Adafruit #2542 FONA 808 GSM + GPS

Hi @silverstar,

  I haven't got this module or even experience of the module, but wondered if a couple of comments might start the conversation with others who are better equipped.

• Looking at the Adafruit website, messages (TXT type) can be stored on both the Sim and the 'module', depending on a setting. Could these other messages be in the  'other place'?
• Could they be MMS or email messages or maybe some other type?
• Can you look at the sim in another phone to see if they are hiding on it?
• Is a factory reset possible? Although of course, even if successful, the problem may recur.

In addition, it might be helpful if you published more details ... program listing, exact form of error/warning message, etc. so that if anyone does have the necessary kit, they could try examining or even reproducing the problem.

A personal observation, though it's probably not relevant, but for a while I had a new 'low end, basic' phone about 3-4 years ago, which sometimes got very confused with the 'new phone' set up messages automatically sent by the network provider on a number of occasions that my phone couldn't understand .. or even delete. They seemed to be 'partly downloaded messages' which continuously caused the phone to request a resend, but never achieved completion. This activity rapidly ran the battery down. My only workaround was to temporarily swap the sim, into an even older, more basic phone to delete them!

Best wishes!

Thank you for responding,

In order to remove as many chances that might exist because of my coding: I took the FONATest sketch that came with the other examples. I changed the code to reflect that I was using a Mega and hardware serial. I compiled the sketch and loaded it into my Mega,

I asked how many messages there were. There were 3. I received an error when I attempted to read all 3 one at a time. (this is the same response that I have been receiving for well over a year)

I stated in my original post that I could not delete them. Using this test sketch I deleted all three. Each one reported to have been deleted successfully. (probably not exactly what I said earlier). I then asked how many messages there were and the answer was 3. Even after the FONA said they were deleted, they were not. This is the very same error that I have had for months. I even bought a new board. Same thing.

Finally I wrote a read then delete function that would read until there was one good message, after capturing the telephone number and message, I deleted it. This has worked. It takes 4 SMS fetches to get a good message but it works.

To respond to you: could it be stored on the SIM or the module? I really do not know but I doubt it.

Could it be another type of message? Again I really doubt but I can't say for sure.

Is a factory reset available? There is but I have not used it.

There is a possibility that my coding is not entirely correct. Good point. That is way I used the test sketch because it works (presumably).

My FONA is secured in a box which I must take apart to do a reset which I will do.

Update: I used the Reset on the FONA as described in the instructions. No chnge.

Hi @silverstar,

  Sorry, not having the module, etc. obviously limits any response to my imagination, and so I hope others will be able to help you.

With regard to where the errant messages are being held, I am not clear. If I was in your situation I would try to discover what these messages are and where they are being stored.

I haven't seen the sketch you are using, but obviously an Arduino could provide an additional message store . My 'question' was prompted by an 'faq' on the Adafruit site, discussing how to select between sim and module.I didn't read the details...

How do I switch between SMS storage on SIM and in internal FLASH?

https://learn.adafruit.com/adafruit-fona-808-cellular-plus-gps-breakout/faqs

So apologies, but that is probably as far as I can get.

Very best wishes ... I'll keep an eye out for anything interesting.

I did not know about using Flash for SMS storage. I tried it with no success. That same post reference send a SMS to Twitter because it always responds. I did that three times and received three responses. I could read them. I deleted them and they went away. There were still three messages "available" that I cannot read or delete.  My project works but I really do not like to use "program arounds". I have to do 4 reads to get one response. Works but is painfully slow.

Thanks for responding.

After many attempts, I managed to get the board (Adafruit #2542 - FONA GSM/GPS) to begin to work.

The literature that is supplied by Adafruit mentions a "Reset" but not "RST" which I assume is the same. I find that if I connect the RST to the pin I indicated, I get a return of -1 incoming SMS texts. This is an error indicating that the board can not be read. By removing the RST connection, it works.

the coding I used to test for incoming sms messages is as follows:

int Check_For_Texts () {
int8_t smsnum = fona.getNumSMS();
if (smsnum == -1){
Serial.println (F("SMS read fail"));
digitalWrite (Text_RX,HIGH);
digitalWrite (Environment,HIGH);
while(1);
}
return smsnum;
}

I would appreciate any help I can get. Should I simply ignore the RST?

@silverstar 

Does the documentation say if reset should be HIGH or LOW ?

Here is what the documentation says:

Reset - this is module hard reset pin. By default it has a high pull-up (module not in reset). If you absolutely got the module in a bad space, toggle this pin low for 100ms to perform a hard reset.