unlocking/unbranding w508i

hi there!

yeah. i know. another unlocking/unbranding thread :p ive read a lot and i cant seem to understand whats going on?! i have a few questions that i'd like to clear up.

1. whats flashing? is that another term to debrand/unlock a phone?

2. ive d/L-ed xs++ and it wouldnt connect with my phone. (ive held down the c button and plugged in as it said. i have the driver installed and i've unlocked my phone thru my service provider

3. CID51 or CID52 ?? ive read somewhere that it was bad to 'flash' these types of something.. how do i know if my phone is/has that?

4. firmware. how do i know what i have on my phone? what firmware do i use?

5. bricking. whats the possibility of this happening? i know a lot about modding psp's but nothing about the w580i

i'd love to learn but i need to learn from the beginning. mostly terminology because people are saying to 'run GDFS' and some other stuff i dont understand

anyone experience with messing with the w580i, do you have aim or msn? i'd like to add you guys just in case i hit a snag somewhere. after seeing those 'flash menus', i just had to get it on my phone!! those are tooo crazy!! i like it :p

and again, sorry for another unlocking/unbranding thread. i just need help

-coy

aim sn: itsCOCOY
msn sn: ixcocoyxi@hotmail.com

1. i think flashing means messing up with the phone firmware by editing, replacing it. unbranding is the operation that consists to erase all firmware modifications eventually made by your operator like very ugly icons, flash menus non available, cannot set mp3 as ringtone and so on... or more simply replacing a firmware customized by the operator by the generic one.

Unlocking is very different: it consists in removing the operator Simlocks in order to put any SIM card from any operator in your phone. this operation can be made with a service cable and by memory it cannot be with DCU-60 please someone correct me if i'm wrong. then you'll suppose that unlocking can be more dangerous for your phone if you fail...

2.in XS++ you have to click on a button before connecting your phone holding "C"...

3. i don't know about this question...all i know is that CID 51 and CID 52 phones are very easy to acces with FAR Manager and the new SEFP plugins. it's very easier than with my W10i CID 49 with which i had to flash a fake main before trying to enter the FS with FAR...

4.in order to see which firmware is on your phone press on the phone keyboard :
>*<<*<*, then go to "service info" then "software info"

5.I think that brickin can occur only if you messed up your GDFS... or if you disconnect your phone while flashing, if your OS fails while flashing, something like that...

sorry for my fastidious english but i'm french...i hoper i've been helpful for you so if it's the case just click thanks button ;)

that cleared up a lot of stuff..

for xs++ i clicked that 'connect' button and followed the directions but nothing happened? how would i know what firmware to use? any firmware?

and whats FAR manager? how could i tell if my phone is CID51 OR 52? im so sorry for the no0b q's.. i just wanna get a full understanding on things before i start messing with my phone.

and since you said its more likely to brick my phone, should i re-lock it? or is that even possible?

when i read on how to replace the firmware, i remembered it said i have to replace some text with some other text and all this other stuff.. im completely out of it.. :(

i was looking at the xs++ walkthru that was stickied and i guess i havnt installed the drivers. when i went to go d/L, i unzipped and only found security catalogs, setup info, and 2 folders with system files in them. i didnt find anything i could run to install anything.. ??

the firmware you want depends of the region you live, the customization you want on it (vodafone,AT&T,orange,Cingular...) but the better way to have a full personalised phone is to get a generic firmware. to choose your firmware your must take care of your region,your phone model, your phone CID,and the eventual operator customization.

don't be afraid to brick your phone, if you follow all the guides there is no reason to end with a Sony ericsson Stone model lol

The full flashing process consists in 3 mains parts: 1. Flash the Main firmware; 2. Flash the FS; 3. Finalise flashing by uploading custom files (you will find a "custom files section" in download section of Topsony. The finalisation is necessary to make your phone run and many people post in topsony forums beacause they just forgot this step. if you don't finalise your phone will display an error and won't start.

personnally for the finalisation step i prefer FAR manager because it's easier to use than XS++ in which you will have to put all the fils you want to upload in your phone in a folder and then create a text file which contains all file paths and so on... With FAR manager: prepare FAR manager correctly with SEFP plugins, configure SEFP plugins in FAR manager following guides you will find on this forum, then "Enter the matrix" and go exploring your phone fs!! it works like a FTP client...

I got a W580 and i pimped it the day after i bought it. i had already some experience with my W810i with witch flashing process is a bit more fastidious... What phone model do you have? i hope i've been a bit clearer for you ;)

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for xs++ i clicked that 'connect' button and followed the directions but nothing happened?

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First of all, power off your phone, remove the battery, then put back(but don't power on). In XS++ click the 'Connect' button. Now press the C button in phone and connect the cable(don't relase the C button until the Windows recognize it).

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how would i know what firmware to use? any firmware?

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MystiK972 already answered this question:

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4.in order to see which firmware is on your phone press on the phone keyboard :
>*<<*<*, then go to "service info" then "software info"

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and whats FAR manager? how could i tell if my phone is CID51 OR 52? im so sorry for the no0b q's.. i just wanna get a full understanding on things before i start messing with my phone.

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Forget FAR manager for now, first learn how to use XS++, SETool2 Lite :D
When you connect your phone to XS++ you will see an EROM CID: XX line where XX is the CID number. You do the right thing :). If you fully understand what is going on, then you will not brick your phone...

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i unzipped and only found security catalogs, setup info, and 2 folders with system files in them

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Right click on that setup info file and choose Install... menu item. You will not see any visual indication, but the driver will be installed.

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Originally Posted by simox

First of all, power off your phone, remove the battery, then put back(but don't power on). In XS++ click the 'Connect' button. Now press the C button in phone and connect the cable(don't relase the C button until the Windows recognize it).

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when you mean wait for it to recognize it, thats after i install those 'setup info' files? theres 6 of them.

i right clicked and there was no 'install' selection for the info files.
http://a17.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/...e7ef078100.jpg

heres what was in the zip file:
http://a285.ac-images.myspacecdn.com...b8b15490b4.jpg

first folder (amd64)
http://a623.ac-images.myspacecdn.com...6392b5e33e.jpg

second folder (i386)
http://a556.ac-images.myspacecdn.com...30c890f0cb.jpg

and when i took the battery out, placed it back in, held C, clicked 'connect', plugged in, it asked if i wanted to install new hardware. and it has those regular choices (install automatically by windows looking for it, i have cd, not now). i thought it'd connect and thats it.. ??

That isn't the flash driver(it is the modem drivers, etc.). You need this driver: http://www.wotanserver.com/USBFlashDriver.exe.

so what was that then? i got it from the guide that was stickied..??

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Originally Posted by ixcocoyxi

so what was that then?

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That driver normally come with Sony Ericsson PC Suite, and needed for communication between phone and PC(when the phone is alive).

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i got it from the guide that was stickied..??

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The author of that post made a mistake. We are human after all... :D
By the way, have you managed to connect the phone to XS++?

okay!! woo!! i already got up to as far as backing up the GDFS..
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ive searched around and i've d/L-ed the cda's that i think i need >>

HB1_06_Gen_CDA102568_15_R5A_GENERIC_AMERICA_1
HB1_06_Gen_CDA102568_16_R5A_GENERIC_AMERICA_2

so i could flash my phone using these correct?
which one is the main one? wich one is the file?

is just doing this basically just debranding my phone?
could i start throwing up flash menus on there or i have to continue?

also, i heard that i'll lose my aol instant messenger (and all my other messengers) if i flash my phone. im paying for unlimited text so i'd like to use it to my full advantage. is there a place where i could reinstall it? if someone could point me in the right direction on where to get it, that'd be great! hope it comes with install instructions :p

would i need that 'custom firmware' to flash because the XS++ i have doesnt have the w580 in the phone list? or could i just go ahead and start flashing?

do i still need to finalize after flashing without custom firmware? how would this be done? would i have to d/L more stuff?

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ive searched around and i've d/L-ed the cda's that i think i need >>
HB1_06_Gen_CDA102568_15_R5A_GENERIC_AMERICA_1
HB1_06_Gen_CDA102568_16_R5A_GENERIC_AMERICA_2

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These two are custom packs. You need also the MAIN and FS firmwares:
W580_R8BA024_MAIN_GENERIC_LA_RED52 (MAIN firmware), and W580_R8BA024_FS_AMERICA_1_RED52(FS to use with HB1_06_Gen_CDA102568_15_R5A_GENERIC_AMERICA_1), or W580_R8BA024_FS_AMERICA_2_RED52 (FS to use with HB1_06_Gen_CDA102568_15_R5A_GENERIC_AMERICA_2).

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also, i heard that i'll lose my aol instant messenger (and all my other messengers) if i flash my phone.

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Yes, it is true. You will loose everything if you don't back them up. You can save the java applications(I think AIM is one of them) if you download them from phone with XS++ for example. For this I suggest to use at least XS++ v3.1. Download the *.jar and *.jad files from \tpa\preset\system\ams\ folder.

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would i need that 'custom firmware' to flash because the XS++ i have doesnt have the w580 in the phone list?

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That 'custom firmware' is the custom pack you just downloaded. If XS++ (that you use) doesn't have w580 in the list, download the latest version. That will have W580 support...

Before any flashing attempt read this tutorial: XS++ 2.x Guide.

And don't forget to backup your user data(contact list, ringtones, pictures, etc.) before flashing. For this operation you can use My Phone Explorer (http://www.fjsoft.at/en/).

thanks a lot simox!! you cleared up a lot of stuff for me!! i actually understood what you said!! lol!!

this forum is great!!

so when i go to save the prog from my phone to my desktop, and use the main and sf that you provided, i could then flash my phone correct? would i still use XS++ to upload flash menus?

when i backed up my phone the very first time, i thought it saved EVERYTHING on my phone already and if i ever wanted to go back to that, i could just use that? or is saving programs different than that..?

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thanks a lot simox!! you cleared up a lot of stuff for me!! i actually understood what you said!! lol!!

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Good to hear that :D

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so when i go to save the prog from my phone to my desktop, and use the main and sf that you provided, i could then flash my phone correct?

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Yes, it is correct.

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would i still use XS++ to upload flash menus?

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Yep, you need to copy the flash lite file (*.swf) to
\tpa\preset\system\desktop\flash\ using XS++. And copy the theme file (*.thm) to Themes folder using Sony Ericsson's File Manager etc. and done.

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when i backed up my phone the very first time, i thought it saved EVERYTHING on my phone already and if i ever wanted to go back to that, i could just use that?

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When you back up your phone via My Phone Explorer for ex., the backup will contain all user data(pictures, contact list, SMS, ringtones, and a lot of more stuff), except java applications/games and settings(including WAP, MMS etc.)...

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or is saving programs different than that..?

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You need to save your java applications separately, like I said in above post.

is there any other place i could d/l them? i dont seem to have enough privilages.. :(

here... just click thanks...

lol!! thanks a bunch!! on to flashing!! wooOOoo!!

edit: okay.. nevermind the flashing because i still dont have the firmware :( i guess when i get up to 20 posts i'll see if i could download em again

ixcocoyxi, i guess if you search the web a little, you will find the right FW versions, i did so. like you see, i have the post prob as well :-D

but this forum is by far the best for sony ericsson, big respect to all of the people involved

et, MystiK972, t'es un dieu :D

this site is the best site for us sony owners!! im just afraid to d/L fw's from other sites because i dont really trust em.. hahaha!!

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Originally Posted by Guysch

ixcocoyxi, i guess if you search the web a little, you will find the right FW versions, i did so. like you see, i have the post prob as well :-D

but this forum is by far the best for sony ericsson, big respect to all of the people involved

et, MystiK972, t'es un dieu :D

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lol pa d'pro mec! comment tu sais k'je suis francais? :D

@ ixocoyxilol and 20 useful posts not spam! if spam you're banned!

you all have been a great help! @ixc I've read both cases of losing/not losing AIM program. I think it depends on the firmware you flash in