Android RIL Driver

User Guide

GSM/GPRS/UMTS/HSPA/LTE Module Series

Rev. Android_RIL_Driver_User_Guide_V1.6

Date: 2017-11-10

[Link]
 GSM/GPRS/UMTS/HSPA/LTE Module Series
Android RIL Driver User Guide

Our aim is to provide customers with timely and comprehensive service. For any
assistance, please contact our company headquarters:

Quectel Wireless Solutions Co., Ltd.

7th Floor, Hongye Building, No.1801 Hongmei Road, Xuhui District, Shanghai 200233, China
Tel: +86 21 5108 6236
Email: info@[Link]

Or our local office. For more information, please visit:

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[Link]

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For technical support, or to report documentation errors, please visit:

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[Link]

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Or email to: support@[Link]

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GENERAL NOTES

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QUECTEL OFFERS THE INFORMATION AS A SERVICE TO ITS CUSTOMERS. THE INFORMATION
PROVIDED IS BASED UPON CUSTOMERS‟ REQUIREMENTS. QUECTEL MAKES EVERY EFFORT

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TO ENSURE THE QUALITY OF THE INFORMATION IT MAKES AVAILABLE. QUECTEL DOES NOT
MAKE ANY WARRANTY AS TO THE INFORMATION CONTAINED HEREIN, AND DOES NOT ACCEPT
ANY LIABILITY FOR ANY INJURY, LOSS OR DAMAGE OF ANY KIND INCURRED BY USE OF OR

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RELIANCE UPON THE INFORMATION. ALL INFORMATION SUPPLIED HEREIN IS SUBJECT TO
CHANGE WITHOUT PRIOR NOTICE.

COPYRIGHT

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THE INFORMATION CONTAINED HERE IS PROPRIETARY TECHNICAL INFORMATION OF

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QUECTEL WIRELESS SOLUTIONS CO., LTD. TRANSMITTING, REPRODUCTION, DISSEMINATION
AND EDITING OF THIS DOCUMENT AS WELL AS UTILIZATION OF THE CONTENT ARE
FORBIDDEN WITHOUT PERMISSION. OFFENDERS WILL BE HELD LIABLE FOR PAYMENT OF
DAMAGES. ALL RIGHTS ARE RESERVED IN THE EVENT OF A PATENT GRANT OR
REGISTRATION OF A UTILITY MODEL OR DESIGN.

Copyright © Quectel Wireless Solutions Co., Ltd. 2017. All rights reserved.

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About the Document

History

Revision Date

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1.0 2015-02-27 Carl YIN Initial

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1.1 2015-03-25 Carl YIN Updated supported products

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1.2 2015-04-07 Kent XU Added Zero Packet feature in Section 3.3.3.

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1. Added GSM modules in Supported Products

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1.3 2015-07-10 Kent XU
2. Added Android 5.x in Supported Android Versions
Carl YIN/ 1. Added EC21&EC25 in Supported Products
1.4 2016-06-21
Neo HOU 2. Added FAQ

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1.5 2016-08-23 Kent XU Added EC20 R2.0 in Supported Products

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1. Deleted Chapter 1.1 which was used to show the
Directory Structure of Quectel RIL Driver Package

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2. Updated description of Supported Products, and
1.6 2017-11-10 Kent XU
added EG91, EG95, EG06, EM06, EP06, BG96,

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and AG35 in Supported Products
3. Added Android 6.x/7.x in Supported Android Versions

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Contents

About the Document ................................................................................................................................... 2

Contents ....................................................................................................................................................... 3
Table Index ................................................................................................................................................... 4
Figure Index ................................................................................................................................................. 5

1 Introduction .......................................................................................................................................... 6

2 Overview of Android RIL Driver ......................................................................................................... 7

2.1. Supported Products ..................................................................................................................... 7

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2.2. Supported Functions .................................................................................................................... 7
2.3. Supported Android Versions ........................................................................................................ 8

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3 RIL Integration ...................................................................................................................................... 9

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3.1. RIL Driver Structure...................................................................................................................... 9

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3.2. PPP Configuration in Linux Kernel ............................................................................................ 10

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3.3. USB Drivers Integration ............................................................................................................. 10

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3.4. RIL Driver Integration ................................................................................................................. 10

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3.5. System Configuration ................................................................................................................. 11

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3.5.1. Configure [Link] ................................................................................................................ 11

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3.5.2. Modify the Right of RILD .................................................................................................. 12

4 Debugging Method ............................................................................................................................ 13

4.1. Method of Catching LOG ........................................................................................................... 13

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4.2. Some Common Log Tags .......................................................................................................... 13

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5 FAQs .................................................................................................................................................... 15
5.1. How to Set APN ......................................................................................................................... 15

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5.2. Quectel RIL Does Not Work ....................................................................................................... 16
5.3. Cannot Send or Receive Short Message .................................................................................. 16

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6 Appendix ............................................................................................................................................. 17

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Table Index

TABLE 1: SUPPORTED PRODUCTS ................................................................................................................. 7

TABLE 2: SUPPORTED FUNCTIONS ................................................................................................................ 7
TABLE 3: SUPPORTED ANDROID VERSIONS ................................................................................................. 8
TABLE 4: SOME COMMON LOG TAGS ........................................................................................................... 13
TABLE 5: TERMS AND ABBREVIATIONS ........................................................................................................ 17

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Figure Index

FIGURE 1: RIL DRIVER STRUCTURE ............................................................................................................... 9

FIGURE 2: RIL FILES ......................................................................................................................................... 11
FIGURE 3: EDIT ACCESS POINT .................................................................................................................... 15

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1 Introduction
This document mainly introduces how to integrate RIL Driver into Android OS of your target machine and
how to modify the configuration files for starting RIL service and PPP dialling.

This document is applicable to Quectel GSM, UMTS and LTE modules. More details are provided in

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Table 1.

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2 Overview of Android RIL Driver

2.1. Supported Products

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Table 1: Supported Products

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Product Description

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GSM All Quectel GSM modules

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UCxx UC15/UC20

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UMTS

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UGxx UG95/UG96

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EC2x EC20/EC21/EC25

LTE EGxx EG91/EG95/EG06

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Others EP06/EM06/BG96/AG35

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2.2. Supported Functions

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Table 2: Supported Functions

Function Support or Not

SMS YES

Voice Call YES

Data Service YES

SIM Tool Kit NO

Phonebook YES

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2.3. Supported Android Versions

Presently, Quectel RIL driver supports the following Android versions.

Table 3: Supported Android Versions

Versions Support or Not

Android 2.x YES

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Android 3.x YES

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Android 4.x YES

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Android 5.x YES

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Android 6.x YES

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Android 7.x YES

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3 RIL Integration
This chapter mainly introduces the RIL driver structure and how to set up Android system with the RIL
driver.

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3.1. RIL Driver Structure

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Android RIL (Radio Interface Layer) provides the abstract layer between Telephony service and Radio

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hardware.

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The following illustration describes the RIL‟s position in the Android architecture.

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Applications

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Call Tracker SMS Dispatch Service Tracker Data Tracker

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Application Phone
Framework Java/android/telephony

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RIL

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Java/android/telephony/gsm

Unix

Libraries

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Radio Daemon (RILD)
(User Space) /commands/rild

Vendor RIL
System/libs/[Link]

Packet Service
Linux Kernel Linux IP Stack

Voice and
Control
Packet Driver
[Link] example

Baseband Baseband

Figure 1: RIL Driver Structure

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The RIL in Android is located between Kernel and Application Framework. It is divided into two parts, one
is RILD and the other is Vendor RIL.

RILD is responsible for the communication between Socket and Application Framework.

Vendor RIL is responsible for communication with Radio via AT command channel and Packet data
channel (PDCH). AT command channel is used for communicating with Radio directly and PDCH is used
for data service.

The java framework of RIL is divided into two parts too. One is RIL module and the other is Phone module.
The RIL module is used to communicate with the lower RILD. The Phone module directly provides phone

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function interfaces to application through which customers can call to realize the phone functions.

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3.2. PPP Configuration in Linux Kernel

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The kernel needs to be configured to support PPP dial up.

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For detailed kernel configuration (to support PPP) steps, please refer to Chapter 3.6 of

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Quectel_WCDMA&LTE_Linux_USB_Driver_User_Guide.

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3.3. USB Drivers Integration

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If Quectel GSM modules are used, please skip this chapter.

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The kernel should be configured to support UCxx/UGxx/EC2x/EGxx/EP06/EM06/BG96/AG35 modules.
For detailed operation procedures, please refer to Chapter 3.2~3.5 in Quectel_WCDMA&LTE_

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Linux_USB_Driver_User_Guide:

3.4. RIL Driver Integration

Presently, Quectel provides RIL driver in the form of source code. There is only a need to copy the RIL
driver source code files to the correct path on your project directory, and then recompile the Android
system.

The source path of the RIL driver files in RIL Driver package is: Driver package/reference-ril

The destination path in Android system is: ($Android_src)/hardware/ril/

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Please use the following command to update these files‟ date stamp to make sure they will be compiled.

touch hardware/ril/*

After recompiling the Android system successfully, please make sure the following files exists in folder
out/target/product/($your_board_name)/system.

Figure 2: RIL Files

NOTE

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Quectel would not give the PPP script, because we have integrated the PPP script in the source code of

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the RIL driver. And the chat, ip-up and ip-down would be generated when the RIL driver has been

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compiled.

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3.5. System Configuration

In order to use the RIL driver normally, some Android system configuration files have to be modified.

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3.5.1. Configure [Link]

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Add service ril-daemon in [Link]:

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If UCxx/UGxx/EC2x/EGxx/EP06/EM06/BG96/AG35 modules are used and they are accessed by USB
interface, please add the following service in [Link]:

service ril-daemon /system/bin/rild -l /system/lib/[Link]

class main
socket rild stream 660 root radio
socket rild-debug stream 666 radio system
user root
group radio cache inet misc audio sdcard_rw log

If GSM modules are used and they are accessed by UART interface, please add the following service in
[Link]:

service ril-daemon /system/bin/rild -l /system/lib/[Link] -- -d <UART port name> –B <baud

rate> –C <hardware flow control>
class main

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socket rild stream 660 root radio

socket rild-debug stream 666 radio system
user root
group radio cache inet misc audio sdcard_rw log

The following parameter needs to be configured:

 -d <UART port name>

The name of UART port being used. For example: /dev/ttyS1

It is optional to configure the following two parameters:

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 -B <baud rate>

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The speed of UART port. For example: 115200, 230400, 460800bps. The default baud rate is 115200bps.

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 -C <hardware flow control>

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1: open hardware flow control

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0: close hardware flow control

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Hardware flow control is closed by default.

The [Link] file may be located in different paths according to different projects, for example:

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 system/core/rootdir/[Link]

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 device/fsl/imx6/[Link]
 device/ti/am335xevm_sk/[Link]

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 device/generic/x86/[Link]
 device/samsung/smdkv210/init.smdkv210_sdmmc.rc

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3.5.2. Modify the Right of RILD

RILD (ril-daemon) requires root privilege. So there is a need to comment out the function switchUser() in
the file ($Android_src)/hardware/ril/rild/rild.c:

OpenLib:
#endif
//switchUser();

dlHandle = dlopen(rilLibPath, RTLD_NOW)

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4 Debugging Method

4.1. Method of Catching LOG

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1) Catch the log of RIL module by typing the following command in window‟s CMD tool:

adb logcat –b radio –v time

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2) Catch the log of Android system by typing the following command in window‟s CMD tool:

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adb logcat –v time

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3) Sometimes, customers may want to make tests on lots of devices or for a long time, and it is not

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convenient to connect all devices with PC via USB cables. In this case, they can log file by the

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following command:

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adb shell
logcat –b radio –v time –f <filename> &

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The character „&‟ makes the „logcat‟ process running in background, so the devices can be disconnected.

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4) When tests are finished, the following command can be used to fetch log files from devices to local

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directory:

adb pull <filename> <local directory>

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4.2. Some Common Log Tags

Table 4: Some Common Log Tags

RIL /hardware/ril/reference-ril/refereince-ril.c

AT /hardware/ril/reference-ril/atchannel.c

RILD /hardware/ril/rild/rild.c

RILC /hardware/ril/libril/[Link]

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RILB /frameworks/base/telephony/java/com/android/internal/telephony/[Link]

RILJ /frameworks/base/telephony/java/com/android/internal/telephony/gsm/[Link]

GSM /frameworks/base/telephony/java/com/android/internal/telephony/gsm/[Link]

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5 FAQs

5.1. How to Set APN

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If the dialling process cannot go on, it is quite possible that the APN has not been set yet. The APN can be
set in Android UI:

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Settings  WIRELESS & NETWORKS  More…  Mobile Networks  Access Point Names

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If nothing is seen in Access Point Names, it indicates that the APN has not been set. In such case, a

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new APN should be added to the system. The following is an example which shows the access point

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editing interface. Please note that the Access Point Name varies with the operator and (U)SIM card.

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Figure 3: Edit Access Point

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5.2. Quectel RIL Does Not Work

There are many reasons that may cause Quectel RIL not working. The following are some common
causes.

1. RIL daemon is not running

Use the command below to check RIL daemon status. If non-value, “Stopped” or “Restarting” is returned,
it indicates that RIL daemon is not running. The expected return value should be “Running”.

getprop [Link]-daemon

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2. RIL library is not loaded correctly

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Check the RIL-daemon service definition in [Link] through the command below. The expected result

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should be “service ril-daemon /system/bin/rild -l /system/lib/[Link]”. Check the arguments,

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word spelling, blank space, etc. to make sure the RIL library is loaded correctly.

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cat /[Link] | grep ril-daemon

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3. Cannot access USB serial port device file

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 Use command “ls –l /dev/ttyUSB*” to check the access right of the device file.
 Use command “getenforce” to check whether the SELinux has been enabled.
 Command “setenforce 0” can disable the SELinux.

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4. The RIL library is not provided by Quectel

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Use the command below to check Quectel RIL version, and the return value should start with

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Quectel_Android_RIL_SR. If not, the RIL library is not provided by Quectel.

getprop [Link]-impl

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5.3. Cannot Send or Receive Short Message

Use the following command to check whether the system has disabled SMS receive/send function.

getprop [Link]
Or
[Link]

 If the return value is false, it indicates that the SMS receive/send function has been disabled.
If non-value is returned, please check frameworks\base\core\res\res\values\[Link] (first check the
manufacturer override configuration file) to see config_sms_capable. If the config_sms_capable
configuration file in [Link] is false just like <bool name="config_sms_capable">false</bool>, then
change it to true.

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6 Appendix

Table 5: Terms and Abbreviations

Abbreviation Description

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GSM Global System for Mobile Communications

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MS Mobile Station

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PID Product ID

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RIL Radio Interface Layer

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TA Terminal Adapter

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VID Vendor ID

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WCDMA Wideband Code Division Multiple Access

LTE Long Term Evolution

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