Modem Overheating

[ReleaseTheGeese]

Greetings,

I'm running Mobian on a v1.1 Pinephone. Unfortunately, every time I enable the hardware switch for the 3G modem it becomes a small convection oven and it goes very hot indeed. I've noticed the same issue happen on my phone with Ubports and Postmarket OS, so the blame doesn't rest with any particular distro.

This is a source of concern. I'm worried that this will wear down my hardware due to the excessive heat.

So, has anyone else noticed the same happen with their modems? Is it a known issue and is a fix planned? I'm hoping it is a driver or power saving problem, and thus solvable through software. If anyone needs more details from my phone, or details of my mobile network to see if it is particular to a certain UK mobile provider, I'll be willing to share.

Regards, R.T.G.

[rocket2nfinity]

It is a known problem in the ealier models. Flash the modem firmware update. It cools things off a bit.

[ReleaseTheGeese]

I'll try the procedure outlined here this weekend and see what happens:
https://wiki.pine64.org/wiki/PinePhone#Firmware_update

Though I did `dmesg | grep modem` and didn't see any mention of the outdated firmware, as suggested on the Wiki.

[Nooblife]

I had to increase the loglevel for dmesg to post it. See: https://linuxconfig.org/introduction-to-...log-levels

[ReleaseTheGeese]

Update has fixed the modem. It's so chilled now that it could be hacked to preserve various refrigerated goods.

Much appreciated. Now I don't fear leaving my PinePhone powered on!

[someGermanGuy]

i also upgraded to the master branch firmware but i still have a pocket heater.
did you guys upgrade to a different branch?

[zborgerd]

I'll try the procedure outlined here this weekend and see what happens:
https://wiki.pine64.org/wiki/PinePhone#Firmware_update

Though I did `dmesg | grep modem` and didn't see any mention of the outdated firmware, as suggested on the Wiki.

Also, kernels that haven't been patched for Pinephone-specific enhancements won't detect the older firmware. I'm currently running Mobian and it's lacking a lot of patches. Waiting to see if there are updates soon. Tested Manjaro beta 5 last week and it displayed the firmware message.

[ReleaseTheGeese]

i also upgraded to the master branch firmware but i still have a pocket heater.
did you guys upgrade to a different branch?

I ran the update with the master branch. I don't remember checking out another.

However, it took a few hard resets before I noticed the modem was cooler. I suggest powering it off completely, then removing the battery, wait a while and then put the power on again. That worked for me.

I also recommend updating Mobian to the latest packages. You may need to do `apt update && apt dist-upgrade` in a terminal or over SSH, then reboot again.

[someGermanGuy]

i do every day a apt-get dist-upgrade, but maybe i should also try a complete power off (removing the battery). i reboot also after each upgrade, but that did not yet make the modem "cold".