MMS success and failure

lsitongia · 18 Jan 2022, 22:12

@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 · 18 Jan 2022, 23:37

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

ronbillock · 18 Jan 2022, 23:43

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 · 19 Jan 2022, 02:37

@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 · 19 Jan 2022, 14:06

@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 · 19 Jan 2022, 14:06

This post is deleted!

rik · 19 Jan 2022, 14:14

@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 · 19 Jan 2022, 14:45

@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.

rik · 19 Jan 2022, 14:52

@fizz sorry I fixed the command above: since you are root it means ~ was /root with the read-only filesystem. I made it copy to /home/phablet instead. I think you can take the /var/lib/ofono/### folder without the -3

Fizz · 19 Jan 2022, 15:10

@rik
The log file looks the same to me still. Here it is after a failed send image attempt:


2022/01/19 09:53:24 Received ReceiveNotification() method call from 44600


2022/01/19 09:53:24 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 39 |sage...........9|


00000030 33 39 62 34 32 61 61 62 38 30 39 61 37 31 63 31 |39b42aab809a71c1|


00000040 31 62 31 31 37 37 35 2d 31 00 8d 92 89 1a 80 18 |1b11775-1.......|


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 39 33 39 62 34 |loudmmsc?l=939b4|


000000a0 32 61 61 62 38 30 39 61 37 31 63 31 31 62 31 31 |2aab809a71c11b11|


000000b0 37 37 35 2d 31 00 8e 03 04 68 1b |775-1....h.|


2022/01/19 09:53:24 Trying to set Active property to true for context on true /ril_0/context2


2022/01/19 09:53:25 Download issues: org.freedesktop.DBus.Error.InvalidArgs: Invalid URL: ''


2022/01/19 09:53:25 Trying to set Active property to false for context on false /ril_0/context2

2022/01/19 09:53:31 Received unknown method call on org.ofono.mms.Message MarkRead


2022/01/19 09:53:31 Message /org/ofono/mms/302610917674682/e33df6aaf65e8ddc050012a72b9dd4a9 is not responded and not expires, not deleting.

rik · 19 Jan 2022, 15:26

@fizz said in MMS success and failure:

The log file looks the same to me still. Here it is after a failed send image attempt:

Can you try a receive MMS image? Other Canadian users reported they had trouble sending MMS but could receive. It doesn't solve your issue but helps identify where the problem may be?

The log info above doesn't indicate failed to activate context and no context available to activate like before but rather Invalid URL: '' like @StandUpMobile is seeing, I think.

Fizz · 19 Jan 2022, 15:35

@rik
Ugh... some simple tasks are so complicated... After copying gprs to my home folder, if i tried to open it, the OS only offered going to the Open Store. I tried Document Viewer, but it won't open anything not in the Documents folder. So i moved gprs to Documents, but then i couldn't find a way to copy the text. And after trying to download a couple text editors, none of those seemed to have a way to search folders for me to open the file.

There must be an easier way, or i'm missing something.

So i'm manually typing out the results here. gprs contains the following:

[Settings]
Powered=1
RoamingAllowed=1

[context1]
Name=Bell internet
AccessPointName=pda2.bell.ca
Username=
Password=
AuthenticationMethod=chap
Type=internet
Protocal=ip
Preferred=true
MessageProxy=
MessageCenter=

[context2]
Name=Virgin mms
AccessPointName=pda.bell.ca
Username=
Password=
AuthenticationMethod=chap
Type=mms
Protocal=ip
Preferred=true
MessageProxy=web.wireless.bell.ca:80
MessageCenter=http://mms.bell.ca/mms/wapenc

rik · 19 Jan 2022, 15:45

@fizz you can install "Seabass" from the Open Store to better view and edit text files.

Looking at your entries, the different things that stand out from mine are:

AuthenticationMethod=chap (mine is any)
I do not need any proxy settings for USA T-Mobile, so my MessageProxy is empty.... but it seems you do need it according to guides on the internet. I guess it wouldn't hurt to try without it?

For reference here is my gprs file when using separate APNs for Internet and MMS (the IMS one comes back each time if I manually remove it, but it also doesn't even show in the GUI so I think we can ignore it?):

[Settings]
Powered=1
RoamingAllowed=false

[context3]
Name=IMS
AccessPointName=ims
Username=
Password=
AuthenticationMethod=none
Type=ims
Protocol=dual
Preferred=false

[context4]
Name=Internet/WebConnect
AccessPointName=epc.tmobile.com
Username=
Password=
AuthenticationMethod=none
Type=internet
Protocol=ip
Preferred=true

[context6]
Name=US Mobile MMS
AccessPointName=pwg
Username=
Password=
AuthenticationMethod=any
Type=mms
Protocol=ip
Preferred=true
MessageProxy=
MessageCenter=http://pwg.mmsmvno.com/mms/wapenc

Fizz · 19 Jan 2022, 16:10

@rik said in MMS success and failure:

Can you try a receive MMS image? Other Canadian users reported they had trouble sending MMS but could receive. It doesn't solve your issue but helps identify where the problem may be?

All the errors i have included are for when i try to receive. I can send images no problem, but i can't receive. The only thing i can receive are ordinary text messages.

Mine also fails for group messages. That is, if someone sends out a mass message on which i am included, i get the same error message.

Fizz · 19 Jan 2022, 16:23

@rik
I've installed Seabass2 and it looks promising. Thanks for that.

I tried removing the MessageProxy entry, and that doesn't seem to make a difference.

In comparing to your settings: you have Roaming as false, while mine is true. Might this do something?

Is it possible for me to change the AuthenticaionMethod? It doesn't seem so via Settings, so i guess i'd have to manually edit the file. (Does Seabass2 have a sudo mode where i can see and modify the gprs file?)

I'm not sure what else i can try.

AppLee · 19 Jan 2022, 16:30

@ronbillock said in MMS success and failure:

the message that continued to fail was from iMessage/IOS

Apple has a feature that detects if the contact is an iOS user or not and then decide to send a MMS or an iMessage.
Maybe switching from iOS to Ubuntu Touch lead to iOS sending an iMessage when it is not compatible with Ubuntu Touch.

Checking and sharing the logs migh help to figure this out.
I doubt Apple took into account people switching from iOS to something different from Android.

rik · 19 Jan 2022, 17:36

@fizz said in MMS success and failure:

@rik said in MMS success and failure:

Can you try a receive MMS image? Other Canadian users reported they had trouble sending MMS but could receive. It doesn't solve your issue but helps identify where the problem may be?

All the errors i have included are for when i try to receive. I can send images no problem, but i can't receive. The only thing i can receive are ordinary text messages.

Mine also fails for group messages. That is, if someone sends out a mass message on which i am included, i get the same error message.

OK that is good progress: were you previously able to receive MMS or is that relatively recent? Anyway, it seems like you are in a similar situation as @StandUpMobile now, is that right @StandUpMobile ?

Can you try creating the MMS group (with the people icon to the right of the "TO" field, not just by clicking + and adding individuals) with multiple people then see if you can receive to it? It of course takes a bit of cooperation from willing friends

If you can receive those, then it seems the only / main issue is when you send it doesn't have a URL of where to send the messages. Why is this? Not sure but again I think that is the same that @StandUpMobile is seeing, we will wait for him to confirm.

Fizz · 19 Jan 2022, 18:25

@rik said in MMS success and failure:

@fizz said in MMS success and failure:

@rik said in MMS success and failure:

Can you try a receive MMS image? Other Canadian users reported they had trouble sending MMS but could receive. It doesn't solve your issue but helps identify where the problem may be?

All the errors i have included are for when i try to receive. I can send images no problem, but i can't receive. The only thing i can receive are ordinary text messages.

Mine also fails for group messages. That is, if someone sends out a mass message on which i am included, i get the same error message.

OK that is good progress: were you previously able to receive MMS or is that relatively recent? Anyway, it seems like you are in a similar situation as @StandUpMobile now, is that right @StandUpMobile ?

No, ever since i installed Ubuntu Touch, i've been able to send / receive ordinary texts, and send MMS (images) to others. But i have never been able to receive MMS (images or group messages).

So apologies if i gave the wrong impression, but from my perspective nothing has changed ever since i got Ubuntu Touch. It's always been this way.

Can you try creating the MMS group (with the people icon to the right of the "TO" field, not just by clicking + and adding individuals) with multiple people then see if you can receive to it? It of course takes a bit of cooperation from willing friends

I've learned i can text myself (tried sending an image over text to myself, which still fails). So perhaps i can include myself in a group. Let me try...

OK, i successfully sent a group message (to myself and the wifey), and i successfully received the message. So perhaps it's not considered a MMS. I know others have included me on group messages and they have given the same kind of error as when they try to send me an image.

So perhaps saying "group message" is a misnomer on my part, and we should just focus on my inability to receive MMS (any time someone tries to include an image in their text to me, it fails).

lsitongia · 19 Jan 2022, 19:01

@ronbillock Yes, I switched providers, from Google Fi to Red Pocket.

rik · 19 Jan 2022, 21:33

@fizz said in MMS success and failure:

So perhaps saying "group message" is a misnomer on my part, and we should just focus on my inability to receive MMS (any time someone tries to include an image in their text to me, it fails).

OK sorry I was mixed up previously on if you could send or receive. So for failed incoming MMS, can you get them with wget? Then we could confirm it is NOT a group MMS. If it IS a group MMS, then if you manually create the group with the members, then re-attempt download it may work. Additionally, for failed MMS due to wifi being connected, you need to wait at least 1 minute after failure (and disconnect wifi) before re-trying.

Anyway, getting with wget would be informative if possible. Your older logs indicated no ril context (that was when trying the wrong APN entries), then your later log was when attempting to send, so I don't think we have an example here at least of the log when attempting to receive.