Terracube 2e - Only 3G for calls?

Hi all
I purchased Terracube 2e (Murena) last May and I am basically very very happy with it. However call quality is deteriorating, calls are distorted and sometimes drop out completely.

I called EE to discuss. They spent a lot of time on the problem and eventually said that although Data is going by 4G calls from / to my phone are 3G only.

Going into settings the phone gives the option of VoLPE, but the button greys out when a call is made or received.

Did I buy an obsolete 3G phone or is there something I can do?

Thanks in advance
Paul

I used the Teracube 2e (emerald) for a year: bought from Teracube last year with stock software; installed /e/OS Android R (Android 11) myself & never upgraded. VoLTE settings were never visible from the relevant Settings page and mobile calls cut off mobile data every single time.

Recently I installed /e/OS Android T (Android 13) on a OnePlus series phone and VoLTE looks abundantly supported (I can’t be sure since haven’t returned yet to my carrier country).

Therefore my best hope for ā€œsomething to doā€ would be to install Android S (12) immediately, and then T if & when it comes out for the Teracube platform.

Thank you for your reply.

If I want to change the operating system as you describe can I do that from the phone or do I need to load it from a PC? I already feel out of my depth…

Regards

Paul

you can’t do it from the phone, and the automatic installation procedure (ā€œEasy-Installerā€) doesn’t do version upgrades (yet). So you’d have to follow the ā€œCommand lineā€ instructions on this page, which does require a PC connection: https://doc.e.foundation/devices/emerald

Also check your serial number to be sure your device matches… there’s another one of these device pages for the older Teracube 2e in case that’s the one you have.

Hi Robert
I think I am out of my depth here.
I am not sure where to go with this. Slightly miffed I have a redundant phone already. It isn’t 18 months old yet…

Perhaps you could tell us exactly the version on your phone using [HOWTO] Give complete /e/OS version info easily for support, answers, comparison etc, in case anyone can help narrow down your options.

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Hi Iain
Version is: 1.16-s-20231017342507-stable-emerald

Many thanks
Paul

Hi Paul,

So it seems you are fully up to date.

This is a list of the issues tagged emarald at Gitlab. Personal opinion (no experience of the device) one might say that this has been something of a difficult situation for a while, as not all users seem to report exactly the same thing.

Maybe this VoWiFi not working on Teracube Emerald – #5417 is close to your situation? However there are similar issues; https://gitlab.e.foundation/e/backlog/-/issues/6391 and https://gitlab.e.foundation/e/backlog/-/issues/7217. It might be a good idea to try to fine tune your observations to add to the most suitable link.

To add to an issue please read Report an isssue

Alternatively, as a Murena purchased phone you might consider the ā€œContact usā€ Support form: https://murena.com/contact-us/.

The form is mentioned in Week 45, Development and Testing Updates under a sub-heading at the foot of the page. /e/OS website and social media Links and Support.

Looks like Android 13 (T) for the Teracube (both variants) has been on the way: https://community.myteracube.com/t/beta-2-android-13-for-teracube-2e/4731

What works … 2. VoLTE, Vowifi, wifi, and Bluetooth have all been tested

I would think that a working (i.e. out of Beta) stock Android 13 on Teracube would mean /e/OS can then link to it from the source tree and release T builds shortly afterward.

In advance of the upgrade, to @aibd & others: is a reversion from Android 11 (R) /e/OS to stock recommended to OTA update the Teracube firmware to whatever firmware accompanies Android 12 or 13? Or would sideloading the new /e/OS ZIP be sufficient? I ask since there aren’t the usual warnings in the installation document about the Android versions matching.

As the stable build is capable of OTA version upgrade from Android 11 (R) to Android 12 (S) according to OS OTA upgrades I would assume that any required vendor blobs must be present in the stable OTA upgrade, and thus in the ROM itself.

If I had the device with /e/OS R dev installed, I would firstly consider downloading the dev and stable Android 12 (S) ROMs and see with a payload dumper how different the ROMs were. Specifically looking for evidence of vendor partitions or upgrade firmware.

I guess I would also consider the risks of changing dev to stable at my current Android R (after I had done a full backup and reduced my installed apps to essential).

I answered a different question with similar issues here: [Walkthrough] Extract eRecovery and boot images using payload-dumper-go - #3 by mihi. Perhaps the reply was both over cautious while not too discouraging (??) – as it happened there was a happy outcome reported in the end.

The requirement for experimentation is courage and a transferable backup of essentials.

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Hi
I would like to thank you and other respondents for your input.

This phone was sold as being fit for the general public, no mention is made of requiring specialist knowledge. Your answers are very comprehensive but mean virtually nothing to me and are not something I can implement. My skills do not lie in this area.

The position now is that I have the latest upgrade (that I am offered through ā€˜Updater’ on phone) which is /e/OS 1.16-s-20231017342507-stable-emerald.

When I go to ā€˜Network & Internet’ and tap on ā€˜Calls & SMS’ I find ā€˜Calls - EE’ & ā€˜SMS - EE’ are greyed out and can’t be clicked on.

Finally I have noticed that the WiFi icon at top of screen is sometimes replaced by ā€˜LTE’ for a while now and again.

Presumably this is beyond the skill set of a regular phone shop / phone repairer?

Thank you again for your help.

Paul

Hi Paul,

First I sincerely apologise that Post #10 is understandably not at ā€œgeneral publicā€ level.

As a synopsis of my Post #8 to you, I do think the teracube has some ā€œissuesā€ which may require special help from the devs or even changes to the software. (Aside, there is some evidence that some advancement in the software is in progress.)

This is my reason for pointing you towards the Gitlab issues, and the Contact us method to get help.

As a Customer this, I think, is the route you should take now.

I watched my status bar a bit … I see LTE, H, or H+ frequently when out and about, but very much less so indoors with WiFi connection.

I always associate this with the quality of my mobile (data) connection. Whether it replaces the WiFi notification, I am less certain.

This nearest I can assume is that I am not given the LTE notifier at home with good WiFi, but see it mostly in urban (good coverage) situations. (What I report would maybe fit with me living in an LTE dead spot, except that does not fit with SIM status, below, which tells me LTE is the Mobile voice + data network type)


You might consider collecting some data on from Settings > About phone > SIM status to help you decide whether you have a phone or a carrier issue.

You might try to collect a chart of Signal strength | Mobile voice + data network type that you find at home and frequently used locations.

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FYI @Paul-in-England - https://community.myteracube.com/t/vowifi-wifi-calling-on-e-now-working-on-v-1-17s-a12/4869