Re: Nokia Care Tech Help Wants me to do this..??..

TheSand · ‎2010-06-07

One other thing... this is an argument against "unlocked phones." AT&T would never do this to me. I call them with a boken phone - they send me a new one Fed X in 24 hours (as long as I didn't do the damage myself.) They want to collect their $103. a month and will "work" to keep you happy. Nokia wants the sale - after that - what do they care - their is no "incentive"...

Sandy

cpitchford · ‎2010-06-07

so very very true it's sad

TheSand · ‎2010-06-09

I flashed both the firmare and the EMMC - I didn't even restore my backup because I wanted to make sure the mail trouble was gone first.

It isn't. No incoming mail for any POP3 - 1 pull for IMAP in 12 hours - ven though settings say to check every 15 minutes.

Is is possible to flash to the prior firmware where this problem didn't exist? If so, what is that firmware called as there are so many firmwares on that page, it would be hard to know the "prior" one. As well as the prior EMMC as I have read it changed and you need the "new" EMMC to flash forward and the "old" EMMC if you are going back. I have read that - don't know if it's actually true.

Just as a side note- you can't even download the firmware or EMMC using a Windows 7 computer because you can't "see" it (even if you have "show all system files.") I flashed using my XP and re downloaded everything - then I copied those files to Windows 7 - only then could I "see" the bin files. Shocking I am dealing with a company that made me go back 2 OS's to flash their device.

Sandy

TheSand · ‎2010-06-09

I talked to Nokia care and they said you can go back to the previous firmware which is what they suggest I do. He said if I sent it to them they would just "reflash" and send it back... He also said Nokia doesn't have control over "maemo" so they have to wait on them to address something - they have a "partnership" not full control. Just repeating what he said. At least he was nicer than the last guy I spoke to from Nokia Care.

So if I flash backward do I restore back the backup made with the previous firmware?? - I kept it just in case this happened - or does that not matter.

Thanks,

Sandy

cpitchford · ‎2010-06-09

partnership?! with who??

What does "fully owned subsidary" mean, then?

/facepalm..

Downgrade? oh god.. f***ing idiots!

You can't go back to the previous firmware.. certainly not without some significant hacking or without losing some serious functionality..

the problem is, PR1.2 (just like PR1.1) upgrades hardware firmware.. the GSM modem has its own firmware for example.. if you downgrade, the old driver in PR1.1.1 doesn't support the new firmware installed on the GSM hardware.. so your phone stops working..

a downgrade of the OS doesn't downgrade the hardware firmware.. and it is tricky to get it going..

urgh

TheSand · ‎2010-06-09

Wow... I am so glad I know you. Actually there should be a warning about upgrading since you can't go back. Like the user should wait a few weeks so they know what the bugs are in the new release and if they find those bugs "livable" or not.

As for the Nokia Care rep comment - He said they don't "own" them - they are in "talks" ... but he also said I could flash back so maybe we should disregard everything he said.

You know if my N900 imploded after the downgrade it would be his fault...

So, what to do... I could push this because what does "warranty" mean??? If your device can't receive incoming mail without launching the internet and manually hitting "send/receive" how "broken" is that? That's pretty bad - And if the user didn't do it (no dropping, water damage, etc.) they really should give me another one.

If I thought they would deliver the next firmware update real soon I wouldn't care... 30 days would even be fine - but the last one took 6 months... I don't want to wait 6 months with no incoming email.

I will call them again...

Thanks so much cpitchford your taking the time to help me...

Sandy

cpitchford · ‎2010-06-09

http://wiki.maemo.org/Companies_in_Maemo_development#Companies_in_Maemo

All other corps sound like they were paid for by Nokia.. pffft

Now, I can't take credit for this.., nor can I vouch for its effectiveness but

a) have you used flasher before / are you comfortable with it?

b) back up your phone.. I Can't guarantee you'll be able to restore once you jump back to PR1.1.1, but it's worth doing..

c) after you've backed up with the backup app, copy ALL the content off your phone to your PC you're getting wiped the hell up (or something)

d) Here is a new set of flashing structions based on the instructions below:

/t5/Maemo-Devices/N900/m-p/700692#M12826

DOWNGRADE TO PR1.1.1

1) Download the flashing tool from Nokia's website:

http://tablets-dev.nokia.com/maemo-dev-env-downloa ds.php

If you're using windows you want to download and install

maemo_flasher-3.5_2.5.2.2.exe

2) Download the firmware from Nokia's official website:

http://tablets-dev.nokia.com/nokia_N900.php

2a) Download the EMMC firmware.

Download the Original PR1.0 EMMC firmware file:

RX-51_2009SE_1.2009.41-1.VANILLA_PR_EMMC_MR0_ARM.bin

When you've downloaded it, rename the file to "emmc"

2b) Download the latest PR1.2 operating system firmware

There are 5 versions available depending on your region. Not all regions are available (HongKong and Vodafone UK)

Download the correct file:

USA:

RX-51_2009SE_10.2010.19-1.002_PR_COMBINED_002_ARM. bin

Middle East / North Africa:

RX-51_2009SE_10.2010.19-1.003_PR_COMBINED_003_ARM. bin

India (DON'T DO THIS WITH AN INDIAN PHONE.. STOP NOW.. IT WONT WORK)

RX-51_2009SE_10.2010.19-1.004_PR_COMBINED_004_ARM. bin

UK:

RX-51_2009SE_10.2010.19-1.203.1_PR_COMBINED_203_AR M.bin

Rest of world excluding Hong Kong and Vodafone UK:

RX-51_2009SE_10.2010.19-1_PR_COMBINED_MR0_ARM.bin

Once you have downloaded this file, rename it to "os"

2c) Download the PR1.1.1 firmware

Chose the SAME region as you opted for in step 2b

this is important.. If you downloaded global in 2b download the PR1.1.1 global version here..

USA:

RX-51_2009SE_3.2010.02-8.002_PR_COMBINED_002_ARM.bin

Middle East/North Africa:

RX-51_2009SE_3.2010.02-8.003_PR_COMBINED_003_ARM.bin

Global (not UK):

RX-51_2009SE_3.2010.02-8_PR_COMBINED_MR0_ARM.bin

UK:

RX-51_2009SE_3.2010.02-8.203.1_PR_COMBINED_203_ARM.bin

Once you have downloaded the right file, rename it to osold

3) Move the firmware

Run a cmd window (start, run, cmd) and run these two commands:

cd \program files\maemo\flasher-3.5

start .

A windows explorer window will pop up. Drag the os.bin, osold.bin and emmc.bin files you just downloaded into this new window. then close it

4) Flash the phone

THIS WILL COMPLETELY WIPE YOUR PHONE CLEAN!!!

BACKUP to a micro sd card first (or backup to the internal storage, then copy the "backups" folder off your phone and onto your PC)

Back in the cmd window run this command

flasher-3.5 -F os.bin -f

Flasher will sit there waiting for suitable device...

Turn your phone off

Press and hold the U button on the keyboard and keep it pressed

plug the phone into your PC via USB

keep the U button pressed until flasher wakes up and starts doing stuff on the PC

Wait for flasher to finish (it was say completed successfully). If it doens't complete successfully STOP.. something bad has happened..

Now, without touch your phone again, run this command in the same cmd window

flasher-3.5 -F osold.bin --flash-only cmt-mcusw -f

Again, wait for this command to finish successfully.. Something goes wrong, STOP..

Once it has finished successfully, run this last command:

flasher-3.5 -F emmc.bin -f -R

Flasher should start flashing your phone's emmc again straight away.. If that command also finishes correctly (again it will say command completed successfully) you can unplug your phone and if necessary, turn it on.. and you should be done

cpitchford · ‎2010-06-09

I should say.. if it doesn't work.. and you want to go back to PR1.2, follow the instructions here:

/t5/Maemo-Devices/N900/m-p/700692#M12826

You've already downloaded the files you need in step 2 and moved them in step 3.. you just need to reflash in step 4 and you'll be good again.. it won't break your phone.. but it might not work until reflashed..

cpitchford · ‎2010-06-09

aaaaaaand. I made a mistake.. step 2c had files for PR1.1, not PR1.1.1...

I edited and corrected step 2c now!

TheSand · ‎2010-06-09

WOW! This is a treasure trove of information! Fantastic! After reading it, it does sound "doable."

One good thing is I saved the backup I made when I was running the old firmware - so if I do get the old firmware to run I can simply restore back that backup... I knew to save it - as this isn't my first "tech upgrade" rodeo - if you know what I mean...

I will thoroughly check this out - but at least I have hope I can come out of this alive and running. And that would be thanks to you!!!

If it does go all wrong - hopefully I can "override" and simply flash back the newer firmware...

I will report back how things go...

Thanks for giving me "hope" - for the "Olive branch"... for without such, life would truly be a drag...

Sandy

TheSand · ‎2010-06-10

Well I did it and everything went as planned. It said "Successful" after each step of flashing - but the phone won't boot. You get the Nokia symbol and then that series of dots... then a message that says the phone cannot be used and try to reboot. You do, and the same thing happens - you can't get passed that.

I went through the entire flahing process twice just to be sure - but no joy when I tried to get it to boot.

I ended up flahsing PR 1.2 - and it struggled booting that as well, but eventually came around.

Don't have any idea what went wrong... can't give you any error messages while flashing because there weren't any... So who knows.

So kinda bummed right now. But at least I got it running again - because for about 5 minutes there after flashing PR 1.2 -- I thought I bricked it.

So I either wait for the next firmware upgrade - or try an "exercise" my warranty rights. I don't know yet...

But I can't thank you enough for the help here. At least I know I tried everything possible (with your help of course.)

You are the best - always polite and well informed - the kind of person everybody benefits knowing.

Cheers to you!!

Sandy

s_g_t · ‎2010-06-11

Sound like you are having a nightmare, so thought I would add that since the upgrade my email has also stopped pulling in emails (I use a hotmail account) The only way to get emails in is to edit the account, I make no changes and then save - then do a send & receive, only then will it pull in my new emails. Had tried wiping the phone and re-setting up - this did not help.

The time stamp updates every 10minutes but it never gets any emails unless I do the above. It sucks!

TheSand · ‎2010-06-11

It totally sucks... I called Nokia Care today to say I was unable to "downgrade" successfully. They have assigned somebody my case - that "somebody" wasn't available - they are suppose to call me back.

It will be interesting to see what they say... we all know bugs can and do happen, but a bug that makes automatic incoming email non existent for a POP3 account is a bug that needs to be addressed ASAP.

Interesting way you get your mail to pull in. I have to launch the internet and load several pages (1 isn't enough) then go into my IMAP account (Gmail) through the Email Client and view some random folder contents - thus establishing the email clients connecting to the internet (I am guessing anyway as just having an active internet connection doesn't do it.) Then I have to back all the way out to the initial screen (the one with all the email accounts listed) and hit send/receive - only when it says "refreshing" do they show up. The stupid time stamp changing does nothing. It can take several attempts. If that fails - I have to restart the phone and sometimes that will get it running. I do this every morning...

Quite a long "song and dance" we go through to get incoming mail...

I will post here what the Nokia Care rep says...

Sandy

TheSand · ‎2010-06-11

They just called and said to send it in for repair and in the notes say you want it flashed to the prior firmware. He said they can do that.

Which means I should be able to. If have formatted and clean installed new OS' - reinstalled OS' myself many times on many devices/computers... it is usually just "tedious" as opposed to difficult in nature.

I will do some research into flashing backwards to see if I can figure out why it did flash successfully - but the phone was unable to boot.

Because If "I" can do this - I would prefer to - I don't like other peeps touching my tech toys if I can help it.

Will post back my results...

Sandy

cpitchford · ‎2010-06-12

I swear this is an off weekend.. I'm going to do something really REALLY poor..

Can you post back here with a list of the problems..

I understand the main one is it isn't automatically polling for email?

Also, with regards to flashing back to an older firmware.. I think in the how to I posted, I got the order wrong..

Don't do this step:
flasher-3.5 -F osold.bin --flash-only cmt-mcusw -f

until you've done everything else..

flash the phone without that step.. let it reboot.. then power it off, press and hold U, run that command and plug it in..

I seem to remember you're using yahoo and pop3? I recon it would be good to track down the problem or at least what changed between PR.1.1.1 and PR1.2

TheSand · ‎2010-06-15

I can't receive any automatic POP3 incoming mail. I can't even get the email client to pull mail in manually without significant effort... The phone just sits here day after day with NO email. It's so bad I don't even bother anymore...

I have tried to find instructions on flashing backwards and found nothing.

I want to make sure the flashing order is right - because the "order" you posted initially sounds more logically correct than your second post about it.

Everything I have read says to flash the firmware - don't reboot - and then flash the EMMC. (The correct EMMC for the flash - the new EMMC for PR 1.2.)

So you want me to flash the new firmware - don't reboot - flash the old EMMC - then reboot.

After reboot - run the old firmware using the following command:

flasher-3.5 -F osold.bin --flash-only cmt-mcusw -f -R

I just want to make sure the order is right because it sounds totally whack. Of course - something was wrong with the initial order you posted because it didn't work - even though it sounded logical.

Thanks so much for the help here - without you helping me I would give up on this phone and bail. I am at that place with it now. I am just shy of not caring at all.

Sandy

TheSand · ‎2010-06-16

Unfortunately this was a no go. I tried flashing it multiple ways... if you can get it to boot at all the phone isn't usable. At no time did I see the old firmware when I hit Settings/About.

So forget this idea...

But thanks for helping me at least try.

There should be a recovery partition. So you can truly go back to "Factory default" if there is something wrong with an upgrade. I have never heard of a device where you couldn't go back...

There is tons of GB space on this phone - built in "recovery" would be a great idea... it would also great rid of Nokia Care since all they do is flash...

Sandy

s_g_t · ‎2010-07-06

Hi

Not sure if the re-flashing worked for you or not, but if you are still having problems, this post just solved my issues.... Cant believe it was that simple to solve!

/t5/Maemo-Devices/Nokia-Messaging-on-the-N900/m-p/718548

TheSand · ‎2010-07-06

Thanks for passing this along...

I don't use Nokia Messaging and don't have an account... I am just trying to get POP3 to work through the email client.

Sandy

TheSand · ‎2010-07-28

Here is the link for the fix for this problem: http://talk.maemo.org/showthread.php?t=56634&highlight=modest

There are more detailed instructions on page two here:

/t5/Maemo-Devices/Pop-3-Email/td-p/701706/page/2

Using the above instructions (I used the mc to do it) I now have POP3 incoming mail. I just wanted to post the solution that was provided for this problem.

Thankfully this nightmare is over... it shouldn't have been this hard.

Sandy