I built the RePhone Create Kit from github.com/WayenWeng/RePhone_Cr … urce_Code/ and installed it. I tested some IFTT to play mp3 files, so I think the speaker works fine. I don’t remember if there is an icon on the display for cell signal, but if there was it is not there for me. I tried to make a call, the UI says “calling” for a while then just pops back to the main screen. So maybe this is a firmware issue (i.e. not the built .vxp files but the flashed firmware that provides the vm_* APIs).???
I checked and the antenna is certainly attached. This did work for me before a long time ago but not sure exactly the situation when it worked. Real bummer since I was going to show this off at a linux fest this weekend! 
kansaslinuxfest.us/
kansaslinuxfest.org/craig-comstock/
Cheers and I’ll keep digging to try and figure it out.