Creating a FrankenPre3 (EU Pre3 with 16GB memory board)

[rwhitby]

Originally Posted by copystring

What is the chance to brick your phone by doing this? Or should I ask: Is the Pre 3 brickable like the Veer?

It's not overly risky, since we're not touching the bootloader.

But make a typo in your commands and you can brick the device.

-- Rod

[rwhitby]

Originally Posted by olebl

Fantastic! Now, what's under the metal shielding? Is there a 16gb flash chip, that possibly could be replaced with a 32gb?

@ka6sox should have some shots of that from the destructive tear-down of an azerty Pre 3 that we did.

-- Rod

[rwhitby]

Originally Posted by rumz

So you can have an AT&T Pre 3 w/ 8gb and still be running 2.2.3.

Is there another obstacle to using the AT&T 2.2.3 doctor on an EU Pre 3? I don't care much about 8gb vs 16gb, but I'm curious to see if 2.2.3 irons out any of the bugs I have using an EU Qwerty Pre 3 on T-Mobile USA.

Edit: based on the picture of your EU Pre 3 w 16GB running 2.2.0, I guess the answer is "yes", there is an obstacle. Sorry to not read more clearly at first before asking.

You can use the Pre 3 Impersonation wiki page for that.

-- Rod

[rwhitby]

I wonder if there are any EU webOS developers who would pay $750+shipping for an EU 16GB Pre 3 and AT&T 8GB Pre 3 combo so that I can recoup costs on this experiment ...

-- Rod

[peanuthead47]

great job but nobody cares anymore

[rwhitby]

Originally Posted by peanuthead47

great job but nobody cares anymore

If the number of people who cared about something was the sole justification for the advancement of knowledge, we'd be still in the dark ages.

-- Rod

[GuyFromNam]

Originally Posted by peanutbrain-IQ47

great job but nobody cares anymore

That's the spirit, Thing. Lend a hand.

[rwhitby]

Originally Posted by olebl

Fantastic! Now, what's under the metal shielding? Is there a 16gb flash chip, that possibly could be replaced with a 32gb?

-- Rod

[ka6sox]

re: Changing the Chip for a bigger one.

The Black Goo you see around the Edges of the chip is Epoxy..tough to get rid of without destroying the board. Additionally its a BGA chip which requires specialized equipment to replace as well as Jigs to make sure things are properly aligned.

So all in all...not for a "Homebrew" solution.

[ZehHa]

Great job, Rod!

But for anyone trying to use a 16GB Pre3 in EU: The AT&T Pre3 is able to communicate in the 2100 MHz UMTS network OOTB (in contrast to the pre Pre3 devices). You just need an unlocked device and follow these instructions. If you don't mind the qwerty keyboard layout.

I did the AT&T->EU swap before the webos-internals tream created the script, so I'm not able to verify the script - I did the token swap manually. But considering Rod's skills (and those of all the other active community members), I feel deep confidence in the script's function.

Many, many thanks to the whole team!

Regards

Carsten

[Andyf]

Originally Posted by ZehHa

But for anyone trying to use a 16GB Pre3 in EU: The AT&T Pre3 is able to communicate in the 2100 MHz UMTS network OOTB (in contrast to the pre Pre3 devices).

Bear in mind that some carriers use the 900MHz band 3G as well, which is not supported by the AT&T version. Thought I'd just put that disclaimer for anyone thinking of using AT&T Pre3 or veer in the EU

[rwhitby]

Originally Posted by Andyf

Bear in mind that some carriers use the 900MHz band 3G as well, which is not supported by the AT&T version. Thought I'd just put that disclaimer for anyone thinking of using AT&T Pre3 or veer in the EU

That is especially the case in rural areas.

-- Rod

[ZehHa]

Originally Posted by Andyf

Bear in mind that some carriers use the 900MHz band 3G as well, which is not supported by the AT&T version. Thought I'd just put that disclaimer for anyone thinking of using AT&T Pre3 or veer in the EU

I can only speak about Germany and only about the current situation. Don't know what's happening in the future. None of the german mobile telecommunication providers is using the 900 MHz band for UMTS up to date. It's in use for GSM and EDGE only. So this is not a problem when using an impersonated AT&T Pre3 in any of the german GSM/EDGE/UMTS networks.

Maybe the use of the current Pre3 will be limited by future changes of the frequency band standards. But this is true for any of the current mobile devices, as far as my knowledge spans. ;-)

Regards

Carsten

[rwhitby]

Yes, that is true for Germany, but not for other countries around Europe and the rest of the world.

-- Rod

[patapoof]

...assuming all this is correct, and assuming my ATT branded Pre3 purchased in the USA has GSM 850/900/1800/1900 & HSPA 850/1900/2100 ...and assuming the EU location I am frequenting (Benelux) runs UMTS on 2100 ...then, does anyone know what my experience is likely to be?

Will the Pre3 pick up the settings over the air or will I need to set up the MMS and Internet via the "manual" settings app within the "phone" prefs dialog?

Any advice about that? ...my prior phone, Motorola Motosurf a3100 wiMo6.1 quad band GSM with UMTS 850/1900/2100 worked perfectly there. I did have to manually enter the setup parameters which was relatively easy.

Thanks!

[rwhitby]

Your questions are unrelated to the topic of this thread.

-- Rod