Flashing a phone with a custom firmware is always a risky job. No sooner do you hack your mobile device, or install
a third party firmware on it than you lose the warranty provided by
your device’s manufacturer. It is our duty to warn you that if you
commit a mistake, you might brick your phone. So, please be careful.
One question that is often asked is: “Why should I flash a custom firmware on my Nokia Symbian phone?” Well, the answer
is rather simple one. A CFW is can give you more freedom, faster user
interface, better battery life, the features of a better and newer
firmware that is not provided to you by your device’s manufacturer due
to hardware resevations. For example, you can enjoy the features of a
Symbian^3 phone on your very Symbian^1 device. A custom firmware cooker
tries to amalgamate various such features in one CFW.
To flash a custom firmware on your Symbian/Nokia touch device, you require the following tools:
Preparations Before Flashing CFW
First of all, you need to install Nokia Ovi Suite on your PC, so that your device connects well with PC. If you do not install the Ovi Suite, the JAF tool would not detect your device.
Then it’s always better to backup the
settings and data like messages, contacts, images, etc. before you
proceed. You could create a backup in two ways, either via the Ovi Suite
or the file manager on your phone.
Our next step towards the procedure is
to format your phone. It will delete all data and apps from your device.
Since most of CFWs shift some of the system files on the memory card to
give you more space on phone’s internal memory, it will be a good thing
to format your memory card too. You can do this using your phone or
using a memory card reader. I
personally prefer to format my memory card using my own phone. Go
to: File Manager / E: Memory Card / Click on Options button / Memory
card option / Format.
In the next step, you will have to hard
reset your phone. You can do this using two methods: The first one is by
typing *#7370# (the default security code is 12345). The second method,
which is better, is as follows:
- Switch off your phone.
- Then press and hold 3 hardware keys (Green + Red + Camera) of your device simultaneously.
- While the three keys still pressed, press the Power button.
- Keep holding these 3 keys until you see Nokia’s standard hand shake animation on screen.
- Now release the 3 keys. Your phone should execute hard reset process.
On the completion of this process, you phone would be as it was when you bought it.
Download the Custom Firmware
We presume that you have already downloaded the desired CFW for your device. If not, download
and save it to your desktop. Keep it in mind that the firmware version
you want to flash is greater than the current one. Downgrading the
firmware will make your phone unusable. For example, if the current software version of your phone is RM504 -39.0.003_001, it should be something like RM504 -40.0.003_001. To check the software version of your device, dial *#0000# on your phone’s keypad.
Setting Up the JAF Emulator and P_KEY
- Having checked the firmware version, install the JAF Emulator.
- Now it’s time to extract the CFW zip file
you downloaded earlier. Inside the extracted folder, you will find a
folder like RM-XXX. (Do not forget to ensure that the RM number of the
downloaded CFW matches your phone’s RM.)
- Copy the RM-XXX folder to C:\ Program Files\ Nokia\ Pheonix\ Products. If you do not find these folders path, create yourself.
- You will now have to run the JAF_PKEY_Emulator_v5.exe and click on GO. Remember that this program runs only on Windows XP or Vista. If you are using Windows 7,
right click on the .exe file and change compatibility mode. If the
program gives an Error pop-up just ignore it and click on OK/Yes.
- In the window that appears select the tab BB5 and uncheck the Normal
Mode and CRT 308. Then tick these options: Manual Flash, Dead USB, and
Use INI. Checking the last box will show up a pop-up window where you
have to select your phone model and its corresponding MRI.
- If your phone’s model does not show in the list of devices exit the JAF and go to C: \ Program Files \ Odeon \ jaf where you will find a file ” jaf_nok4models.ini “. Right click on the file and select Edit from the options and add your device’s model at the end of list and save changes. Here is an example:
- If you have done everything correctly, your JAF will look like the
screenshot below. Ensure that all four green circles are green (MCU,
PPM, CNT, APE Variant) and the path for the firmware (as in the marked
red square) is right. Now look for Phone Mode and select Normal from the list and wait for a few seconds.
Flashing CFW on Nokia Phones
Please, exit the Ovi Suite program if it is open or running in
background (right click the Ovi Suite icon in the tray and chose
exit). Next, switch off your phone and connect it to PC via USB.
Click on Flash button and click Yes on
the dialogue box that pops up. The program will ask you to turn the
phone on. What exactly you need to do is just press the power button for
1 second and release it. Remember, 1 second means just 1 second! You
have not to start the phone. This is only an action that helps the JAF
to detect your device and start flashing the firmware.
The flashing process will start and
finish in a few minutes. When you get the Done message, restart the
phone. Bingo! your phone should now be running on the newly installed
custom firmware.
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3 Files Flashing Method:
Here is a short tutorial/guide to give
you an idea of flashing custom firmwares with only three files. In fact,
most CFWs come with only 3 files: one core file, and two files that
come with the CFW. If the CFW files do not contain the core file, you
will have to download it and rename it accordingly. Here is an example for the Nokia 5800:
Again, if you are using 5800, you have
to use the PNHT CORE of 113mb and also rename the UDA and ROFS2 from v52
to v60 accordingly.
For example, if you have ROFS2 named ‘RM-625_50.0.002_prd.rofs2.V21‘, and you downloaded the V51 core for 5233, you need to rename it as ‘RM-625_51.1.002_prd.rofs2.V21′.
Same applies for All RMS. For appropriate core files, see see the links provided above.
- Open JAF, go to BB5 tab.
- Tick two items there: i) Manual Flash, and ii) Dead USB.
- Make sure that all other boxes are unticked.
- Rename your Core file from .C00 to .C0r
- Click MCU and select the .C0r file (the renamed core file)
- Click PPM and select the ROFS2 file
- Click APE and select the uda.fpsx file.
- Now flash. Done!!!
WhatsApp Messenger is a cross-platform mobile messaging app which
allows you to exchange messages without having to pay for SMS. WhatsApp
Messenger is available for iPhone, BlackBerry, Android, Windows Phone
and Nokia and yes, those phones can all message each other! Because
WhatsApp Messenger uses the same internet data plan that you use for
email and web browsing, there is no cost to message and stay in touch
with your friends.
].
Mr
Lock is a utility application for Symbian S60 V5 based mobiles (Nokia
5800 XpressMusic, N97, N97 Mini, X6, 5230 and 5530 XpressMusic). Mr Lock
allows you to set auto lock timing for your mobile. Once enabled, it
automatically locks your mobile.
