Database Users

The Dangerous Lines

Hi,
I have been looking at these post around and I have noticed some unlocky guys with "bad" experiences upgrading their ROM(s) ...
I have thought of I way of documenting their mistakes as "Dangerous Lines" so others will not make the same mistake ..
I will start with my own "bad" experience when trying to upgrade my Radio Stack using Othman's previouse posts ..
I had the problem when the system was expecting the PIN number but it has hang , I reseted it and I lost my QTEK sice that .
I took it to the supplier and they claim changing the main board.
"SO WE SHOULD NOT HAVE PIN ASSIGNED BEFORE UPGRADING OUR RADIO STACK"
There other mistake madeby one of the guys is that they have choosen to load the boot using the XDArit with the wrong file and they have lost their bootloader ..
"SO WE SHOULD NOT CHOOSE TO LOAD THE BOOLLOADER WHILE BURNING THE SD CARD WITH A ROM using the XDArit tool"
That is it form me ... let have more Dangerous lines ..

About bootloader....
IMHO: "so we should not choose to load the bootloader while burning the sd card with a rom using the XDArit tool, TILL YOU DON'T HAVE RIGHT BOOTLOADER IMAGE..." It's a real way to change version of bootloader...

What about using Jeff's exe file- any "not-to-do"
HI
What about some tips for simple non computer literate guys like me upgrading my 3.16.32 Eng rom? Running exe file from Jeff is all I thot of doing and are there any steps to note to avoid danger?
Any advice on what to do and what not to do ?
Cheers
Vic

I disagree, I've flashed many different devices with different versions of OS and Radio without problems - most problems are caused by people trying to charge their XDA while updating (there's a bug in the flash programme btw, it says "unplug me", then it screams it is not 70% charged - if you keep it in charger and pres OK you're doomed), or by trying to flash version for different region (900/1800 on 900/1900 device for instance). Or disobbeying another rules (NO USB HUB, disabling USB deviced which may interfere).
I think it's mostly peoples fault... but accidents sometimes DO happen by themselves

Oh, go easy on the kids Zviratko look at me I was a lowly dumb pretty boy :mrgreen: Actor before this site and now I'm flashing like the pro's 8) ok I did have some Cell phone tech background but know nothing about writing code. Most of your heavy hitters here are programmers 8)
But you are right about user errors more than device errors so that's how we learn sometimes :lol:

WHY ME??

First of all, I'd like to say this is the most positive and progressive forum I've ever joined on the internet so far. You guys not only rock, but also inspire, for which I would like to add to the THANK YOU chorus!
I have spent days and sleepless nights browsing this forum, trying to unlock my T-mobile MDA.
The details are:
-T-Mobile (USA)
-ROM Version: 3.14.40 ENG
-ROM Date: 11/26/02
-Radio Version: 6.18
-Protocol version: 324e4
-Model No.: PW10B1
-IMEI: 35031400086966009
I'm using the USB via the cradle. The XDA unlock gives me an error reading, which is not uncommon elsewhere in this forum. I had to download the SER v 1.2.
Upon download and installation, I copied (via OSImage Tool)as per instuctions and ran programme A, only to get the "error message 007 ....No ROM image file".
At this point I'm pretty exhausted, especially when I see other posts of people who successfully unlocked theirs. I give up on foguring it out myself, so I please need help. Apparently, I'm a total rookie in this field . It would be highly appreciated if someone can be kind enough to please give me a step-by-step guide on the entire process either by replying to this post in this forum or by anyother means to contact me (e-mail, IM, etc) through my profile. I'll have a great sense of achievement and happiness gaining my freedom by eventually unlocking my device this weekend before my trip next week.
Thank You and I appologise to anyone that might be offended by the length of this post :wink:

You can run the file from your desktop, make sure you are synced with the xda, it will update the rom through the usb port. Before you do this it would be a good idea to back up your current rom using the sd bootloader method. Once the special edition rom has completed, just poke the unscrewed top half of the stylus in the hole on the bottom right of your xda, just poke once, wait one minute then poke again. You should tehn have an unlocked xda, you can then restore your original rom by inserting the sd card with your original rom, entering bootloader and pushing the action key when prompted.

Thanks for the response. OK, first, what ecxactly is the bootloader and the "bootloader method'?
Secondly, I tried running the S E ROM and keep getting the error message relating to its inability to find the ROM image.

Where did you download from, what size is the file? The bootloader method is accesssed by pushing the reset with the stylus while holding down the power button, then press the top left key on front of xda, you will see options there, you will not see these options when you restore a ron from sd, all you need do is enter bootloader, the xda will ask if you wish to program the rom, you press the centre of the 4 way jog button and away it go's.

I downloaded from:
http://cuba.calyx.nl/~jsummers/XDA/XDA-developers-SER-v12.exe
It seems to be a 15.4MB file

The file size is correct, you should be able to sync your xda, click on the special edition rom .exe file and it should install to your xda using program a, there is need to use any other tools, as\long as you have a backup of\current rom you have a way back to your original configuration.

I have just downloaded and executed that same file, the first thing that comes up is winzip self extractor, once it has unzipped itself a dos box pops up, it then jumps to program a and commences the install, make sure you are running the file direct from the directory and not from a shortcut, it definitely works.

I did that and I keep getting that bewildering error code 7. Again, I tried unzipping the file first and then run prog A. It went fine until after step #3 then error code 12 pops up: "ROM image is not compatible with my device.............. download utility nd try again...."
This thing seems simple and works for everybody else but me :evil:

at this point, you should use winzip or winrar to extract a file named nk.nbf frim the exe you downloade. then to either use the XDAtools to copy it directly to your XDA ROM, or move the file to SD card using your xda then use the SD flashing method from the bootloader.
good luck ...

Good news & Bad news ...... I was able to run the SER prog. First, I ran the adaptrom file and then programme A. Everything was proceeding fine until it was about 50% and then my system (desktop) froze/crashed. I had no choice but to restart the system. Now the XDA screen has a display with a progress bar and the message: "Upgrading........ It will take about 5 mins.........."
It seems its a curse :twisted: but since I've made some progress, I cant give up now. So I'm determined to succeed by fixing this stuff. My question is Can someone please tell me where to go from here??????? As usual, your patient and kind response is highly appreciated.

Oh, I forgot to add that in addition, now ActiveSinc cannot establish communication with my device, even after restarting it several times and trying to get connected via its program

hey ... no big problem ... relax!
you have to get SD reader/writer and connect it to your PC. move the extracted nk.nbf file to the SD card then insert it into the XDA. goto the bootloader mode (power + soft reset) it should recognize the card content ... just press the middle of the rocker key (action) and you will see hex counter increasing from 000 to 200 ,.. at the end, press hard reset and after 60 sec press hard reset again.
note: make sure your XDA is > 80% charged before start!!
good luck.

Didnt Work
Did exactly as you suggested, but ending up with the same screen "uploading..... It will take about 5 minutes..." :?

Finally made it!!! Thanks guys for all your input. Device works fine, so far, I dont seem to have lost anything! I feel FREE, excited and victorious!!!! YEAHHH!!!!!

Which is the latest bootloader version??

Which is latest version of bootloader in JAM??. Is there any version higher than 1.0??. Please submit...

i have 1.02

Due to some issues happened during big storage mod I have restore my phone from other old JAM backup. I think before that my boot loader is also 1.02 But now it is 1.0 . I did the d2s with 80000 0400000 full backup. Will it overwrite bootloader??. Can I upgrade my bootloader in anyway? Please help....

Do we have any advantages with latest version boot loader?? What difference we will have with the each versions??

SD Flashing can change your bootloader .. if you really want to change back your bootloader .. just use your old SD backup (the first/original SD backup that you made) then flash it to your device.. if you dont have it already you can change your bootloader using
itsme's PNEWBOOTLOADER.exe , the tool can upgrade bootloader of WALLABY, HIMALAYA and MAGICIAN .. tnx itsme for creating this tool ..
the only difference i see with different bootloader is during flashing .. some bootloader have some problem in flashing .. like in HIMALAYA .. 0.23 cant flash radio ROM using SD backup , 0.26b cant flash Extended_ROM in nbf, all version below 1.03 .. have this problem that sometimes it cant flash using a nbf(himaupgradeut.exe) and need to make a sd flashing..
Anyway my point is if u didnt find any problem using your current bootloader, i suggest to stay with that but if you do then thats the time that i can only suggest to change your bootloader .. anyway changing your bootloader can fry your device ..
-toe

To use pnewbootloader tool where can I get the rom file of the new bootloader version??

heres bootloader 1.02
15:03:32 Jan 24 2005
1.02 version: 1.38
3d1b0f86b5f1774c32982611b813abbb <- m not sure with md5 (pls itsme correct me if m wrong .. )
i dont have a magician so i didnt try it and i cannot guarantee that this is a correct bootloader
PS. This bootloader is for Magician and not for anyother device, i will not take responsibility for any thing that will cause for a brick device due for using of this bootloader .. please be very careful .. i already once killed my device due to bootloader ..
-toe

SD Flashing
Hi toenailed,
What's SD Flashing?
thanks

Toenailed:
could u be so kind to tell me what i'm doing wrong, i'm trying to upgrade / or maybe should i say fix my bootloader, when I do a pmemdump 80000000 00040000 I get little stuff, mostly it's blank.. (*uh oh*) I'm sure this is not the way it should be. I tried using it'sme pnewbootloader, and got an error
"Unable to find flash info offset, cannot disable bootloader writeprotect"
this is what i typed:
Code:
C:\exp\1\build>pnewbootloader.exe -f -o 80000000 -l 00040000 c:\flashboot.bin\BL1.02-1.38.nb0
Unable to find flash info offset, cannot disable bootloader writeprotect
also tried the simple
Code:
pnewbootloader.exe BL1.02-1.3.28.nb0
I'll post my setup in a bit, i'm trying to re-flash my devices SHIPPED roms, hopefully that will restore things.. (crosses his fingers) anyways what I think I did is erased the GSM bootloader, thus I cannot use my phone at all, the close i get to using my phone is getting to WinMobile.. anyways this is really not a problem thus I called my carrier and they are going to ship me a new one.. I just wanted to known for sake of knowledge and if someone else has the same problem.. also just incase i do it again with my new phone, doubt my carrier will fall for the "I pulled out my battery, and now my device is dead" lol heck i even think I erased my ESN and PRL out of my device, since I get N/A when i'm in Mobile..
[/b]

it means that i did not add code for your specific rom version to pnewbootloader.
what is the OS version you are using?
willem

Oh sorry about that: it'sme, (btw thanks for ur great tools, and website, full of resources). currently I just upgraded to the PDA2k_WWE one, that was just posted recently here is the info...
ROM VERSION: 1.40.00 WWE
ROM Date: 03/10/05
Radio Version: [blank]
Protocol Version: [blank]
ExtROM version: 1.40.176 WWE
but the ORIGINAL one that came with this device is:
I'm not sure if the info below is correct so I also provided the actual full filename of my update..
HA_VZW_13500_115_01140_WOC.exe
MODEL ID: PH20A3
ROM VERSION: 1.35.00
ROM DATE: not sure, since i don't have it installed atm
Radio Version: DM FAIL
Protocol Version: DM FAIL
ExtROM Version: 1.15
also do u happen to know how to bypass the NOT ALLOW UPDATE when using a SD card? I tried to do a radio dump first. but i get Radio stack fail (tm). also i think i messed aroud with some of the rroute rrouter settings, could u possibly tell me what the default/correct settings might be?
thanks lots..
oh yea, and also using xdatools, when I try to use them, It either says that my image is to big, or it says it's to small, or it says cannot connect to USB using Programme a
thanks again..

itsme said:
it means that i did not add code for your specific rom version to pnewbootloader.
what is the OS version you are using?
willem
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hello "itsme"... I have a little question to you...
It's posible to use 'pnewbootloader.exe' to flash any OS ROM offset using the '-o' and '-l' parameters?
Thanks :wink:

Hello toenailed / itsme..
Before I'm trying to change my bootloader to the 1.02 (and it can be a disaster some times) what are my advantages with a newer bootloader like 1.02 from 1.00. Now I'm sure before the SD flash restore from another JAM mine was 1.02. Do I have (with 1.02) a higher performance or bugfree or more support to hardware device? I have also notice one thing after this change to 1.00. Some time after soft-reset I will a "Unidentified USB device error" and it will prompt for correct USB driver and bluetooth will not work for sometime. But after 5 mins it will start working. This problem will not occur if I'm removing the main battery for a soft-reset.
Is this issue could be with bootloader version? Other than the OS booting and loading what else bootloader doooo??

zxvf: i don't think you are talking about a magician rom.
the 'not allow update' means that you restore a backup made with a different bootloader version. .... or that the sdcard contains an invalid signature.
MKS: in theory, yes, but for several locations in the ROM, the protection needs to be removed.
the protection is a list of values which specify where the non-flashable area of rom starts and ends.
pnewbootloader temporarily changes these non-flashable area's to something not in the ROM.
nishadks: there is no real need to upgrade your bootloader, it is more useful, to downgrade, since older bootloaders, usually have less protections built in.

Thanks a lot itsme for your help....

Itsme:
You are correct, I didn't pay attention to it being a bootloader for the magician, (eventhough it's bolded lol) anyways, I tried it ones again, with a rom that I KNOW is the same that I had, because before messing around with it, I made a backup with two different tools osupdate.exe and bootblaster.exe (the one from handhelds.org for unix flashing). So i have this files both as .bin files, but can't seem to use the l command AT ALL eventhough I have both of the passwords, (actually don't really know how to use mtty.exe) I can't get the concept on how u send the files.. because it timesout and says something like "the second computer timed out.." or something like that, it seems that I need to start some type of send transfer something similar like (tx, and rx) in unix.. but not really sure how to do this with mtty.exe, or do i actually need to have a serial cable, is it not possible with the cradle that came with the device? I was actually thinking on creating a cable since, I got a USB to Serial converter... so maybe that will work.. but havn't had much time to mess around with that...
I also tried every possible version that u said is supported in ur .cpp file and none will actually work with my device, they all just make my device screan white and it starts fading out to black, (or sometimes it starts with a diff color.)
so what should I do/try to get pnewbootloader.exe to work? or is there any software that I can use in Win mobile (on the pda) to just run it locally?
Cheers, and thanks again...

how to use pnewbootloader
hi mate would u plz like to to tell me how can i install b0otloader 1.02 on my magician. i hav tried to use pnewbootloader but cant find any help abt it how to use it. i hav 2 magicians 1 hav bootloader 1.02 and other 1.0.
the problem is i cant read my high speed sd card on magician with bootloader 1.0. but it works on magician with bootloader 1.02 both hav same versions of roms. i hav extracted my bootloader from newer one but dont know how to copy it on old 1.
if possible than email me on
[email protected]
thanks

bl*.nb
Please someone where I can download any version of the bootloader. I can not download on the link in post number 7
thanks, and sorry for my google translate.

same for me, page goes blank, and download never starts

BA Disconnects as Update Starts

Hi,
Apologies in advance if I'm covering old ground.
I'm trying to re-flash a WM6 rom after my previous attempt just left me with the 4 colour screen permanently and as the links to mtty1.42.rar seem to be broken at the moment I decided to re-flash with a different rom.
the problem is that even though I can get the unit into boot-loader mode and the update software appears to see the BA when it checks versions etc. as soon as I hit the upgrade button the BA screen blanks and I get Error 112: CE ROM UPDATE ERROR.
I've tried different roms, different usb ports and different versions of activesync all with the same result.
Any help on this would be great and hopefully I haven't 'bricked' the unit.
Cheers
Duncan

Do you have PH20A2 or PH20B device?
mtty utility can be found using search button

It's a PH20B.
I've now found mtty after a fair bit of searching on other forums..now to see if I can make some sense of it's commands.
A further update: it seems that I've managed to corrupt just the OS part of the ROM. I managed a radio update successfully which means all the USB connection is fine for updating. It just can't access the OS part of the ROM.
Is there anyway to manually format that area of ROM so I can in effect install over clean unit? Infortunately I can't make sense of the mtty commands and don't know what memory address and for how log I should perform the format.
Cheers Duncan

try reflashing

You should know how to use search - however here is the link
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=348030&highlight=mtty
(Is that hard to put "mtty" in the search field and set BA section only? )

Further update:
Now I don't even get the 4 colour screen. After soft and hard reset I get a dead device. I can put the device into bootloader mode (serial/usb) but as soon as the update software attempts to copy the rom across the screen blanks and I get the ROM Update Error.
Now my thought is to try and flash with the original rom for the device as I have another unit available but using the link from the BA wiki for dumping the ROM doesn't work. I have also tried searching for 'ROM Dump' within the BA section of the forum but there don't seem to be any definitive instructions for this, everyone just keeps asking why not use the wiki or search funtion....
I have used the wiki and the search funstion and I seem to be the first with this situation.
Soft Reset - Nothing
Hard Reset - Nothing
Bootloader - Able to flash the radio rom but as sson as i try to flash the OS rom the screen blanks and I get Error 112: CE ROM Update Error. When I take the device out of the cradle the screen comes back on with the Serial 2.xx screen and I'm back to square one.
I've tried to use the wiki to dump an exisiting working rom but the link on the wiki is broken. I have also searched the BA forum for these intructions but they're not covered as they're already in the wiki..... or not as the case is.
I appreciate you regular users get fed up with noobs coming on and expexting you to do all the work for them but so far I've spent 3 days searching both this site and others to try and resurect my device. I'm not dumb or lazy and would love to be able to do all this myself but without instructions I'm flying somewhat blind.
Any help would be great..... please??

[off topic]
no need for apologies...
we started once like you... some are far worse...
knowing one part and boasting with air on their heads...
since you managed to explain yourself on your first post.
knowing what to search (E.G. MTTY 1.42.rar)
you definitely searched the forum before you posted AND
you stated that the links are not working... that proves it.
we are the one who is sorry because some others think
that they are high and mighty, it sometimes blurs the opinion making.
i dont like opinionated people because i admit that am one too... sometimes...
but that doesnt mean i hate them...
[on-topic]
you never told us what happened when you tried the mtty procedure.
is your last post the result of your mtty experience?
please elaborate how did you end up with that... what did you do before you soft-reset and hard-reset?

SilverSamurai,
Thanks for the quick response.
After my last 'apparently' successful re-flash with Helmi's latest WM6 rom when I hard reset the device I had nothing but a blank black screen, no power LED or anything. Soft-reset was the same. I can reset into bootloader and the PC detects the device when I place it in the cradle. The first part of the update seems to work although it never detects the current OS installed, it always says upgrade from ' ' to 'ver 6.0.0' which is wierd because it always used to say the previous OS version. When I then hit next the progress bar shows on the PC but the BA screen immediately blanks and eventually the PC gives the ROM update error.
I have managed to re-flash the radio rom in this state which proved that I still have access tho the device from the PC.
Using mtty I can run through all the commands to recover from the 4 colour lines screen (even though I'm beyond that point).
USB>set 14 0
HTCST ÚÈÒHTCEUSB>task 28
DOC_format_HW+
DOCInfoTableinitHW+
Binary0:dwSize=80000
BINFS0:dwSize=0
FAT0:dwSize=1000000
FAT1:dwSize=2BA0000
All:dwSize=3C20000
USB>task 0
USB>
It's almost as if the last flash didn't complete and has left the area for the OS 'dirty' with what ever it did manage to flash. What I was hoping to try was to re-format the entire OS section of memory and then try to re-flash again. Using mtty it says you can format sections of memory by stating a start address and the length you want to format but I don't have clue what these should be.
I've tried flashing with WM6, WM5 and a compatible version of 2003 with the same result every time. I would like to dump a rom from another BA I have and try with that but as mentioned earlier the link for that is down at the moment.
I think that's about it. If you need any more info let me know.
Many thanks
Duncan.

let's relist the things you did.
USB>set 14 0
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1. start OS after a reset
result:
HTCST ÚÈÒHTCE
USB>task 28
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
2. format doc (Disc-On-Chip)
result:
DOC_format_HW+
DOCInfoTableinitHW+
Binary0:dwSize=80000
BINFS0:dwSize=0
FAT0:dwSize=1000000
FAT1:dwSize=2BA0000
All:dwSize=3C20000
USB>task 0
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
3. do hardware clear boot.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
since i dont want to experiment with my sole BA...
i tried to search for solution...
and with some of my computer instincts i came up with this suggestion...
try this command before "task 28"
"task 7 0" <-- this is the "Do flash ROM lock/unlock" command
"task 2a" <-- fix bad blocks on MFG bootloader and Storage
then try to reflash your BA.
my sources one | two
although it's not BA but i think mtty commands are generic.
it's worth a try.

SS,
Still no joy, it's exactly as it was before.
Just reading through some more posts for bootloader ant it seems at least one other person has the same problem - http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=345181&highlight=bootloader and no resolution posted for that either.
I think I may have got it beyond the point of return.
I've just tried to flash from the blank screen I end up with from the initial attempt and it still detects the device but fails in exactly the same way.

awww... im sorry to hear that.
but dont lose hope.
i'll try to read some more and search for solutions.
and i hope someone with the same problem as
yours that had their BA fixed comes to the foreground.
[off topic]
hmm... come to think of it... we're both Marvel SuperVillains

SilverSamurai said:
awww... im sorry to hear that.
but dont lose hope.
i'll try to read some more and search for solutions.
and i hope someone with the same problem as
yours that had their BA fixed comes to the foreground.
[off topic]
hmm... come to think of it... we're both Marvel SuperVillains
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
These steps are from my notes. Follow these steps. It worked for me last time i tried (3 months back)
2. Stop ActiveSync, by Task Manager (press Ctrl + Alt + Delete)
kill two processes rapimgr.exe and wcescomm.exe
3. put your device into Bootloader Mode by pressing Power + Record Button and Soft Reset.
4. Run mtty (from downloaded) Choose WCEUSBSH001
5. type "set 14 0" without the quotes to tell bootloader to boot the OS after reset.
6. type "task 28" to get your device formatted
7. type "task 0" to ask your device reboot
8. take the device out of the cradle, and manually reset it if it does not do that already.

i think he did all of those already,
that's why i posted this in response to his mtty experience.
wouldnt hurt to try it again though.

A bit more info:
I tried the mtty solution again but still the same result.
I finally managed to find the instructions for dumping and exisiting rom to SD card and pulled one from a working unit. I put the card into the faulty BA and booted into bootloader. Pressed 'Power Button' to flash from card and it appeared it was going to work........ until it got to 12% then it failed with the message 'Download Fail'. So still no better off.
What I'm going to try now as it seems anything is worth a try is use the address ranges used to dump the rom to try and format all 3 sections. See if that will give me a clean base to try and re-flash from the sd card. My only worry is if it will format the section of ROM used to store the bootloader info.
I'll post my results shortly.

Now I need to know how to get the bootloader password to enable me to use the 'erase' command through mtty.
The hunt coninues....

Yet more developments.
As the update from SD failed I thought I'd see if it was possible to dump the current contents of the rom to SD using the following
“d2s 80000000 02000000“
“d2s 60000000 00300000 sd a“
“d2s 70000000 01080000 sd a“
The first 2 commands completed fine and checksum was OK. On the 3r command 'd2s 70000000 01080000 sd a' it errored with the following result
USB>d2s 70000000 01080000 sd a
SD:Waiting for card insert.........
CMD3 for SD, it's OK, ready to get RCA from response.
SDetected one card
SD:ready for transfer OK
pc->drive.total_lba=1E8000
pc->drive.num_heads=0
pc->drive.sec_p_track=0
pc->drive.num_cylinders=0
pc->drive.block_size=200
pc->drive.features=0
pc->drive.RCA=B368
pc->drive.drv_type=40000000
pc->drive.securedAreaSize=0
pc->drive.securityDrv=0
pc->drive.busWidth=1
pc->drive.erasedSize=0
Total card size=3D000000
DOCInfoTableinitHW+
Binary0:dwSize=80000
BINFS0:dwSize=0
FAT0:dwSize=1000000
FAT1:dwSize=2BA0000
All:dwSize=3C20000
DOC_ReadBinary is fail: dwStartAddress=0,dwReadSize=40000.
DOC_ReadBinary is fail: dwStartAddress=0,dwTempReadLength=40000.
*DOC_ReadBinary is fail: dwStartAddress=40000,dwTempReadLength=40000.
*****************************************************************dwCheckSum of Storage=95609D16
cSectionNum=2
psImageSectionInfo[cSectionNum].dwCheckSum=0
psImageSectionInfo[cSectionNum].dwLength=1080000
Stored image of SD/MMC card checksum error!
Now my guess is the Doc_Read_Fail bits are the corrupt part of the rom. If I can find a way to repair these I could then try re-flashing the rom.

what was "task 2a"'s result?
i think that's the chkdsk option of mtty.
we're dissecting the innards of the bootloader.
little by little as we go along the way...
im learning something, i hope you can find the fix for your problem.

SilverSamurai,
Thanks for the help you gave but the unit has finally had enough and totally locked. No power or anything no matter how I try to reset it. I've tried charging for hours, discharging for hours, left the battery out for hours but to no avail. It seemed to take exception to me dumping the rom contents to the SD card. Maybe there was a hardware problem ?? Not sure.
I'll have to see if I can wangle another unit from the company I work for as we're currently selling a bunch that were purchased for a failed IT project on ebay.

it was sad to hear/read that.
anyways. at least we tried to revive it. but dont throw it away.
maybe someday there will be ways how to ressurect your BA.
Happy Computing! err... Mobile Computing!

[HOW TO]For Europe users, better 3G+; use this firmware

The rom I posted initially was an engineering rom, if you use the phone from a stock ROM it will work. The engineering ROM broke the audio to the handset, but speaker and ext head set were working ok. I need help to identify the registry value for the correct routing.
I was amazed how sloooooow my Focus was on Europe and I flashed ONLY the radio firmware from the European OMNIA7. It is better, much faster.
For those who are in Europe do this:
1. Download latest Omnia7 ROM from here
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=14893592&postcount=1
2. Run it. Unpacks some files in a folder.
NOOB ALERT ! IMPORTANT!
Delete FOLLOWING FILES:
signed_pda_Cetus_Europe.nb0, signed_eboot_Cetus_Europe.eb0 and signed_CSC_Cetus_Europe_I8700ORAJID.csc
3. Put your Focus on download mode( VOL UP+Camera+Power at the same time)
4. Start WP7 Downloader Ver 7.21 for All Device (Publish version).exe .
ONLY CHECK ''PHONE BOOT'' and "PHONE" NOT OTHER and only these boxes. Anyway,these boxes should be the only ones checked by default.
THERE SHOULD BE ONLY ONE FILE LISTED : signed_phone_Cetus_Europe.bin ON THE "phone" dialog and the rest<Eboot, PDA, CSC> empty!
5. Plug usb cable. The START ( on the program, not on WINDOWS) button should be avail now and a green connection at the Port dialog should appear.
6.Press start. The flashing takes 10 secs and it will give an OK at the end.
The phone should reboot and there you go, European radio for European connections.
I will try to adapt the whole csc also, I noticed something positive
Thanks to Sungod1 here are the steps he took to fix the broken audio- DON'T forget to press his THANKS button.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=18847245&postcount=23
It's worked! Here is my steps:
1) flash Samsung-i917R-Focus-firmware-UXJL2-ROGERS-CANADA.exe (I'm sure UCJK2-ATT-USA not bad too)
2) update to Mango in Zune.
3) flash only radio software Signed_Cetus_Europe_KB2_Phone.bin from Samsung-Omnia-7-Firmware-XXKC1-MORE-PROVIDERS-NODO
After flashing omnia radio software speaker not work. To repair sound:
Dial ##634# Make Call
or Start Diagnosis program
Diagnosis mode type *#0002*28345#
Click READ, GET on all strings, audience.cfg turn OFF. Then
ENTER DEFAULTS of Samsung Focus audio:
No Headset Plugged in: Sound Tuning 1 1C 74 4 23 9D 95 12 System Gain Attenuation 7 130 0 Class Gain Attenuation 7 0 5 Device Gain 7 1200 -500 audience.cfg Off
With Headset plugged in: Sound Tuning 1 1C 74 4 23 9D 95 12 System Gain Attenuation 5 145 0 Class Gain Attenuation 5 0 36 Device Gain 5 400 -1100 audience.cfg Off
(Only one digit differs: in string 1 1C 74 4 23 9D 9B 12) change to 95
START, Reboot
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

That's some nice find! Any notable differences?

3g+ sign is on and it seems faster, I am messing with the csc file, right now.
CSC and some provxml files are responsible for the HSPA protocols, if I could port them to the Rogers would be nice. All the branding is from the file and the provxml are inside the nb0 file. I'll get an Omnia7 from a friend to see what and what.
It is very frustrating since I have to reflash any time I do something wrong and it takes a lot of time.
I had huge succes with a frankenstein CSC, 3,5 MB/s but it broke the audio and marketplace.
I will continue to digg into it, OMNIA7 looks FW almost identical.

Done as per your instruction htc9420 and Internet connection does indeed work faster. However I've caught 2 spontaneous reboots since I've updated (15 minutes ago). Never had them before. I shall see how it goes and post again.

rubbish said:
Done as per your instruction htc9420 and Internet connection does indeed work faster. However I've caught 2 spontaneous reboots since I've updated (15 minutes ago). Never had them before. I shall see how it goes and post again.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It is faster. However, flashing the new radio will affect some things:
1. Battery stats&logs. Right after the flashing your battery will show empty. This could be the culprit for the reboots. My recommendation would be to turn phone off and leave it to charge fully. Use it normal but drain it until it literally won't start again ( you'll notice that it shows1% battery left and after a restart it will show 5%). Charge it once again while off. YOU WILL GET AMAZING BATTERY LIFE.
2. Faster 3G/EDGE switching. Really faster no more signal drops.

Well reboots were happening pretty much every 5 minutes and once over 3 or so reboots I would get a message like "Your SD card is damaged or removed. Your phone will be hard reset". Can't really see a connection between updated radio and SD card but I never had such problem before flashing Omnia 7 radio. So I had to restore from the backup and phone is back to normal now.

What do you guys think? ready for using? this boots kept me worried. =)

ralex3000 said:
What do you guys think? ready for using? this boots kept me worried. =)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
...these boots are made for walking....
I installed it 3 days ago and haven't had any issues..but I installed it before going to NoDo and Mango. Updating the radio should be not break the nand-card system. All you are risking is another Mango install so 1 hr at the most .Connection speed is an issue for me so I reinstalled everything. It is not a huge improvement, it's more like reliability and the speed increases by 50 percent-still slow. I wonder if there's again a data leak on the phone....
On the other hand,I still have to see a WP7 device hitting 3 megs/sec and I've seen a lot of them.

htc9420
Are you sure Mango update does not overwrite the radio module to default 2103.11.8.1?

ru-dmitry said:
htc9420
Are you sure Mango update does not overwrite the radio module to default 2103.11.8.1?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My Focus/Settings/about :
OS 7.0.7720.68
Firmware : 2124.11.8.1
Hardware : 3.1.0.7
RADIO soft ver: 2424.11.2.2
Radio hw vers: 0.0.0.3
Bootloader :5.8.0.6
I'm running the Rogers ROM, I can flash any radio without issues AFTER reaching Mango.
Voice&data connection are optimized by the CSC + Radio firmware + OS bundled together. In theory, one can use the EU Omnia7 CSC file also, but I'm not sure yet if the 3G+ provxml files are bundled inside the zune updates.
One thing is for certain: the way Focus behaves in europe is at 25% of the PERFORMANCE under an US carrier. Data mode switching is way off with the american ROMs. It should be 3G CS headers then the PS negotiates multiple links (up to 16 up and 12*4 down) to 3G+. The switching doesn't take place. Instead of , let's say, 2 Mb/s I could only get 2192/48=45Kb/s which about the real speed I get at the most.I flashed CSC+Radio from the engineering rom, I was left without handset audio BUT I had 3-5 Mb/s speed under Mango.
I wonder how many Focus users are European and how many have issues with the data speed.
Maybe the EU users could try and download SpeedTester and post some results.

htc9420 said:
My Focus/Settings/about :
OS 7.0.7720.68
Firmware : 2124.11.8.1
Hardware : 3.1.0.7
RADIO soft ver: 2424.11.2.2
Radio hw vers: 0.0.0.3
Bootloader :5.8.0.6
I'm running the Rogers ROM, I can flash any radio without issues AFTER reaching Mango.
Voice&data connection are optimized by the CSC + Radio firmware + OS bundled together. In theory, one can use the EU Omnia7 CSC file also, but I'm not sure yet if the 3G+ provxml files are bundled inside the zune updates.
One thing is for certain: the way Focus behaves in europe is at 25% of the PERFORMANCE under an US carrier. Data mode switching is way off with the american ROMs. It should be 3G CS headers then the PS negotiates multiple links (up to 16 up and 12*4 down) to 3G+. The switching doesn't take place. Instead of , let's say, 2 Mb/s I could only get 2192/48=45Kb/s which about the real speed I get at the most.I flashed CSC+Radio from the engineering rom, I was left without handset audio BUT I had 3-5 Mb/s speed under Mango.
I wonder how many Focus users are European and how many have issues with the data speed.
Maybe the EU users could try and download SpeedTester and post some results.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can post some results for the Omnia7 radio:
VODAPHONE de SIM, data roaming
Vienna
ATT 0.72 Mbs
Omnia7 2.85 Mbps (I hit 8mbs where is 4G)
Bratislava
ATT 0.52 -0.64 Mbps
Omnia 3.2-2.8 Mbps
I am heading to Switzerlad so I'll post some results later on.

I've got a Focus in Egypt so I'm not sure if this will help or not, any idea anyone?

amahfouz said:
I've got a Focus in Egypt so I'm not sure if this will help or not, any idea anyone?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can try it and find out by yourself. If you don't like it, you can switch back.
Steps:
- Backup your phone
- Follow instructions in 1st post
- If it doesn't work for you, reflash or revert from backup

Today I updated my Focus 1.3 to Omnia radio. But: main voice phone speaker has stopped working (only headphones and back loudspeaker). Verdict: I DON'T RECOMMEND to change radio to omnia 7 software if you need phone instead a Tablet . Fortunately, flashing my focus back to factory firmware got the speaker came to life.

Sungod1 said:
Today I updated my Focus 1.3 to Omnia radio. But: main voice phone speaker has stopped working (only headphones and back loudspeaker). Verdict: I DON'T RECOMMEND to change radio to omnia 7 software if you need phone instead a Tablet . Fortunately, flashing my focus back to factory firmware got the speaker came to life.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The rom I posted initially was an engineering rom, if you use the phone from a stock ROM it will work. The engineering ROM broke the audio to the handset, but speaker and ext head set were working ok. I need help to identify the registry value for the correct routing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, it happens if you use the radio from the engineering ROM.
However, there's a fix if you use the diagnose>main menu>audio>rebuild all to make it work.
Also, the switch should be made by 7004 and NOT after updating. I caught the update pkg from MS and it seems that they update the radio to the latest Omnia7.
I had huge data issues with the stock Rogers/ATT radio that's why I switched to omnia7's radio.
For me, it's working like a charm now, I got better data and connectivity. I had some colleagues ( from US and working in Europe) that reported better connectivity, actually one of them is working right now on the CSC file to make a proper EURO rom.

I can't get the earpiece working on AT&T ROM with OMNIA radio. I tried 2424.10.11.1 and 2424.11.2.2 radio versions.
htc9420 said:
However, there's a fix if you use the diagnose>main menu>audio>rebuild all to make it work.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It says menu 55 does not exist.
htc9420 said:
Also, the switch should be made by 7004 and NOT after updating. I caught the update pkg from MS and it seems that they update the radio to the latest Omnia7.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It updates to Focus radio.

Yes, I can confirm, menu not exist, current command 55.Да, Дима, та же фигня. Пишет что меню 55 не существует.

ru-dmitry said:
It says menu 55 does not exist.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It rebuilds the audio and then returns the answer
It updates to Focus radio.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have these specs now:
Firmware revision: 2124.11.8.1
Harware revision:3.1.0.7
Radio Software version: 2424.11.2.2
Radio hardware:0.0.0.3
Bootloader: 5.8.0.6
I am not forcing anyone to update the radio. It is merely a suggestion.
Also, the best results I had when I replaced the radio BEFORE updating.

I tried for radio:
Samsung-Omnia-7-Firmware-XXKC1-MORE-PROVIDERS-NODO
Samsung-Omnia-7-Firmware-XXJL3-RETAIL-UK
I8700+XEN+I8700XENJK1
Base firmware (Phone is AT&T):
Samsung-i917R-Focus-firmware-UXJL2-ROGERS-CANADA
Samsung-i917-Focus-firmware-UCJK2-ATT-USA
Spend huge time for use all combinations of this ROMs. In all cases: earpiece don't work, menu 55 no any results. What suggestions?

Hmmm, I used the radio from I8700FTMJJ6 and from a newer rom ( I think it was the one from june).
I am not with the PC where the I have the files stored but I will post the exact setup on Monday.
On a wild guess, I could only speculate that there must be different radio hardware inside the FOCUSes...I had personally flashed three devices without issues- even emailed Cotulla a to consider including the Omnia radio version on his ''future'' custom Rom.
The issue might occur from a audio routing registry setting OR from a muted volume inside radio -you can easily check with the volume boosting codes. If it was for an incompatibility issue it would not have functioned at all: network, audio and data- not to mention that the flashing software will not let you flash.
I will try to tinker with it and report back next week.