MMS success and failure

Fizz

@rik
I think my APN settings are correct. I am in Canada. Carrier is Virgin Mobile. Under APN it says Bell Mobility Internet and MMS.
APN: dpa.bell.ca
MMSC: http://mms.bell.ca/mms/wapenc

My internet connection works with or without wifi (ie, web pages always load normally). And i can send / receive standard text messages.

My wife's mobile is a Samsung S8 running default Android, and is also on Virgin. Her APN settings match mine, though her Android shows a few other parameters that aren't listed in Ubuntu Touch.

Any ideas as to how to fix? Thanks!

AppLee

@fizz
Hi, I can confirm that MMS work well on UT.
Group MMS have some issues from what you can read on this forum.
There is a fix in progress when the MMS notification is received when cellular data is turned off.

What is also known regarding MMS is that it doesn't work well in north America.
I don't have the details, but it is due to your provider and/or APN settings.

There are several posts discussing what operator is compatible with UT and what do not work with respective carrier...
I think there is also a telegram group about it, but I don't have the link available at the moment.

rik

@fizz currently a single APN for internet and mms is not supported. You need to have 2 separate entries, one for Internet and a second with a different APN value for MMS. How we have "tricked it to work" for T-Mobile is use the tmobile entry for Internet and a MVNO entry for MMS. This has worked for T-Mobile customers (that don't have a US Mobile contract but still use the US Mobile MMS APN settings), and likewise for US Mobile customers (that don't have a T-Mobile contract but still use the T-Mobile Internet APN settings).

For ATT it is similar.

Without knowing the Canadian market, do you know of any resellers of Virgin Mobile? If so then we can hopefully solve this issue for you.

The PR that is hopefully going to make a combined "Internet + MMS" APN possible (so you can just have the 1 APN entry) is here: https://github.com/ubports/ofono/pull/28 but at least in my testing it is wiping out any manually entered APN settings often, reverting to default settings. So I fear it may not be immediately ready for inclusion without some further development / debugging.

Here is the Telegram group for "North America Carrier Issues": https://t.me/+ohNz4o-TY_E1MmM5

Fizz

@rik
OK, so i need 2 separate entries. Are the values for these entries going to be different? That is, if i changed my current APN to be just "internet", and duplicated it to a second APN for "mms" (all same settings), would that work? I'm guessing not, but i try to be hopeful. Heh.

Or are you meaning that i need two different carriers? Like i put internet on Virgin and MMS on Telus (another carrier up here)?

I don't know of any resellers of Virgin Mobile up here. That doesn't mean there aren't, i just don't know. How does a reseller help?

I know Virgin uses the Bell networks up here, hence my current settings. I don't know if this will help at all:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virgin_Plus

I'm happy to try to provide any information, but i don't know a whole lot about APN, MMS, NVMO's, etc, so apologies if i'm missing anything.

-Fizz

rik

@fizz yes both APN values NEED to be different. If you have 2 entries and the APN values are the same it will get confused and won't work.

So, doing a bit of random internet searching, I would try the following:

APN #1: (reference: https://mmsapnsettings.com/ca/bell-mobility/)

Used For: Internet
Name: Bell Internet (actually can be whatever you want I think)
APN: Pda.bell.ca
<User Name and Password BLANK>

APN #2: (reference: https://mmsapnsettings.com/ca/virgin-mobile/)

Used For: MMS
Name: Virgin Mobile MMS (again can actually be whatever you want)
APN: inet.bell.ca
MMSC: http://mms.bell.ca/mms/wapenc
MMS Proxy: web.wireless.bell.ca
<Proxy Port, User Name, Password ALL BLANK>

This is a random guess, but is the approach I think will hopefully work to use Bell for one and Virgin Mobile for the other. Please let us know any updates.

Fizz

@rik
I have set things up exactly as you described. I changed the existing APN from "Internet and MMS" to just "Internet", and made sure the apn matched. And then i added a second apn entry for Virgin mms entry, with values as you describe.

The behavior is the same as before- i get the notification that there is an error with the MMS notification and the message could not be received, plus the option to try to download again.
But on the plus side, it's no worse than before. Heh.

Do i need to restart the phone or anything like that? (I would think no, but covering all bases here.)

Based on the links you provided, the configurations look very similar. The only difference on those configuration pages seems to be the apn name (pda.bell.ca vs inet.bell.ca). Might that mean they are too similar or something?

rik

@fizz said in MMS success and failure:

The behavior is the same as before- i get the notification that there is an error with the MMS notification and the message could not be received, plus the option to try to download again.

Just to confirm you do have wifi disconnected, correct? After that if still a problem, you can find nuntium.log in the logviewer app from the store. It may give some clues, and it also will let you find the http address of the MMS message, that in a terminal you can try to manually download using wget. That may give additional information.

You could also swap the pda.bell.ca and inet.bell.ca (making pda.bell.ca the MMS APN, and inet.bell.ca the internet one). Make sure to check that normal cellular data is working currently and after that change.

Fizz

@rik
Oh, i thought this was supposed to work whether wifi was enabled or not. I did have it enabled, so i just tried it with wifi disabled, and the behavior is the same.

Normal cellular data seems to be working (i can browse the internet when wifi disabled, etc).

If i switch the pda.bell.ca and the inet.bell.ca, then cellular data seems to break- can't bring up web pages anymore. MMS messaging remains as before; (get the notification of an mms but can't retrieve it).

I'll try the logviewer and reply further...

Fizz

@rik
Ok here is what the log file says when a new mms is detected.

2022/01/18 08:58:02 Received ReceiveNotification() method call from 44600

2022/01/18 08:58:02 Push data


00000000 00 06 29 1f 22 61 70 70 6c 69 63 61 74 69 6f 6e |..)."application|


00000010 2f 76 6e 64 2e 77 61 70 2e 6d 6d 73 2d 6d 65 73 |/vnd.wap.mms-mes|


00000020 73 61 67 65 00 81 84 af 84 8d 01 00 8c 82 98 33 |sage...........3|


00000030 33 65 34 34 62 61 65 61 63 32 64 35 64 36 30 39 |3e44baeac2d5d609|


00000040 39 30 36 32 37 36 30 2d 31 00 8d 92 89 1a 80 18 |9062760-1.......|


00000050 ea 2b 31 35 31 39 38 35 39 30 35 34 37 2f 54 59 |.+15198590547/TY|


00000060 50 45 3d 50 4c 4d 4e 00 96 00 8a 80 88 05 81 03 |PE=PLMN.........|


00000070 09 3a 7f 86 81 83 68 74 74 70 3a 2f 2f 6d 6d 73 |.:....http://mms|


00000080 63 32 2e 67 65 74 2e 62 65 6c 6c 2e 63 61 2f 63 |c2.get.bell.ca/c|


00000090 6c 6f 75 64 6d 6d 73 63 3f 6c 3d 33 33 65 34 34 |loudmmsc?l=33e44|


000000a0 62 61 65 61 63 32 64 35 64 36 30 39 39 30 36 32 |baeac2d5d6099062|


000000b0 37 36 30 2d 31 00 8e 03 04 68 1b |760-1....h.|


2022/01/18 08:58:02 Trying to set Active property to true for context on true /ril_0/context2

2022/01/18 08:58:02 Cannot set Activate to true (try 1/3) interface on /ril_0/context2: org.ofono.Error.Failed: Operation failed


2022/01/18 08:58:05 Cannot set Activate to true (try 2/3) interface on /ril_0/context2: org.ofono.Error.Failed: Operation failed


2022/01/18 08:58:07 Cannot set Activate to true (try 3/3) interface on /ril_0/context2: org.ofono.Error.Failed: Operation failed


2022/01/18 08:58:09 Failed to activate for /ril_0/context2 : failed to activate context


2022/01/18 08:58:09 Cannot activate ofono context: no context available to activate

Fizz

@rik
And after i try to redownload the failed mms, the log says:


2022/01/18 09:39:06 Failed to activate for /ril_0/context2 : failed to activate context


2022/01/18 09:39:06 Cannot activate ofono context: no context available to activate


2022/01/18 09:39:07 Received unknown method call on org.ofono.mms.Message 


2022/01/18 09:39:06 Failed to activate for /ril_0/context2 : failed to activate context


2022/01/18 09:39:06 Cannot activate ofono context: no context available to activate


2022/01/18 09:39:07 Received unknown method call on org.ofono.mms.Message MarkRead


2022/01/18 09:39:07 Message /org/ofono/mms/302610917674682/ca0a25478cfe5c51a4aca5f2d8d121f0 is not responded and not expired, not deleting

StandUpMobile

TLDR: try pda2.bell.ca for one of the APN's (Internet).

Full version:

On Bell Canada. WITHOUT the patch that allows merged apn entries, this should work (Although I have a bug in nuntium that prevents me from receiving ... I CAN wget the files so hopefully some version of these will help out):

[context1]
Name=Internet
AccessPointName=pda2.bell.ca
Username=
Password=
AuthenticationMethod=none
Type=internet
Protocol=ip
Preferred=true
MessageProxy=
MessageCenter=

[context2]
Name=bell mms
AccessPointName=pda.bell.ca
Username=
Password=
AuthenticationMethod=none
Type=mms
Protocol=ip
Preferred=true
MessageProxy=web.wireless.bell.ca:80
MessageCenter=http://mms.bell.ca/mms/wapenc

To make this stick through APN resets I changed the bell section of my /usr/share/mobile-broadband-provider-info/serviceproviders.xml

        <provider>
                <name>Bell Mobility</name>
                <gsm>
                        <network-id mcc="302" mnc="610"/>
                        <network-id mcc="302" mnc="640"/>
                        <network-id mcc="302" mnc="651"/>
                        <network-id mcc="302" mnc="880"/>
                        <apn value="pda2.bell.ca">
                                <plan type="postpaid"/>
                                <usage type="internet"/>
                                <name>Internet</name>
                        </apn>
                        <apn value="pda.bell.ca">
                                <plan type="postpaid"/>
                                <usage type="internet"/>
                                <name>Mobile Web</name>
                        </apn>
                        <apn value="pda.bell.ca">
                                <usage type="mms"/>
                                <name>bell mms</name>
                                <username></username>
                                <password></password>
                                <mmsc>http://mms.bell.ca/mms/wapenc</mmsc>
                                <mmsproxy>web.wireless.bell.ca:80</mmsproxy>
                        </apn>
                        <apn value="pda2.bell.ca">
                                <plan type="postpaid"/>
                                <usage type="internet"/>
                                <name>Mobile Fast Web</name>
                        </apn>
                </gsm>

ronbillock

Hi, I am the original poster for this thread. My MMS still does not work. My APN is posted. Some posters seem to indicate this is a N. America or US issue as it works elsewhere. Some say to get the log but from the information posted that didn't seem to help the person posting it. I have 2 MMS messages within the last hour that I can not access. If I follow the steps and then push Download the phone says a new MMS message was received but the message is not there but I can again trigger the button with the same results. The phone will 'ping' and vibrate as if there is a message, which there is...oops. Between issues like this and soon losing service due to VoLTE I am not terribly excited about my efforts to leave the evil Apple empire. For now, I will continue to monitor the thread but I just wanted to say, at least for me, the issue was not resolved with whatever directions/updates provided.

lsitongia

@ronbillock I can't directly help you, but all I can add to this is that I had trouble, too, with my GSMA (ATT compatible) phone doing MMS. From the suggestion of someone else here, I switched from my Google Fi SIM to Red Pocket (GSMA) and have been able to use MMS here in the US (I'm in Colorado).

ronbillock

@lsitongia I am not sure what that means. Did you change sim cards/carriers or settings?

ronbillock

Update: I went out for a glass of wine. I decided to run a test. I turned on my wifi BUT I was not connected to wifi. I went to my two failed MMS messages. I pushed Download on one and it came through. I pushed Download on the other and the phone acted as if it received another message but the MMS did not come through. VERY odd. Also, the message that eventually came through was sent from an Android phone and the message that continued to fail was from iMessage/IOS. I have no idea how relevant any of this is but thought I would share for those that are more knowledgeable than me.

Fizz

@standupmobile
I have tried switching the Internet apn to pda2, as suggested. Unfortunately, it's still the same behavior. With pda2 for internet, i've tried with MMS set to pda as well as inet. But still no difference.

rik

@ronbillock said in MMS success and failure:

Update: I went out for a glass of wine. I decided to run a test. I turned on my wifi BUT I was not connected to wifi. I went to my two failed MMS messages. I pushed Download on one and it came through. I pushed Download on the other and the phone acted as if it received another message but the MMS did not come through. VERY odd. Also, the message that eventually came through was sent from an Android phone and the message that continued to fail was from iMessage/IOS. I have no idea how relevant any of this is but thought I would share for those that are more knowledgeable than me.

Ron, please use LogViewer to look at nuntium.log and then find the http address of the MMS message, then open terminal and try wget <http address> when your wifi is disconnected. If it downloads, you can view the first few lines of it with head <filename>. I still suspect your failed MMS download is because it is a group message: the first few lines should list the phone numbers that are part of the MMS group. If you could do this it would help not only you but us as well in understanding better where the MMS problem is.

rik

This post is deleted!

rik

@fizz is the output in nuntium.log still similar with messages about "failed to activate context" and "no context available to activate"? Can you please confirm your APN settings by doing this from a terminal (the APN settings are stored in the gprs file that I want to you to find and inspect):

sudo su #need to be root to view the gprs file

cp /var/lib/ofono/<some number... use "tab" to autocomplete>/gprs /home/phablet/gprs

chmod 666 /home/phablet/gprs

Then you can more easily open that file in your home directory for inspection and copy / paste using a gui text editor. It may give us more clues even though it seems we still don't have the corrrect MMS settings for Virgin Mobile.

Fizz

@rik
When i try the copy command, i get an error. It says cp: cannot create regular file '/root/gprs': Read-only file system . I did run sudo su, and the prompt does indicate i am root, so not sure what's happening there.

I don't know if it matters, but i see two folders under the ofono directory. One is 302610917674682 and the other is 302610917674682-3 (identical to the first but with an extra -3). If i try the cp on the other directory, the error is the file doesn't exist.

It looks like the nuntium log cleared itself overnight. So i'll generate some new tests and send you the log results as soon as i can.