Flashing new baseband on LG P500 android phone.

[Note: Do it at your own risk. I will not be responsible if your data gets lost or your phone bricks.]

This post is in the 3rd part of the series - How to Root and install a custom ROM on an Android phone.

The first part is http://blog.darshshah.org/2012/06/rooting-my-android-phone-lg-optimus-one.html

The second part is http://blog.darshshah.org/2012/07/custom-recovery-and-nandroid-backup-for.html

In this post, I am going to explain what is baseband and how to flash a new baseband if required. 

Baseband typically means the radio (cellular communication unit) which is on the phone. Radio is used for receiving wireless signals and is primarily used for making a call. Now, some android phones came with Android 1.6 (Eclair) or Android 2.2 (Froyo). In the more recent versions of Android, like the Gingerbread (2.3) or Ice Cream Sandwich (4.0), the software which controls the radio part is slightly changed from the previous versions for certain OEMs. For example, LG Electronics had updated the baseband for its gingerbread update. 

So, what is the issue if there is a change in baseband ? The issue is that the custom ROMs are made using the latest android code and may have a different version of baseband than your existing version. When we install a custom ROM via recovery, the baseband is not flashed. So, if you flash the ROM, without changing the baseband, then the cellular reception on the phone may stop as there will be a version mismatch. So, before flashing any custom ROM, please verify the baseband version you have and flash the new baseband if required. The method of flashing the new baseband is varied for different OEMs and there is a lot of information on the web regarding the same.

For LG P500, if you have updated to GB 2.3.3 via LG's official update, then you have the new baseband with you. If you want to check the baseband version, go to Settings->About Phone and the information is displayed under the 'Baseband version' title. If the version is V20, then it is the new baseband. For the old baseband, it is usually V10. 

So, after knowing your baseband version, if you are planning to flash the new version, then there are 2 ways to do it. (LG P500 only - for other phones, please search xda forums) 

1. Using the LG tool - LGMDP.exe
For this use the following guide - http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1217504 or http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1149530

2. Using KDZ updater
For using this tool, follow - http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1060121

So, using the above methods, you can easily flash a new baseband. In the next post, I will explain about custom ROMs and how to flash them on the android phone. Happy flashing :)