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Unless you happen to be a user of an HTC Dream or Magic smartphone on Rogers (or someone I rant at on a daily basis) you probably haven’t heard much background about my latest beef with Rogers. Here’s the scoop broken down into detail as much as possible for those who may not be in the loop.

Android and HTC Phones

Before I get into the details, it helps to know some things about the above phones. First, these are both Android phones. Android is a phone operating system that was released over a year ago by Google. The HTC Dream (aka: the G1) was the first Android phone released in October of 2008. Since that time Android has been updated constantly and new versions of the operating system have been released with new features and bugfixes. The HTC Magic (aka: Sapphire/MyTouch) was the second phone released (in April of 2009). That phone was released with Android 1.5 (cupcake) on T-Mobile in the US. In May, the T-Mobile G1 (HTC Dream) was given an update to Android 1.5 as well.

Rogers didn’t carry either of these phones until June, 2009. Prior to Rogers carrying these phones there had already begun to be a large ‘modding’ community whose purpose was generally to modify existing firmware to operate better, allow more user control, and fix bugs in the operating system that were being neglected by carriers. When Rogers brought Android phones to its network, it was only natural that the modding popularity would spread up North. One popular modification is CyanogenMod which is currently based on Android 1.6 (Donut). In spite of the fact that T-Mobile in the US has already distributed Android 1.6 for their G1 and myTouch phones, HTC and Rogers made a joint statement that the Dream and Magic would not be getting 1.6 upgrades.

This left many Rogers Dream and Magic users installing 3rd party modifications (including CyanogenMod) in order to gain the Android 1.6 experience their providers refused to give them. The tradeoff? No operating system support from Rogers. This can be likened somewhat to Jailbreaking and modifying an iPhone.

The 911 Issue

On January 15 of this year, I (and many other users of the Dream and Magic phones) received a text message from Rogers. It read as follows:

Rogers/Fido service message: URGENT 911 Calls: Please disable GPS location on your HTC Dream device to ensure all 911 calls complete. HTC is urgently working on a software upgrade and we will provide details shortly so you can re-enable GPS. Instructions: Select Menu – Select Settings – Select Location – Uncheck Enable GPS Satellite

This is, indeed, an urgent bug. The real surprise was that neither Rogers nor HTC had fixed it yet considering it had been fixed 4 months prior in the Android Open Source Project. The fix was submitted on September 17, 2009:

author	Mike Lockwood <nobody@android.com>
	 Thu, 17 Sep 2009 14:29:17 +0000 (07:29 -0700)
committer	The Android Open Source Project <initial -contribution@android.com>
	 Thu, 17 Sep 2009 14:29:17 +0000 (07:29 -0700)
...
AI 151388: Fix null pointer exceptions that can occur if the GPS is started due to E911

From there, the patch would be in every subsequent version of Android. Immediately after entering Android Open Source, the patch was incorporated into CyanogenMod and other mods.

In fact, this was one of the important fixes discussed by T-Mobile in their press release for 1.6 back in October [emphasis added]:

The rollout of Android 1.6 (Donut) to T-Mobile’s G1 and myTouch 3G customers is now underway, and provides new features and software enhancements. The update also includes an important fix for isolated instances of system reboots after dialing 911. We have worked with Google and HTC on a solution, and the rollout of Android 1.6 is being accelerated to ensure the system reboot fix is rapidly delivered to our customers.

The update was released by HTC as an over-the-air update. Users received notification that there was an update on their phones and had a choice whether or not to install.

This is pretty damning evidence that Rogers has been out of touch not only with the Android community, but other vendors as well. I’m inclined to say that HTC dropped the ball on this one too since they were clearly aware of the issue at the time of T-Mobile’s 1.6 update.

Okay, so large fault on their parts, but fortunately it didn’t affect me or any of the other individuals who had already upgraded our phones to 1.6 or higher firmware by way of mods. Clearly Rogers needed to take action to help those of their users who were still on stock Android 1.5.

The Great Disconnect

The evening of Friday, January 22, many of the users of Rogers Dream and Magic devices (though not all users) received a text message similar to the following:

Rogers/Fido Safety Message: URGENT 911 Calls HTC Dream software update: Mandatory software update is now available to help ensure 911 calls are completed from your phone. Please go immediately to rogers.com/dreamsoftwareupdate on your PC to download. In order to help ensure 911 calls are completed internet access will be temporarily disabled on your phone at 01/24/10 6:00AM EST. To minimize loss of internet service, please complete your software update immediately. Upon completion, internet access will be re enabled within 24 hours. For users of Macintosh and Windows 7, please call 1-888-764-3771(1-888-ROGERS1) for update instructions. We apologize for the inconvenience but we prioritize customer safety above all.

In short, internet access was to be disabled for all users of HTC Magic and Dream unless an update was completed 24 hours prior to 6AM Sunday morning, January 24. The ‘update’ was a 1.5 firmware with the following main modifications:

1. The requisite 911 fix.
2. ‘Fixes’ to the kernel to prevent exploits from functioning (the kind of ‘exploits’ used to allow modders to gain “root” and install their own mods)
3. A new radio and recovery image that continue (in the same vein as the original firmware) to prevent modders from flashing new versions of Android onto the phone.
4. SenseUI, an “improvement” by HTC on the Android interface. There is some contention over whether or not it is actually an improvement, and many prefer the simplicity of the original Android interface.

In short, while providing a much belated and important fix along with some interface changes to those on their stock firmware, Rogers is imposing a downgrade (and preventing re-modding) upon those of us who do not have the 911 issue and do not want or desire HTC Sense UI (some users already have Sense UI through other 3rd party modifications).

Of course, come Sunday morning those of us who had not installed the Rogers Mandatory Update or CursorSense 1.2 (a mod based on the Mandatory Update) were left without data access on our phones.

The most official reason for the forced disconnect comes from @RogersMary:

You’re right that disabling GPS fixes the issue and allows 911 calls to complete. So does disabling data.

While it’s understandable that Rogers did have an obligation to take action and a responsibility to its customers, what’s not clear is why those of us with a fixed version of Android are being subjected to the same treatment. If Rogers has the ability to detect out-of-date firmware on their network, it should be equally easy to detect more recent firmware and exempt it from disconnection.

In response to my assertion that all 1.6 firmwares were safe and that CyanogenMod had this fix already, I was told by @RogersMary,

Hi Aron. I can’t offer assistance on rooted devices. For customer safety, all customers need the 1.5 fix downloaded to device.

I can accept that no assistance or support would be granted to someone using a non-standard version of Android, however I was not asking for support any more than I asked to have my data connection disabled. The only thing being asked for is the data service that is already being paid for.

To be fair, in an extended version of the announcement, Rogers has stated that they will be offering one month of data service in compensation for the outage, but again there is no provision for those of us who do not require the update to have working 911 service. Compensation is not service.

Reconnection

There are still many questions regarding the disconnection and reconnection process. Callers to technical support have gotten mixed answers as to whether they can have their connections reactivated while using non-standard firmware or if a reinstated connection will last. It seems not every support agent is even familiar with the situation.

What is clear is that this can legally be no more than a temporary measure. As Ben Selinger put it in his blog post yesterday,

Some of you may recall legal precedence for this kind of issue, dating waaay back to the 70’s when Bell (then Northern Telecom) tried to force its customers to use Bell branded phones, and tried to attach a special fee to modem/fax use. The courts ruled against Bell, and the CRTC jumped in and made all sorts of rules to prevent telecom’s from requiring proprietary hardware, on standardized networks. This does, legally, carry over to GSM carriers. GSM is GSM. If your phone supports GSM on the frequency of a carrier, the carrier must provide a signal. Period.

Rogers would face an uphill battle trying to maintain their hard-line against those who refuse to upgrade and there is already talk in the community of presenting a case to the CRTC.

Additional Updates

2010-01-26 @ 12:02 PM – Additional downsides to the Rogers Mandatory Update

• SenseUI apparently drains the (already poor) battery on an HTC Dream at a higher rate than the stock firmware does.
• Voice dialing not functional for some people after updating. This makes it illegal in some provinces to make phone calls while driving using these phones. Hat tip to @IWMOPS and @gervai5
• Multiple reports of Fido customers having to enable Roaming Mode in order to have access to data after performing the update.

2010-01-26 1:53PM – Free Magic deal called off due to 911 fix?

It seems the Free HTC Magic deal that was available for a limited time to Dream owners has been called off for dubious reasons. The deal was originally offered by Rogers as a good faith gesture to Dream owners who were disappointed that their devices did not have enough storage space for the Android 2.1 update Rogers was planning for eventual release. This announcement was made no later than January 9.

We had heard a few days ago that this deal was on pause until the 911 issues were worked out on both the HTC Dream and Magic, which have both been pulled from shelves, but now it seems Rogers is claiming that the deal only existed due to the 911 issue. Remember from my post above that the text message sent out regarding the 911 issue was on January 15, 6 days later!

Via Tyrell’s comments below come some excerpts from Rogers support emails,

I am pleased to inform you that the issue with the HTC Dream has been resolved; as such, the promotional offer for an upgrade to the HTC Magic is no longer available.

Thank you for your most recent email. I have contacted our technical department and they have advised that in the beginning the 911 issue was only affecting customer with the HTC Dream. However, within hours we received confirmation from HTC that this issue was also affecting the HTC Magic. Once it was brought to our attention that this issue was affecting both devices the promotion was placed on hold until further notice.

So, which is it Rogers? If the promotion only existed because of 911 problems then why didn’t we hear about the problem sooner?

2010-01-26 4:17 PM – More confirmation of the cancelled Magic upgrade

From this comment by Lee:

I called into Rogers and asked the CSR about the Dream to Magic upgrade, and was told they are no longer offering it since the mandatory software update fixes the problems the Dream had.

Edit: From Calvin’s comment below it would seem that the confusion over the Dream to Magic upgrade pause is simply misinformed support staff and that the deal will resume when the 911 issue is resolved.

2010-01-26 4:20 PM – Additional problems with the mandatory update

Looks like more problems with the new firmware have been observed including:

- Fido customers report their phones now constantly say they are roaming (data I believe)
- Some people report various FCs and spontaneous reboots
- One person says he was unable to delete icons from the home screen (including Rogers icons)… has anyone else encountered this?
- Photo gallery error (GBD)
- Task manager “end all” causes FCs (GBD)
- Possible problem with MS Exchange (via Twitter)
- Twitter user XBrav is having problems with freezing, buzzing, and calls not completing.
- Flash player not always working
- Battery possibly draining faster
- Some apps previously available in the marketplace are now not available.

More information on I Want My One Point Six.

2010-01-27 12:51 PM – Magic upgrade plan just delayed

Tweet from @RogersMary in response to @bcrook88, confirming the purpose of the upgrade and that it’s just on hold:

The upgrade is just temporarily on hold. It was set up for Dream customers who wanted a new OS. Hope that helps.

2010-01-28 7:29 PM – Not much has changed

Things still appear to be the same as a couple of days ago, though I hear via rumour that the support tickets are piling up at Rogers. A couple of nights ago the issue was featured on Slashdot which sent a lot of hits this way and hopefully increased public awareness of the issue.

In general, Rogers is still telling callers that the update is required and as many tell it, they’ve stopped issuing network resets/refreshes when asked as well.