Stuck on permanent MMS loop with TCL Flip

[Billybobh]

Hey everyone,

I am at a dead end trying to get Public Mobile MMS working on my new TCL Flip (4058E) and am hoping someone here has a fix. Ultimately, I just want a phone that can only receive calls and texts/images, but it needs to be able to receive images and group messages because, well, that's not really negotiable unless I want to explain to everyone that sends an mms message that I can't get them.

I specifically bought the 4058E because I verified it was on the Public Mobile compatibility whitelist, and it was suggested in the previous thread I created, as well as other threads (like HERE). I wanted to make sure I had an up-to-date Canadian version of the hardware instead of the older US Cellular model (4058L) which gave me the exact same MMS issues. For context, my Moto G Stylus 2023 works on PM with the exact same SIM.

Here is everything I have already tried:

• APN Changes: I have spent hours manually configuring the APN settings. I tried split profiles, unified single profiles, forcing lowercase strings, and restricting both APN and roaming protocols strictly to IPv4. Every single adjustment was followed by a power cycle but it still fails.
• MediaTek Engineer Mode (3646633): I found VoLTE_Operator_Telus was pre-loaded in IMS (Is there any reason this should not work?). I tried forcing the hardware modem to a generic "Default", as well as the pre-loaded "Bell" and "Rogers" profiles, hoping it might bypass some type of hardware setting that was ignoring the APN settings I was loading (this may not be how this works, but I wanted to try all the same).
• ADB Package Disabling: To stop any system apps from overriding my manual APN settings, I used ADB root commands to completely disable com.android.carrierconfig and com.android.carrierdefaultapp.
• IP Gateway Bypass: I tried replacing the text-based MMS proxy directly with Public Mobile's raw IP address (74. 49. 0. 18 on port 80) to eliminate any DNS resolution issues.

The Result: Standard SMS texts and calls work completely fine, but MMS message (images and group texts) refuse to send or receive.

Given that I have ADB access to this device, is there anything else I can try? Or is this phone officially a dead end for PM MMSs?

Other info:
ro.product.model: 4058E
ro.product.name: 4058E
ro.product.device: Gflip6_CAN
ro.tct.curef: 4058E-2AB6CA1
ro.board.platform: mt6739
ro.build.version.release: 11
ro.build.version.sdk: 30
ro.build.fingerprint: TCL/4058E/Gflip6_CAN:11/RP1A.200720.011/QK6G:user/release-keys
gsm.version.baseband: MOLY.LR12A.R3.MP.V179.5.P56
vendor.gsm.project.baseband: TK_MD_L4(LWCTG_R3_6739)
ro.vendor.md_apps.load_date: 2024/05/28 10:57:18 GMT +08:00
ro.telephony.default_network: 9,9,9,9

[Billybobh]

Hello! I honestly tried a bunch of different ones. The text address and numerical, as well as the two different ports (80 and 8799?). I tried splitting the APN into data and MMS as well. 

However, since posting this, I may have made a discovery but I'm not certain if it's true. It seems that Public processes MMS messages a bit differently than other carriers and when I modified the phone to enable ADB, I may have inadvertently removed part of the system that would have properly routed the MMS.

I've pasted a description below that may not be accurate, but it does look like there's a difference in the way that PM handles MMS.

"On premium smartphones like your Moto G Stylus, the operating system's built-in carrier data table acts as a translator, seamlessly routing the MMS image packets through that specific gateway. Because your TCL Flip lacks that translation code entirely, it flatly drops the proxy data handshake.

Other providers do not require complex, nested MVNO translation proxy routing rules to send a picture message. They use straightforward, standard APN multimedia server endpoints that are already baked into the baseline MediaTek Android network stack."

[hTideGnow]

hi @Billybobh 

Telus (PM) has retired some legacy servers and old phones from 2017 before will be affected

and check if you have any of these APN settings and update it accordingly 

APN: sp.mb.com
MMSC: http://aliasredirect.net/proxy/mb/mmsc
MMSC proxy: mmscproxy.mobility.ca
MMS port: 8799
MCC: 302
MNC: 220
APN Type: default,supl,mms

[Chalupa_Batman]

I have used this phone myself. Now, I may make comments that sound stupid up front, however, I am just spit balling and seeing what sticks to the wall. 🙂

Make sure data is turned on. Go to Settings, Wireless and Networks, Mobile Network. Make sure Cellular Data is turned on. 

Clearing the message app cache is an option. Settings, Apps, messages. Select storage and clear cache. Then reboot.

What APN settings did you use?

https://www.publicmobile.ca/en/get-help/articles/set-up-data-on-an-android-phone

Ill keep this window open to help as best as I can.