3G in General and APN

A working 3G data connection shows up in the top status row of the Pre. That row shows either 3G, G or E (both for 2G) on the left of the signal strength icon on GSM models, provided that the WiFi is off or WiFi is not connected. Once WiFI is connected its icon will overwrite the 3G icon. That way you always know what connection is active for data connections. Many have reported 3G data connection problems, especially when using the Pre on 'non-supported networks' (to be defined). An APN is an Access Point Name, that is required to connect to that named network. One of the contributing factors to 3G problems is that APN and information about that network such as a passwords are sometimes not correct in the Pre's database of networks/operators. This Wiki is intended to solve 3G (and APN) problems.

Type of 3G or APN Problems

Connection to networks in countries where the Pre is not sold through Palm's channels: some work out of the box, some experience problems as follows.
Network operator not present in the Pre Carrier database: reported in the forum that this can be solved, see case 2
Network operator present, but entries in Database are wrong: reported in the forum that this can be solved, see case 3
Manual settings on Phone preferences cannot be saved: not sure, probably network operator not present in database, see case 2
Data connection not established while DB entries seem OK: can be solved in many cases, see case 5
Voicemail number wrong or not present: can be solved, see case

Tools needed

If the problem cannot be solved by using manual settings under Phone preferences, you need some tools to modify some Pre files. (List of tools to be added)

If you have a PC, probably WebOS Quick Install is easy to install and use for beginners [1]
Likely you'll need an SQL Database editor. A free SQLite database will do (reference needed)

How to Determine which Problem Case(s) is (are) Applicable

This is tricky and needs some work.....

Check whether your carrier/operator is listed in the Pre carrier database. Some copies of the carrier database are availablke in this thread [2]. If your carrier is not listed, you'll have to modify an existing other carrier's data into your carrier. It requires both a modified carrier DB entry and one or more modified data entries. See case 2.
Check whether the data section of a listed carrier contains the right information. If the settings not right, you have to modify the data section of your carrier. Probably modifying it by manual settings under phone preferences is easiest, for some nice screen shots see Marc's Blog [3]. If manual settings does not work for you, you'll have to change the databases located on the Pre, see case 3.
Some have reported that even though all setting look OK, still there is no 3G data connection. One of the causes is that as of 1.3.1 so called PPP options might need a user and password option, see case 5.

Forum threads that discuss or solve the 3G problem

Since this How to is just starting, the following threads contains many working suggestions. Please add any thread you find valuable.

Best how-to so far: Modifying WebOS carrier network settings[4]
APN Problems with 1.3.1/1.3.5 [5]
Carrier/APN settings for 1.13 German and 1.21 US[6]
Adjusting Carrier Settings / SSH into device guide/help for dummies...does it exist?[7]
MMS not working MMS not working [8]
Data still not working in 1.3.1 UK (Multi-page thread 1 2 3 ... Last Page)[9]
Confirmed manual Carrier/APN settings in webOS 1.3[10]
Any GSM pre that has a working voicemail shortcut (key 1)[11]

Case 2: carrier/operator not present in the Pre carrier database

(please record what to do)

Case 3: Incorrect data base settings: How to Modify WebOS carrier network settings

(thanks palmdoc2005 for his excellent writeup) Please WiKi-expert,format the lists and sublists below

Assuming one has an unlocked GSM Pre which is activated, has network access via Wifi but may have 3G data connection problems due to incorrect carrier connection settings. Also assuming manual (data) setting under Phone preferences is OFF. (need a separate case how to handle ON)
Modifying the file CarrierNetworkSettings.db3 found in /usr/lib/luna/ may fix the problem You of course also need to first check what the correct data network settings (APN/login/username etc) for your carrier are (call them up if you are unsure). Need some reference here of a list of carrier settings ......

Step 1) Copying the carrier network database file to your PC
Several methods

method a) Obtain the database from the webosdoctor image

Download the image appropriate for your device.

Use 7zip to unpack the file.

The required DB file is found in : webosdoctorp100eww-wr\resources\webOS\nova-cust-image-castle.rootfs.tar\nova-cust-image-castle.rootfs\usr\lib\luna\CarrierNetworkSettings.db3

method b) Obtain the database from the device itself. You can:

either 1) use Putty

SSH to to your Pre using Putty, type

cp /usr/lib/luna/CarrierNetworkSettings.db3 /media/internal. This will copy the database file to the internal storage.

Put your Pre into USB disk mode and copy the database file to your machine.

or 2) use Internalz

Navigate to /usr/lib/luna/ and copy CarrierNetworkSettings.db3 to /media/internal
Put your Pre into USB disk mode and copy the database file to your machine.

or 3) Use WebOS Quick Install tool

Put your Pre in Developer Mode. Attach it to the PC through the USB cable and select Just Charge
Launch WebOS Quick Install
Select Receive File from the menu
Enter /usr/lib/luna/CarrierNetworkSettings.db3
Select destination folder in your PC

Step 2) Editing the database on your PC

I suppose it is prudent to back up the file before making modifications

a) Obtain a free SQLite database editor

either SQLite Database Browser
or Firefox SQLite manager extension

b) Open the carrier network db3 file in SQLite database browser Click on the Browse Data tab

From the drop down menu, select the ..._CarrierNetworkSettings table
Locate your carrier by browsing or searching the table

If there are many entries, like for tmobile, find a local carrier that for sure is located in your country
Note country code (need fieldname ref here) and find your carrier by finding a 'tmobile' that has the same country code

You might want to check the voicemail number

Check the field voicemailNumber
Change the voicemail number if needed

Note the 13 digit number ID value of your carrier, such as 2199023255831, at the end of the record on the right hand side

From the drop down menu, now select another table: the ..._DataConnectionSettings table
Locate that noted ID in the dataconnections table

Now you can edit the APN , username and password if these field to don contain the right information for your carrier

Don't forget to save each changed field, if required by the tool used!

Save the file

Step 3) Copying the database back to the device

Use Jason Robitaille's WebOS Quick Install tool

Click on Tools - Send File and point it to the amended database file.
As the destination folder use /usr/lib/luna/ and click Send To Device!
Repeat this, only this time use /var/luna/data/ as the destination folder.

Step 4) Reboot your Pre. That should be it.....

Case 5: all settings seem OK, yet no connection

(Thanks to xioq)

A patch is available for solving this problem, see [12]

The following procedure is an alternative and results in the same modification as the patch does. The steps:

Fix CarrierNetworkSettings.db3, see Case Incorrect data base settings
Modify /etc/ppp/options-gsm

The otions-gsm file has to be edited and put back on the Pre. The options are listed below, add them just before the end of file.

#noccp     
#novj           
#show-password      
#nobsdcomp      
#noipdefault      
#nodeflate        
user "vodafone"     
password "vodafone"

The lines that are marked with # in front of them seem not to be required. They have been tried out to solve this problem. So just add your user/password lines in there and that should solve the problem. There are also reports that just having empty strings for user and passwords (so just "") works sometimes. And there are reports that the vodafone setting works on other networks that would need a different setting. If it does notwork, find the right settings for your network/operator. (need a web reference for those)

While no one is sure yet, why this problem has occurred since the 1.3.1 update - it's good to see it has been resolved. It has been reported in the forum this works for webOS 1.3.5.2 (GSM) and for 1.3.5.1 (Spint on a GSM model)

How to solve 3G data problems

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