How to get landscape working properly, bad reception and keyboard illumination missing

[milp 27]

Hi there,

i am running the latest stock rom on my fresh pro1 and i'm having some problems that completely ruin the experience for me. Maybe someone can help me, this is really unnerving.

Firstly the keyboard flip out mechanism does not control the landscape orientation and does not force all aps into landscape. Auto tilt for landscape is so bad, it does not even tilt the phone  100% of the time when the keyboard is out and it is laying on the back. I used to use a motorola droid 4, where the screen orientation via keyboard would always work, so i don't get the problem here.

Secondly, the only thing that illuminates on the keyboard is the caps lock led, while in lineage the keyboard illumination would work.

Thirdly i cannot get the qwertz keyboard to work in its proper layout without installing a thirdparty app. And even then i can't choose the german qwertz layout without problems (missing ? symbol)

And lastly the reception is horrible, the phone constantly loses the cell connection, after booting it needs a lot of time to get some sort of signal. A lot of places that i did not have any problems to get basic GSM service or even WCDMA, it fails to find anything at all. Or it finds the proper cell network but does not let me connect to it. I have set it to "GSM/WCDMA/LTE" which seems to mitigate it, but it is still horrible. Is there a connector for some sort of external antenna?

I also had to remove the onboard google software-keyboard because it would always pop out even when typing on the hardware keyboard.

 

Please help me, i don't want to waste another day getting this to work right, which tbh it should have out of the box

Edited January 17, 2021 by milp

[DieBruine 397]

Install Sion's app Fx Service | Slions or switch to a custom ROM to help with the first two questions. It's not like we will be able to re-write stock.
For Qwertz support, check the Qwertz topic, that's what it's for.

There were I think two or three people who complained about reception. Either you have a faulty device, or you have some bad luck. Some providers use bands that pose a problem on the Pro1. But again, this has only been reported two or three times to my recollection. There is no remedy for bad reception in this case. At least one user has sold his phone because of this.

Maybe if you provided us with your carrier and country, members with the same carrier from the same country can confirm the issue, or suggest the phone is faulty.

Edited January 17, 2021 by DieBruine

[Jacob_S 128]

I personally would suggest SwiftKey as Keyboard App. Works well for me and has word suggestions and seperate settings for the hardware keyboard.

Also I second @DieBruines suggestion of Fx Service, it has some useful fixes implemented.

[milp 27]

I'll give that a try - right now i'm trying to get reception because i need to make an urgent phone call 😄 my carrier is o2 / telefonica in germany

[Benni 183]

Also have QWERTZ with O2 in Germany. Reception is not as good as with a Nokia 6.1, but not all that bad for me.

Keyboard backlight is working fine for me -> maybe you have a defektive device?

For ?äöü, usw, you need to choose the correct qwertz layout in Settings (I think on stock "none" is correct).
I'm using the layout provided by FinQWERTY https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=fi.onse.qwerty.finnish&hl=gsw&gl=US

[milp 27]

1 hour ago, Benni said:

Also have QWERTZ with O2 in Germany. Reception is not as good as with a Nokia 6.1, but not all that bad for me.

Keyboard backlight is working fine for me -> maybe you have a defektive device?

For ?äöü, usw, you need to choose the correct qwertz layout in Settings (I think on stock "none" is correct).
I'm using the layout provided by FinQWERTY https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=fi.onse.qwerty.finnish&hl=gsw&gl=US

I don't think so, the keyboard backlight works fine with lineage.

Using the finQWERTY German Layout everything works fine, except for the ?/ß key, which has some sort of ß for both caps and lowercase character.

Which settings are you using for O2? Did you select "Global" as preferred network mode? Are you "only" getting 4G reception, or is GSM and 3G also working?

I'm gonna call them tomorrow, maybe there is an issue with my sim card

Thanks 🙂

Edited January 17, 2021 by milp

[Benni 183]

10 hours ago, milp said:

I don't think so, the keyboard backlight works fine with lineage.

Using the finQWERTY German Layout everything works fine, except for the ?/ß key, which has some sort of ß for both caps and lowercase character.

Which settings are you using for O2? Did you select "Global" as preferred network mode? Are you "only" getting 4G reception, or is GSM and 3G also working?

I'm gonna call them tomorrow, maybe there is an issue with my sim card

Thanks 🙂

I think the ß issue is because the FinQWERTY developer thinks someone actually uses the capital ß. Maybe we can file a bug for that.

I'm using the phone in Global Mode, mostly 4G but I think I used 3g sometimes ...

 

[DieBruine 397]

12 hours ago, milp said:

I don't think so, the keyboard backlight works fine with lineage.

Using the finQWERTY German Layout everything works fine, except for the ?/ß key, which has some sort of ß for both caps and lowercase character.

Which settings are you using for O2? Did you select "Global" as preferred network mode? Are you "only" getting 4G reception, or is GSM and 3G also working?

I'm gonna call them tomorrow, maybe there is an issue with my sim card

Thanks 🙂

If I recall correctly, keyboard backlit is an option that needs to be enabled under settings when running stock...

[Noir 112]

QWERTZ setup instructions is the pinned post.

I will attach screenshots due to not having too much time currently of my o2 settings and status, also the mentioned slider settings. Maybe you just missed that option in the settings menu. Auto rotate via quick settings is enabled. some apps refuse to turn landscape or ignore orientation lock, but that is only for a few.

 

 

[milp 27]

Thanks a lot, the "turn on backlight" actually was enabled but still didn't work.

 

Having flashed every available rom and datestamp at least 5 times it seems that CM17.1 works best at reconizing the sim cards and getting reception.

 

I have now also tried sim cards from t-mobile and vodafone, it really seems that my apartment is the culprit in this case. I guess i will have to get one of these "legal" chinese 4g /3g repeater stations for my home. As soon as i go outside reception is normal - however i have so far only encountered LTE - which kind of confuses me, no EDGE, no UMTS/3G

 

The other thing i was thinking about was attaching a usb surf stick via usb otg - but i guess i wouldn't natively be able to take phone calls through that?

Does anyone know the interior build of the device? Is there an antenna connector somewhere? At this point i wouldn't mind drilling a hole and attaching some makeshift antenna.

 

I'm really puzzled as to why anyone would buuild a device _this great_ and then ruin it by botching the most important part, which is the RF section o.o It's kinda disappointing and the only thing keeping me sane right now is the fact that there isn`t an alternative around

Edited January 18, 2021 by milp

[EskeRahn 5,454]

3 hours ago, milp said:

I have now also tried sim cards from t-mobile and vodafone, it really seems that my apartment is the culprit in this case. I guess i will have to get one of these "legal" chinese 4g /3g repeater stations for my home. As soon as i go outside reception is normal - however i have so far only encountered LTE - which kind of confuses me, no EDGE, no UMTS/3G

It could be that an antenna is inactive somehow, perhaps a plug not inserted, or a cable broken?
You can explicitly limit the bands you will allow it to use. e.g. by:
Settings ► Network and Internet ► Mobil Network ► Preferred network type ► and then select a suitable one (without LTE) to test.

[DieBruine 397]

How old is your SIM? If you've had for a couple of years, it could be that the SIM is the culprit. I had a 10 years old SIM that needed to be replaced 😅

[milp 27]

9 hours ago, EskeRahn said:

It could be that an antenna is inactive somehow, perhaps a plug not inserted, or a cable broken?
You can explicitly limit the bands you will allow it to use. e.g. by:
Settings ► Network and Internet ► Mobil Network ► Preferred network type ► and then select a suitable one (without LTE) to test.

Would my warranty be void if i opened it up to take a look considering im working in the field? Does anyone know if the impedance of the antenna system is meant to be 50 Ohms?

I tried limiting the bands, and so far only LTE seems to work.

In the meantime ill give my provider another call, i called them yesterday to complain about my shoddy old sim, but i think they did not do anything yet as i have not received a confirmation of my report.

[acrux 56]

On 1/17/2021 at 6:33 PM, DieBruine said:

At least one user has sold his phone because of this.

More than one 😄 There are places where i have to be and my good old Nexus 6 has there good mobile signal level and reliable mobile broadband network connection. Unfortunately with Pro1 I had none of these... 😞

[milp 27]

2 minutes ago, acrux said:

More than one 😄 There are places where i have to be and my good old Nexus 6 has there good mobile signal level and reliable mobile broadband network connection. Unfortunately with Pro1 I had none of these... 😞

That's exactly my situation right now, however to me there is no alternative - i didn't see any qwerty device that even comes close to this as a followup to the old milestone/droid line that motorola used to make.

[Rob. S. 1,659]

@milp Still waiting for my device, so I cannot contribute anything yet from my own experience, but I've been following this forum closely for a long time and I think that until now there never was a severe reception problem reported from Germany with its specific and limited usage of bands and frequencies (please correct me if I overlooked something or someone), while it seems to be generally accepted at this point that the Pro¹'s overall reception quality tends to be not quite as good as with other phones...

[EskeRahn 5,454]

2 hours ago, milp said:

I tried limiting the bands, and so far only LTE seems to work.

Ok, so at the least we now know that it is not that it can see both, and preferred LTE as stronger.

2 hours ago, milp said:

Would my warranty be void if i opened it up to take a look considering im working in the field? Does anyone know if the impedance of the antenna system is meant to be 50 Ohms?

First of I would try with a new SIM in the Pro1. You could borrow from 'anyone', to eliimnate that simple possibility.
If none can do 2G/3G I think you should contact support and hear what they suggest. And you could suggest them to open and have a look.

[milp 27]

I have already tried numerous new sims from other providers, they all worked even worse.

 

However there are good news, i just disassembled the device and made sure all the contact-pads for the aluminum case (which seems to be the antenna itself, gorgeous engineering!) have better contact and all the coax cables are in place - now the 4g reception is a lot quicker and i finally can take calls from my desk again.

I now have a similar amount of reception at my desk that i used to have with my old droid 4 🙂

 

So yeah if anyone else has those problems, you can disassemble it and just make sure the gold connectors touch the aluminium pads of the case by bending them VERY VERY slightly and carefully sanding down the aluminium pads of the case on it's inside.

Seeing inside this phone made me fall in love even more. What a beautiful piece of engineering. And those phillips screws! ❤️

 

Edit: seeing how this can be a potential fix for bad reception - maybe we should collect such fixes in a howto section or some kind of wiki?

Edited January 19, 2021 by milp

[david 929]

On 1/19/2021 at 6:35 AM, milp said:

However there are good news, i just disassembled the device and made sure all the contact-pads for the aluminum case (which seems to be the antenna itself, gorgeous engineering!) have better contact and all the coax cables are in place - now the 4g reception is a lot quicker and i finally can take calls from my desk again.

I now have a similar amount of reception at my desk that i used to have with my old droid 4 🙂

 

So yeah if anyone else has those problems, you can disassemble it and just make sure the gold connectors touch the aluminium pads of the case by bending them VERY VERY slightly and carefully sanding down the aluminium pads of the case on it's inside.

Thanks for sharing this.  I believe a lot of us have poorer reception with the Pro1 than with other phones.  (as well as weaker wifi)  I wonder how many of us have this issue just due to poor connections inside between the gold connectors and the aluminum that you mentioned.  Do you happen to have any photos of the connectors and aluminum pads?  Do you have any before and after screenshots of the signal strength?

Maybe even marking up these images with arrows pointing to the parts in question would help.

 

Edited January 22, 2021 by david

[milp 27]

I'll see what i can do, unfortunately i can't use the phone to take photos of itself while disassembled. But i had been planning on opening it up again to put a thermal conducting strip on the back of the battery, seeing how it warms up quite a bit during fast charging.

I don't have any screenshot of the signal quality but beforehand you would almost never get any reception inside, walking by a radio/scanner you would not hear it transmitting. If i had any reception at all inside it was right at the window and then only like 1 bar of 4G, never anything else. Wifi connection was frequently lost. I would always find 3g access points after a lengthy manual search, but i would never be able to connect to them.

Now i always have reception of some sort inside. And the levels are very comparable to what my droid 4 used to have.

 

Edit: Quick update done from memory, i probably missed some points but you should get the general "scheme" of these connectors and the principle of how theyre supposed to contact eachother. I used some fine and some not so fine grained sandpaper and a small flat screwdriver. Also a set of pliers to oh so slightly nudge the gold contacts outwards.

Please use care when doing this yourself, i don't take any responsibilities for damage - and i admittedly had ruined my fingerprint sensor cable when reinstalling it - which i don't mind that much since i wasn't keen on using it anyways - let that be a warning xD

Edit2: Sorry i accidentally marked the headphone jack - please ignore that

Edited January 23, 2021 by milp

[VaZso 1,998]

2 hours ago, milp said:

Edit: Quick update done from memory, i probably missed some points but you should get the general "scheme" of these connectors and the principle of how theyre supposed to contact eachother. I used some fine and some not so fine grained sandpaper and a small flat screwdriver. Also a set of pliers to oh so slightly nudge the gold contacts outwards.

As of gold-plated contacts, really should take care of not removing it together with other dust as it will be temporary good but will degrade soon after.
So the very slim gold layer should remain in place.

Basically, a piece of plain paper is enough instead of sandpaper and will do the job.

[milp 27]

oh yeah i should have mentioned it, you shouldnt sand those gold connectors down that much, just rough them up a tiny bit and nudge them to go outwards - the aluminium contact plates on the case side however should probably be sanded and roughed up a little

[david 929]

6 hours ago, milp said:

oh yeah i should have mentioned it, you shouldnt sand those gold connectors down that much, just rough them up a tiny bit and nudge them to go outwards - the aluminium contact plates on the case side however should probably be sanded and roughed up a little

That's how I understood your original post.  Sand the aluminum, not the gold.  

Thanks for pointing them out in the photos.  

Regarding the fingerprint scanner, more information on that here:  https://gelraen.github.io/fxtec-pro1-teardown/

That shows the cable here:  

 

[milp 27]

Yep, see that corner in the right circle? That's where i ripped it with my bigass "wurstfingers" as us germans would say xD

 

By the way, for opening the case without a scratch, one of those shaving blades that have a grip on one side and a blade on the other, also used for scratching stuff from automotive glass panels, works very well.

Edited January 23, 2021 by milp