Reception problems - PRL Update?

[mattkrass]

I've had a Motorola Droid for about 5 months now, and up until a few days ago I was getting very good service in my home. Suddenly I find the service is absolutely terrible, and I drop calls very often. At first I thought it was a temporary hiccup, but its persisted for over 3 days now, and its starting to cause severe problems with my professional life.

I am running Android 2.2/Froyo with baseband version C_01.43.01P, and PRL version 51926. I have tried numerous times to dial *228 and select option 2, and I have not seen a single change in my PRL number. Searching around the internet it seems that number should be much higher, in the 66000 range? Or are those codes phone specific?

For the record, my signal strength varies from -98 to -102dBm and often times registers no bars/no service. As I said earlier I used to get very good service and full 3G not even a week ago in the same spot. The phone has not been dropped or thrown or shocked in any way, so I'm reluctant to think its some kind of damage.

I'm not sure where to proceed from here, since I seem unable to perform a PRL update, which I'm hoping is all I need to fix this problem. I'm not the primary account holder and that person won't have a chance to bug Verizon for another few days, so I'm on my own for the moment. Can anyone make any suggestions please?

 

[jntdroid]

Well, I'm no genius about the baseband stuff, but you could always try flashing back to the current baseband and seeing if that makes a difference?

If it was that abrupt of a change and it's maintained itself consistently for a few days, that would be my first thing to try.

But again, I know little about how the baseband stuff actually works, so that could be completely worthless advice.

 

[jntdroid]

Or, you could call Verizon (or ask a local store) to see if they're working on the tower near you, that might be a more likely candidate if the leaked baseband has been working fine for you up until now.

 

[mattkrass]

I will look in to rolling back the baseband, but it seems like unlikely since I had it updated for quite a while before suddenly dropping out. Until I have a bit more info I'd like to not play with the baseband. I still have hope this PRL update situation is the key. Anyone have any ideas why I can't seem to perform this update?

 

[wsbsteven]

I will look in to rolling back the baseband, but it seems like unlikely since I had it updated for quite a while before suddenly dropping out. Until I have a bit more info I'd like to not play with the baseband. I still have hope this PRL update situation is the key. Anyone have any ideas why I can't seem to perform this update?

51926 is the current PRL for Verizon and is what most will see. PRL's in the 60k's are for regional users that have towers prior mergers included in them.

 

[mattkrass]

I will look in to rolling back the baseband, but it seems like unlikely since I had it updated for quite a while before suddenly dropping out. Until I have a bit more info I'd like to not play with the baseband. I still have hope this PRL update situation is the key. Anyone have any ideas why I can't seem to perform this update?

51926 is the current PRL for Verizon and is what most will see. PRL's in the 60k's are for regional users that have towers prior mergers included in them.

Alright, that takes care of that particular concern. Does anyone have any suggestions where to proceed from here? And if it becomes necessary to play with baseband revisions what is the easiest way to restore the older version? Which version should I even go to?

 

[jntdroid]

i have the .zip for the baseband that's out with stock 2.1 right now, or you can find it here, near the bottom - .03p:

http://www.droidforums.net/forum/an...ms-kernels-baseband-updates-source-leaks.html

 

[mattkrass]

I tried rolling back to the 2.1 baseband you provided and I have not seen any improvement in my signal at all. Any other suggestions?

 

[jntdroid]

Are you holding it in your left hand and covering the antenna?

Unless something's gone wrong internally with your phone, I would think it's gotta be a local tower... hopefully someone much smarter on this issue will hop in here.

 

[iesous2]

I'm in MD and have this very same problem