Flash your P900 Firmware Now!!!

Good news! I used another laptop and I was able to get in!! 😊 Finally!

Bad News: I was one of the first people who found out about this and now the servers flooded 😞 wohoo!!!

Oh well. At least you were able to connect. Just keep trying man. 😊

I bet SE didn't anticipate the flood of members to the site...

Man servers are still full.. Since the phone was released in asia first I think the trafik mite lighten up tonite.. hopefully, anyway have a question for you guys:

Did you use the online backup and restore or just the backup and restore up software on your pc? Coz i already made a backup up on the pc, wouldnt that be redundant?

Originally posted by weder
From the release notes on the SE update site:

Release notes
CDA-number: CDA162003/2
Version: R2B02
Improved sound quality in Office handsfree mode.
Updated Java support MIDP2 - MIDlet signed against Verisign certificate.
Improved capitalization in T9, now capitalizing characters properly.
Enhanced handling of accessories, Bluetooth headset, HBH-200, displays name and phone number of incoming caller.
The Clock screen saver digits has been enlarged for better visualization.
Find function in e-mail application has been improved.

I've just noticed another much welcomed improvement. In older firmware versions, when you're in the Messages application, scroll down a list of messages and open a message, and then return to the message list, you would find yourself back on top of the message list not back to your last viewed message, like it should be. -I am very happy to see that this has now been rectified! 😊

The P800 didn't have this bug, and I'm glad they fixed it so soon for the P900. This is important to people like me who send/receive lots of SMS/MMS/e-mail messages, and like to store many for future reference. But what would also be useful is if they could make a little Next and Previous button within a message to swiftly scroll through the messages (like you have when you open an image in the Pictures application) without having to hit that 'Return' button and then open the next message on the list.

The ability to store the messages in different folders would of course also be a most welcomed addition, but I kinda doubt we'll see that happening anytime soon... (I know there's a 3'rd party solution, but it's only for SMS, and I don't really like using a separate application for this).

I thought I'd write a couple of notes on how I believe the SE firmware update process works for you to get a better understanding of what's happening. My idea is that you will be less confused during the update process and thus you're phone is less likely ending up unusable 😊

I think SE did a pretty good job to make the update service as painless and robust as possible. Nevertheless, there are a number of different "players" involved in it, which have to act together properly in order for the update to succeed. Also, the process is somewhat technical and I expect it might be difficult to grasp for a less technical person.

Please note also that I'm writing this down after I did the update. Lots of it is speculation, some may be entirely wrong, but I believe I got the prinipal picture.

[list=1]
[*]I used the Mozilla browser to perform the update. You may be better off using the de-facto standard browser "Internet Explorer" on Windows.
[*]Download and install a current Java Runtime environment before starting the installation. The most current and IMHO recommended one is Java2 1.4.2. You can get it at http://www.java.com . Make sure that all browsers are closed before the installation of the Java environment, so that plug-ins get properly installed.
[*]One of the first steps after the initial setup is a message box popping up asking you to confirm that a Java applet gets access to your machine. This applet resides in the browser inside the "Please wait... checking the installation" page. The applet presumably waits for the SE Update Service software to talk to it.
[*]You're then given the opportunity to download the SE Update Service software. Download it, then install it.
[*]As soon as it fires up, it will connect to the Java applet on the "Please wait" page and ask it to continue. From now on, the two are a connected pair: the SE Update Service software performs the update and talks to the user via the Java applet in the browser.
[/list=1]

So much for the basics. I recommend to you the following:

[list=a]
[*]Take your time for the update. Don't do it one hour before you intend to rush out and grab the first tickets to LOTR 3. Read everything first, then perform all steps *exactly* as mentioned in the texts.
[*]Be patient. Wait for things to complete. Then wait for some other things to complete; it sometimes takes a while (e.g. you have to wait 5 minutes until you can perform a restore).
[*]Make sure you're battery is fully charged.
[*]Take the time to backup your P900 first. The restore works flawlessly. I did not have any dataloss at all and syncing against MS Outlook on Windows, against Mac OS X apps and .Mac worked perfectly for me.
[*]In general, I recommend you "look after" your installation of Windows or Mac OS X. Run Windows Update (Win) and Software Update (Mac) on a regular basis to get all patches and updates necessary to keep things working and secure.
[/list=a]

Hope this helps. Enjoy your P900 - I enjoy mine tremendously 😊
Andreas

so anyone has already sucsesfull fooling the CDA thing ??
i wanna try on my own , but my connection is only 50.6 😞
hehhehe

Right...
What if the internet connection drops where its downloading the file.
Or you click cancel.

Can you resume it later?
Anyone know...

I started mine at work... but need to leave soon.
And its not even done the download...

Aaahhh!

Well, the first time I tried the update it was downloading the FW image, then tried to connect to the phone to flash it. This didn't work (there was some kind of connection error).

The page then asked me to turn on the phone and check if it was working fine. If not, I was supposed to continue with the recovery mode. But since mine worked fine, I started all over from there like requested.

The second time everything worked fine and I didn't have to download the FW again. After the initial steps, the phone was simply flashed with the previously downloaded image.

I have a 2 hour cut off point, I stared it with about 15mins left, I got about 75% of the way though but it stopped and I got a connection error.....I didn't bother again, but I guess I will soon.

My golly! So it could really be the Java Aplet is the one that was causing it on my laptop!!! I had a hunch it was this, so I downloaded, the java aplet last night from this site and when it did it wouldnt install and it was 3 am so i ditch that idea and waited the next morning to try it on another laptop which it worked so well. I havent updated my phone though since all the servers were full. Just got home now and was so excited to finally get it going when I realized I had left my deskstand in the office!! Grrr... All I have with me here at home is the CSS20 destop speaker stand and the USB DCU-11 connection cable, will this duo replace the DSC-20? I dont know but I dare not try.. guess ill have to wait tom again 😞 Hrmph!

Your ideas make sese! Im installing the java from that site you posted and im going to try to see where it takes me..

Thanks!

Heyit worked!!! Java was the only thing I lacked!!! I get these screen, then the next is a screen asking me to always allow this site (i wasnt able to take a screen shot of it)

This was the third page after that which is bec I didnt have the cradle attached coz i left it in the office..

Atleast I know that I dont have to reinstall my laptop..

Can I get confirmation that its impossible to upgrade the firmware online with an Orange contract phone? 😞

Originally posted by zygote
20Mb!! at 33.6kbps that's going to take a while!! 😱

The files get downloaded to C:\Program Files\Sony Ericsson\Update Service\software-data or whatever drive you installed the seus to. Actual filenames are:

HL1_CDA1620035.bin_000000_0000_R2A10 <<<CDA 4Mb
HL1_12529_030912_1435_R5D <<<Bluetooth 147Kb
HL1_162021_000000_0000_R2B02 <<<Organiser 13Mb
HL1_162022_000000_0000_R3C006 <<<Phone 871Kb
HL1_CDA1620035.img_000000_0000_R2A10 <<<No idea!1.2Mb

Now, although you might be able to burn these to CD, two problems prevent this from working

a)It looks like firmware versions are phone specific, probably not specific to each individual handset, but there looks to be a difference depending on where the phone came from and what network it was bought on, since we all seem to get different version numbers after updating. Mine was sim free.

b) You'd have to hack the website to look at the CD instead of delivering the package over the wire.

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news dude.. 😞

Thanks zygote,that was very usefull!!

Durzel,nothing is impossible,but for now,it seems that online upgrade of a orange p900 is impossible.

Originally posted by Durzel
Can I get confirmation that its impossible to upgrade the firmware online with an Orange contract phone? 😞

Absolutely posively NOT... Didn't you read through this thread first.. The details were described in a couple posts...

already 2 times updating my firmware using a 56K modem!!!
but still my firmware hanemt change
i want the phone firmware to be r3c006 !!!
cause now still r3a02 and lack of rf reception
still the clock ant t9 things havent fixed

I am having a problem it just stuck to initialising device please wait....... phone switch on it self then switch off after some time it's give a error massage i install latest java aswell😕

@ Hassan

Does that error msg have a name??

It Says Time Out after some time

how long does this usually take it seems like its been intializing device for Moor then 10 min.

Initialization depends on connection speed so that's an open question... However, I do no it shouldn't take more then 2 min with broadband...

Why does it need XP SP1????? I only have a 56K landline-connection. Now I first need to download SP1, secondly that 11MB update-app and after that, the 20MB firmware itself😞

I think its almost easier and quicker to drive to the nearest SE Service center.🙄 Does anyone know if we are still able to update through a sevice center?

You dont need SP1. I completed my upgrade using a 56k dial up and Windows XP Pro without SP1. I just downloaded Java Runtime Environment.

It seems that SE were not thinking about a big percent of the world's population which doesn't have broadband.They could've at least made the firmware regularly downloadable,so you can burn it on a CD and flash the phone offline.

Originally posted by GhostDog
They could've at least made the firmware regularly downloadable,so you can burn it on a CD and flash the phone offline.

I agree, that would indeed be the preferable solution, but that would also mean the risk of people tampering/modifying the firmware, and I guess that is a risk they are not willing to take.

Whatever solution SE comes up, I hope they do it soon. I would hate to think what the consumers might say if they dont find a solution to this problem

I don't think this will be a big SE concern.. You have to remember that SE service centers are not even obligated to flash your firmware for free... I think SE considers firmware flashes as a necessity only if your phone has been diagnosed as having an issue that is recognized by SE and can be corrected through firmware flashing.. They could careless if one is having issues connecting to the server... This is a global support rather then market specific.. Thus that means it becomes much harder to complain.. I'm sure they will refer you to your individual market for troubleshooting.

Originally posted by deevonn
so anyone has already sucsesfull fooling the CDA thing ??
i wanna try on my own , but my connection is only 50.6 😞
hehhehe

The CDA number of the phone is just a .txt file in the phones ROM, you could easily change it, but to do this you need to have access to the ROM, which we don't have 🙄

bigfeat -

please can you clarify. i have an orange contract phone. ive read the entire thread. and ive not found anyone that has successfully upgraded their orange phone via the online service. ive tried it myself twice, and it claims to be upgraing it, but you end up left with the old firmware after its all done. got any ideas?

thanks,

-- Jez.