I experienced the same problem. GCM works fine on my Tablet running Android 4.04, but always received a SERVICE_NOT_AVAILABLE on my smartphone running Android 2.3.
I found following workaround not using (so far as I know) any deprecated classes. Add the action "com.google.android.c2dm.intent.REGISTRATION" to the GCMBroadcastReceiver in your manifest. This will enable to receive the registration_id at your GCMBroadcastReceiver.
<receiver
android:name="YOUR_PACKAGE_NAME.GCMBroadcastReceiver"
android:permission="com.google.android.c2dm.permission.SEND" >
<intent-filter>
<action android:name="com.google.android.c2dm.intent.RECEIVE" />
<action android:name="com.google.android.c2dm.intent.REGISTRATION" />
<category android:name="YOUR_PACKAGE_NAME" />
</intent-filter>
</receiver>
After that your GCMBroadcastReceiver is able to receive the registration_id:
public void onReceive(Context context, Intent intent) {
String regId = intent.getExtras().getString("registration_id");
if(regId != null && !regId.equals("")) {
/* Do what ever you want with the regId eg. send it to your server */
}
}
Although I still get a SERVICE_NOT_AVAILABLE error, I can handle the registration_id in my GCMBroadcastReceiver and I am able to send messages to my smartphone. Quite weird, but it works for me.