP select Install. Then select the downloaded Baseband 20fixer.zip. Then swipe to flash. Afterwards I wiped Dalvik. Don't know if this is really needed.

Mith

Thanks for these instructions. I tried them on my X27 Gemini (exhibiting similar 'GSM Baseband: Unknown" problem) but it did not seem to have any effect. The TWRP recovery boot seemed to install the zip file without errors, but when I reboot to android nothing has changed. Does anyone have any ideas to debug this further?

[mithrandir]

I have just got my baseband back by flashing the Baseband fix from http://x1grand.blogspot.com/2017/07/perman...ix-for-mtk.html using TWRP.

If you also want to give it a try install twrp  from here: http://x1grand.blogspot.com/2017/07/perman...ix-for-mtk.html. I just opened a root shell in android (Termux and then su) and installed via dd:

dd if=/mnt/m--external_sd/twrp-3.2.1-0-gempda.img of=/dev/block/platform/mtk-msdc.0/11230000.msdc0/by-name/recovery

Then boot into recovery by  holding ESC.

In TWRP select Install. Then select the downloaded Baseband 20fixer.zip. Then swipe to flash. Afterwards I wiped Dalvik. Don't know if this is really needed.

Mith

Thanks for these instructions. I tried them on my X27 Gemini (exhibiting similar 'GSM Baseband: Unknown" problem) but it did not seem to have any effect. The TWRP recovery boot seemed to install the zip file without errors, but when I reboot to android nothing has changed. Does anyone have any ideas to debug this further?

Have you already tried to flash you nvram backup? Maybe this helps. From what I remember I did the Baseband fix 2 times. Maybe it helps doing it a second time.

[grw]

Have you already tried to flash you nvram backup? Maybe this helps. From what I remember I did the Baseband fix 2 times. Maybe it helps doing it a second time.

Yep, I have tried flashing NVRAM backup a couple of times, but does not seem to help- I start to wonder whether I already had missing baseband problem when I took NVRAM backup- I think not though. Can you say exactly the order which you flashed original ROM, NVRAM, recovery, etc? Also, did you use the Android-only ROM, or a multi-boot image? I tried the following-

- Flash multiboot scatter with Linux + Android
- At this point android will not boot- gets stuck at spinning planets boot screen
- Flash NVRAM backup
- Android now boots, but no baseband
- Flash TWRP to recovery patition, reboot to recovery, install baseband fixer zip & wipe caches
- Now I cannot boot android- the device hangs at boot image with penguin

Perhaps you can share your scatter file, I can follow your procedure? Thanks for your help.

Edit: After waiting a while, it seems Android does boot after final step, but still no baseband

[mithrandir]

Have you already tried to flash you nvram backup? Maybe this helps. From what I remember I did the Baseband fix 2 times. Maybe it helps doing it a second time.

Yep, I have tried flashing NVRAM backup a couple of times, but does not seem to help- I start to wonder whether I already had missing baseband problem when I took NVRAM backup- I think not though. Can you say exactly the order which you flashed original ROM, NVRAM, recovery, etc? Also, did you use the Android-only ROM, or a multi-boot image? I tried the following-

- Flash multiboot scatter with Linux + Android
- At this point android will not boot- gets stuck at spinning planets boot screen
- Flash NVRAM backup
- Android now boots, but no baseband
- Flash TWRP to recovery patition, reboot to recovery, install baseband fixer zip & wipe caches
- Now I cannot boot android- the device hangs at boot image with penguin

Perhaps you can share your scatter file, I can follow your procedure? Thanks for your help.

Edit: After waiting a while, it seems Android does boot after final step, but still no baseband

Have you also wiped the cache (unsure about that)?

Unfortunately I don't have the old scatter file anymore. Deleted it together with the old firmware images after repartitioning for the new firmware. I am not sure, but I think I remember I tried the baseband fix two times until it worked. Might help to try again. Maybe it helps to reflash the system partition to have a clean start, or just everything but  userdata and linux/sailfisch (for not loosing data).

Also there are two partitions protect_s and protect_f which were empty when trying the fix. Maybe it helps to erase these. Also not sure about this. It might also help to erase /nvdata or /data/nvram (don't remember which one)  to get it refilled with NVRAM content. Tried several things before applying the baseband fix, so some further steps might be needed...

[grw]

Hurray- my baseband is fixed! I followed instructions from this post- https://www.oesf.org/forum/index.php?s=&...st&p=287807

The Planet flash tool didn't allow me to select 'Format All + Download', so I found another 'SP Flash Tool' which did. After following steps in this post my baseband and IMEI are back. Thanks to everyone who help!

[DonOregano]

:-(

Nothing that I do seems to be able to restore my baseband. I have now flashed my Gemini more times than I can count, I have performed the TWRP/Baseband pirouette at least four times, and I've sent some AT-commands to my modems (talk about flashbacks :-) ).

Nothing seems to help.

Unless anyone comes up with any more things to try I will need to perform an RMA

The Planet flash tool didn't allow me to select 'Format All + Download', so I found another 'SP Flash Tool' which did.

I discovered that it is possible to do format+download with the Planetcom SP Flash Tool, by using the command line, at least on Linux. Try --help to find out the options.