E-Sim and a brand new phone. Setting up today

biscuit_tosser_88

I went over this topic here... [https://grapheneos.org/usage#esim-support]

But, just so I'm sure I understand, and I don't waste time, can someone please validate?

I just got a fresh P8P. First charge happening right now. My plan was to flash GOS right out of the box. I use a physical and an E-Sim. Can GrapheneOS handle provisioning the E-Sim or do I need to provision that in the stock OS first, then flash GOS?

de0u

biscuit_tosser_88 Can GrapheneOS handle provisioning the E-Sim or do I need to provision that in the stock OS first, then flash GOS?

With the recent eSIM improvements in GrapheneOS there is a fair likelihood that you can provision via GrapheneOS. But the probability of success is higher with Google's OS, just because it is more likely that a carrier has tested with Google's OS than with GrapheneOS.

If you are willing to run the experiment, the GrapheneOS route may well work. If it doesn't, you could presumably flash back to Google's OS and try that way.

Eagle_Owl

biscuit_tosser_88
Hi,
if your carrier supports eSIM, then you can install it after flashing GOS.
But as @de0u has already mentioned, the chances of success are higher with stock OS.
So if you don't want to waste time, install the eSIM with stock Android first.
The eSIM will not be deleted by flashing GOS.

BTW: eSIM and dual eSIM work really well from the 8 series models onwards, provided the network operator supports it.

matchboxbananasynergy

There should not be a difference between provisioning an eSIM on stock or GrapheneOS, GrapheneOS uses the same app that Stock OS would after enabling the toggle, though it does not talk to Google or require play services.

That said, if you do it on stock and then flash GrapheneOS, the eSIM will persist after flashing, so you're fine.

de0u

matchboxbananasynergy There should not be a difference between provisioning an eSIM on stock or GrapheneOS, GrapheneOS uses the same app that Stock OS would after enabling the toggle, though it does not talk to Google or require play services.

"In theory there is no difference between theory and practice, while in practice there is."
--Benjamin Brewster, Yale Literary Magazine, February 1882
(as reported by QuoteInvestigator.com)

To be clear, I think the likelihood of success under GrapheneOS is high enough that I would try it that way first myself.

biscuit_tosser_88

matchboxbananasynergy
Recapping...
my old phone is using a physical and an esim. Both from the same carrier.
I took my fresh, stock P8P to the phone store, they had to do something on their end to swap the E-Sim into the P8P. I left the store with both sims working as expected.

I got home and flashed GOS with both sims in the phone. The physical sim worked as expected. The E-Sim showed no connection. I toggled esim support to ON and rebooted. Still no connection on the E-Sim. It shows up in the the slot like it's there, but it wouldn't connect. I was seeing the signal icon with the "!" on it in the status bar.

I eventually factory reset the phone (from the bootloader menu) with the physical sim out. When the phone booted, the E-Sim had a connection and was working as expected. Great. I popped in the physical sim and rebooted. This time, it was the physical sim that won't connect.

So far, it looks like I can't figure out how to get both sims to be working at once. Either the physical or the E-Sim doesn't have a connection to the network. I've been through menus and tried every sim, data, voice, sms combo I could. I haven't really found any recent info on esims in the forum that is helping.

Any ideas? Should I start a new thread?

biscuit_tosser_88

matchboxbananasynergy

Update.. I flashed the stock rom back. The esim connected immediately and when I put the physical sim in, it connected within a few seconds.
Both are working as expected.
I think I read every thread about sims. Did I miss a step somewhere?
It really seemed easy to do...
Thanks for any help

biscuit_tosser_88

well...
i flashed gos easily via web. physical sim worked great. all good. could not get esim in phone. i had to flash stock rom and go to phone store. they did whatever they do, and got the esim working in the stock p8p. all was well.
got home, flashed gos... some hiccups along the way, but i managed. now i have the phys sim working fine, but no service on the esim. i've got 'esim support' toggled on. the esim is set for data only; no calls or text. it's late. i have to be up early... it's been 5 hours. i'm done for tonight.
if i cant figure something out, i guess i'll flash the stock rom back and see if it works again.

Hat

biscuit_tosser_88 I flashed the stock rom back. The esim connected immediately and when I put the physical sim in, it connected within a few seconds.

This is the best try, if it's working well on the stock it should be working on GrapheneOS. You could try to flash again your phone to GOS and then try again dual sim. Keep in mind the first boot could need more time picking up the connection. But you already did it.
If it's still not working, there's a bug somewhere on the eSIM feature and you're not at fault.

biscuit_tosser_88

Hat
thank you for responding.
I just got done flashing again. i left both sims in during the process.
the phone is actually booting as i'm typing.
i got through the setup. i see that sim one (physical) has signal bars, and sim 2 (esim) does not.
i connected to my wifi.
i'm turning on the "eSim support" toggle...
...restarting.
after reboot, at the lock screen, it's the same. physical has a signal, eSim does not.
when i look at Settings, Network & Internet, under Calls & SMS...i see "sim1 (preferred), sim2 (unavailable)

from what i've been reading, it looks like I DON'T have to do anything with google services to make the esim work.
would you agree?
I believe I just have to switch that toggle to on for esim support

I'm at a loss. i've used up all my talent and experience here. i definitely need someone smarter than me to get me through this.

you think I can i look somewhere else for an answer?

de0u

biscuit_tosser_88 I realize you may be way ahead of me here, but if you are still running GrapheneOS and still having one-SIM-or-the-other issues, have you enabled DSDS as described in the GrapheneOS eSIM usage information?

biscuit_tosser_88

de0u
The DSDS setting for both sims was already enabled when I went to go look at them.

de0u

biscuit_tosser_88 The DSDS setting for both sims was already enabled when I went to go look at them.

Uh-oh, now I'm out of ideas. I suggest looking for one of the developers via real-time chat. Provide a link to this discussion thread. Hopefully you will be guided through gathering and privately sharing a debug log. If possible, please report the outcome back here. Good luck!

biscuit_tosser_88

de0u

other8026
Update

It's working. I now have 1 physical sim and 1 eSim. Physical is used for voice and sms, eSim is used for data.
I did this with GOS installed.
I had to go to the phone store. It could not be done over the phone with tech support.
The provider HAD to use a QR code to install, because it would NOT download to the phone.
I don't have enough knowledge to know if that's because of the provider, GOS, or Google. They did mention that they thought Pixels need a QR for some reason.
If I can offer any info to help with this for new users, please ask, and I will try to provide as much info as I can.
Thanks for your input.

other8026

@biscuit_tosser_88 I agree that asking in the chat rooms might be helpful. There's a good chance someone there might have some suggestions we haven't thought of. But considering you've had this issue on GrapheneOS but not with the Stock OS, I think you can also open an issue in the Issue Tracker.

If you do open an issue there, you can mention this thread, but I think it's most important to highlight two facts: you don't have this issue while running the Stock OS and while running GrapheneOS only one of the SIMs is working, but never both at the same time.

biscuit_tosser_88

other8026
Thanks. I'm heading to the phone store one more time right now. I'll report back soon

ErnestThornhill

When I used an eSIM for the first time, I didn't have an automatic connection to the service provider's network. I had to activate it through my account in order to use it on my device and get a signal whereas the physical SIM card was automatic.

de0u

biscuit_tosser_88 Thanks for reporting back!

Hat

biscuit_tosser_88 The provider HAD to use a QR code to install, because it would NOT download to the phone.

Thanks for reporting back.
This last steep was without Google Play Services installed on your owner profile ?

This QR code to install again the eSIM, mean it's better to install the eSIM directly from GOS. I you go back to the stock OS maybe you will need this steep again. I wonder if this QR code is for a one time use, or if it can be copied to use it again for the same Pixel. I suppose it can't be used to migrate to another phone because I've heard some carrier charge the eSIM for the device change.