decoder

How To: Upgrade your 3mobile Australia Nokia N95 firmware

Posted on April 6th, 2008 | by decoder |

I am a huge fan of 3mobile Australia. Of all of the Aussie Networks 3mobile remain ground breakers.
BUT! What the hell is going on with the lack of Nokia Firmware upgrades?

Since its release in Australia there have been THREE (3) firmware upgrades for the Nokia N95.

NONE OF THESE UPGRADES ARE AVAILABLE TO 3MOBILE AUSTRALIA SUBSCRIBERS!

These crucial upgrades fix a multitude of problems and offer some serious performance and stability increases. I find it very frustrating when I walk into a 3 store and speak with the crew, asking “is there a firmware upgrade for the Nokia N95?”. The answer is always “No” and and more often than not they report that the vast majority of customers who have purchased an N95 are unhappy with it due to stability and performance related problems.

All of the problems I have heard from 3 store staff are fixed by the firmware upgrades released by Nokia.
This just baffles me! Why would 3mobile not allow Nokia to provide its customers with the most current firmware available?

It would certinally lessen the number of frustrated consumers. Significantly reduce the number of repairs to be completed. Which might I add, if you send your Nokia N95 in to be serviced and receive a firmware upgrade, you will simply have your handset wiped of all user data and settings with no actual upgrade to the firmware being made.

So. Out of frustration I decided to void my warranty and perform a firmware upgrade myself using a EURO firmware version.

It is actually quite easy to do however ti does involve changing the hardware product code for your device and whilst I don’t 100% know if this voids your warrenty I certinally wouldnt be surprised if it did. BUT for me the benefits far outway these drawbacks.

The current Nokia N95 Firmware version released at time of writing this article is 21.0.016 and is available to pretty much everyone except 3mobile Australia via the Nokia Software Updater.

There are 3x parts to this process.

1. Backup your Nokia N95
2. Change the Product code of your Nokia N95
3. Perform Firmware Update using Nokia Software Updater
4. Restore backup data to your Nokia N95

Backup your Nokia N95

To backup your handset data I recommend using the USB cable provided with your handset.
Whilst I love wireless and bluetooth the USB cable just makes this so much faster.

When prompted to select which data elements of your handset you wish to backup only select the following options:

• Contacts
• Calendar
• Notes

Unfortunatly if you select any of the other available options there is a good chance that your handset will not be very happy when your turn it back on again and will more than likely be unusable. I had this happen the first time I did this and ended up having to do a hard reset in order to get the thing working again.

Once you have backed up your data you can now change the product code of your device.

Change the Product Code of your Nokia N95.

By changing the product code of your device you are effectivly changing your postcode and when using the Nokia Software Updater you are telling Nokia that you are instead from another country.

As I said earlier this will more than likely void your handset warranty so proceed with caution.

1. To begin you will need to download the Nemesis Service Suite.

2. Once your have downloaded and installed the Nemesis Service Suite, plug in your device using your USB cable and hit the “Scan” button to search for your device.

3. When Nemesis Service Suite has found your device click the “Phone Info” button.

4. You will now be able to see a “Product Code” field. Write down the existing code and keep this in a safe place. You never know when you might need it again. Now change the product code to the new code.

I used the EURO 1 code: 0534841 for my device however you can find a list of the other international product codes here.

5. Once you have keyed in your new Product Code hit the enable check box next to the Product Code field and then hit the Write button.

You have now changed your Nokia N95′ Product Code!

Perform Firmware Update using Nokia Software Updater

Leaving your device plugged in via USB open up the Nokia Software Updater and hit the “Start” button.
The software will connect to the net and check your device’s product code and software version.

After a short time you should be prompted with a notice advising that the new software version is available.
Click the “Start” button and go make yourself a coffee. It can take a little while depending on your internet connection as the the firmware is over 100mb in size.

NOTE: I would suggest having your handset plugged into your charger during this process. Also try to do the update at a time when you a less likely to receive any calls. the last thing you want is a telemarketer bricking your phone!

When the Nokia Software Updater says its completed the update your handset will show a message advising that it will restart. When you hit the Ok button it will.

Upon restart you will need to re-configure the time, date and country of your handset. All user data and configuration will be reset or deleted so you need to go through and configure the device to your likeing all over again.

To confirm that you have the new firmware press *#0000# and you should see v21.0.0.16.
If not your Product Code change possibly didnt work properly. Try to do it again and see what happens.

Now to put your data back. It’s time to;

Restore backup data to your Nokia N95

With your N95 still plugged into your computer with the USB cable open up the Nokia Content Copier application again and hit the Restore from Backup button.

Select the appropriate backup file and hit the next button. As you only backup up your contacts, calendar and tasks these will be the only options available to you on the restore.

Hit the Next button and the restore will begin.

There. Your 3mobile Australia Nokia N95 should now be using the latest Nokia Firmware and all of your contacts should be restored to the handset.

All you need to do now is re-install your favourite S60v3 Apps and you are set.

My Top 5 S60v3 Apps for my N95

My Top 5 S60v3 Apps for my N95 - Reloaded

Tags: 3mobile, decoder, firmware, n95, nokia, nokia N95, S60v3

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