88 replies to this topic

[puppy]

Original article by Arisme: French / English
Enhanced by me after a series of testing.
Thanks to jimmyz for his help!

Opening Remarks

If your phone provider does not provide any software that would allow you to restore or install ROM, then here is a way to backup your ROM and put it in a safe lock in case if you ever need it again.  The original author warned that you can easily fry your phone although I don’t really believe so.  But still, please be extra careful and don’t fry this awesome phone.

I have an Audiovox SMT5600 and unlike you lucky i-mate owners, Audiovox doesn’t really post ROM updates on their web site nor would they give you software to fully restore the phone.  Thanks to other members on this forum, I was able to install Unicode font which allows me to view Traditional Chinese Unicode characters.  However, I am definitely in need of viewing Big5 (Traditional Chinese local codepage) and using bopomofo T9 input method.  I was lucky enough to locate a copy of Dopod 565 ROM that contains Traditional Chinese version of Windows Mobile 2003 Second Edition.  If you are interested in learning more details about Dopod 565 ROM, just let me know.

Solution #1

Warning: Jimmyz pointed out that AT&T Wireless’s ROM for Audiovox SMT5600 has a different byte count than what Arisme has in his original article.  So I guess you’ll have to find out the exact byte count for the original ROM before you do a backup.

jimmyz, on Mar 5 2005, 20:05, said:

The checksum error is simply because you have the wrong filesizes specified. You're making people cut off the end of the file. This is how I totally destroyed my SMT5600 firmware. Now that I've been experimenting a bit, I've finally had success in backing up/restoring a rom. The way I did it was using an external card reader and WinHex.

Warning: Following instructions is only for AT&T Wireless’s Audiovox SMT560.

Getting Started
Hardware
- You are going to need a 32MB or larger MinSD card and MiniSD to SD adaptor if you already have a SD card slot on your machine.  I got mine from eCOST.com and it came with a MiniSD to SD adaptor.
Software
- Modified version of Tera Team Pro which can connect to the WinCE USB development port.
- ItsUtils

Backup Instructions
1. Turn off the phone and unplug the USB cable from the phone.
2. Press the Camera power button and plug in the USB cable.
3. The phone will automatically start and you should see the 3 colors screen with USB text on the bottom of the phone screen.  If this is your first time connecting the phone to your computer via engineering mode, Windows will take some time to install the USB driver.  So please be patient.
4. Launch Tera Team Pro (ttermpro.exe) and select USB under the Serial menu.  If connection is made successfully, you should see a terminal window with a blinking cursor.
5. You can initial the backup sequence in several steps with the following commands, but I encourage you to use r2sd all as some users were having problems with other commands.  Please note that it will wipe out your MiniSD card and one card can only store one backup at any given time.

Quote

r2sd ipl
save the phase 1 bootloader
r2sd spl
Save phase 2 bootloader
r2sd gsm
Save GSM radio code
r2sd os
Save Windows CE operating system
r2sd splash
Save boot splash screen
r2sd all
Save everything

6. After backup operation is finished, you will see a blinking cursor again.  You can now safely turn off the phone by pressing the power button or you can type ResetDevice in the terminal window to reboot.
7. I have different ways to copy the ROM to the computer.  So if you want to know the original method, please check the original article.
8. To save the backup file, you will need to know the ROM size listed below.  All in byte(s).

All: 31328768

9. Take out the MiniSD card from the phone and connect it to your computer via the adaptor or x-in-1 media reader.
10. If you haven’t done so already, download the ItsUtils suite and unzip it to a folder.
11. Open a Command Prompt window.
12. Navigator to the unzip folder and enter build folder in the command prompt window.
13. Enter psdread X: 0 YYYY filename.bin in the command prompt window.  Replace X with the drive letter to the MiniSD card, YYYY with the byte number listed above, and filename.bin with a desired file name.  For example, psdread E: 0 31328768 ipl.bin will backup everything to a local file named ipl.bin.

Restore Instructions
1. Take out the MiniSD card from the phone and connect it to your computer via the adaptor or x-in-1 media reader.
2. Open a Command Prompt window.
3. Navigator to the unzip folder and enter build folder in the command prompt window.
4. Enter psdwrite X: filename.bin in the command prompt window.  Replace X with the drive letter to the MiniSD card and filename.bin.  For example, psdwrite E: ipl.bin will copy the ROM file to the MiniSD card.
5. Turn off the phone and put the MiniSD card back to the phone
6. Press the Camera power button and plug in the USB cable.
7. The phone will automatically start and before you see the 3 colors screen, it will ask you if you want to restore the ROM by pressing Volume Down key within the next 5 seconds.

Solution #2

jimmyz, on Mar 5 2005, 20:05, said:

First step is to put your card into your reader and fill the entire card with 0's.

Second step is to boot up in 3-color mode and then using Tera Term issue the "r2sd all" command.  It'll show you a bunch of info (including the correct filesizes in hex value) as it runs the backup.

Third step is to shutdown the phone and remove the card.  Then put the card into your reader and find the boundary where the data stops and all the 0's are left from before.  Select all the data up to this point and tell WinHex to copy it to a new file.  You can then save this file as your backup.

To restore a phone, you just write out a new card with all 0's like we did before, then use the Disk Clone feature in WinHex to copy the data from the file onto your SD card.  Leave all the offsets set to 0.

When you put this card in a phone and boot up into 3-color mode, it'll automatically prompt you to restore from the card by pressing vol-down.  Press it and you should not see any checksum error, and you'll see a series of status bars during the restore.

Remember that in WinHex whenever you are working with your SD card, to open the Physical drive, NOT the logical drive.

I have done this process a few times with no problem at all, the key is to just make sure you don't cut off any data, that will obviously change the checksum value and give you an error.

Now if anyone could do this for an SMT5600 I would be very greatful.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Final Remarks

With a backup ROM in hand, you can now safely try putting other ROM versions onto your phone just like what I did without having to worry about not being able to restore what was originally on the phone.  In order to try other vendors’ ROM versions, you will have to unlock the phone.  I know someone is working on a free utility that can unlock HTC Typhoon.  In the mean time, you will need to pay some bucks to unlock it.  The best service I could find so far is IMEI-CHECK which has unlocked both my Motorola MPx200 and Audiovox SMT5600 without any problem.

Good luck and have a happy hacking journey!

Edited by puppy, 02 June 2005 - 03:11 PM.

[generationgav]

If you can post the Audiovox ROM here then you will be worshipped for life. Its the latest version of the HTC Typhoon ROM with WMP10, but just isn't available anywhere on the net.

[pharma79]

yes , i also want WM10 very badly . If you can provide audiovox i will also thank you so much!

[puppy]

pharma79, on Feb 18 2005, 11:57, said:

yes , i also want WM10 very badly . If you can provide audiovox i will also thank you so much!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

What's so good about WMP10?  I really don't see a difference between WMP9 and WMP10 except the user interface.  Go get a iPod shuffle instead.  It is better than listening music on HTC Typhoon.  Dopod's firmware has WMP10 included.

Edited by puppy, 18 February 2005 - 04:59 PM.

[rvbcrs]

puppy, on Feb 18 2005, 17:01, said:

What's so good about WMP10?  I really don't see a difference between WMP9 and WMP10 except the user interface.  Go get a iPod shuffle instead.  It is better than listening music on HTC Typhoon.  Dopod's firmware has WMP10 included.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I want WMP10 SOO bad because of Media Center 2005. My Mediacenter can synchronize with WMP10 only so I really need it I also have no clue where to get the dopod firmware..

[Pennan]

puppy, on Feb 18 2005, 17:01, said:

What's so good about WMP10?  I really don't see a difference between WMP9 and WMP10 except the user interface.  Go get a iPod shuffle instead.  It is better than listening music on HTC Typhoon.  Dopod's firmware has WMP10 included.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Please do some research before posting stupid comment like this.

It shouldn't be so hard for to understand that the new features in Windows Media Player 10 Mobile is badly needed by many users:

* Better support for playlists
* Support for a library
* Support for better syncing in Windows Media Player 10 (on Windows XP)
* Support for album art images
* Support for skins
* Support for PhotoStory 3
* Support for MP3 ring tones in the OS
* Support for other codecs provided by the manufacturer

The Typhoon is a great MP3 player. No need for iPods.

Edited by Pennan, 22 February 2005 - 10:07 PM.

[encece]

Be nice Pennan. We're all friends here and we all have opinions.

[puppy]

rvbcrs, on Feb 18 2005, 13:40, said:

I want WMP10 SOO bad because of Media Center 2005. My Mediacenter can synchronize with WMP10 only so I really need it I also have no clue where to get the dopod firmware..

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I think it is against this forum rule for posting illegal ROMs...  So, I'm sorry that you will not be able to get the ROM from me.

Pennan, on Feb 21 2005, 18:22, said:

Please do some research before posting stupid comment like this.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I’m not going to argue with you on which is the best MP3 player, but I simply said that iPod product line is far a better MP3 player than HTC Typhoon.  It is OK that you don’t agree with me, but you shouldn’t have said that my comment was stupid.

Microsoft reps have explained why operators have not released WMP10 update yet at the 3GMS World Congress 2005.

[rvbcrs]

puppy, on Feb 22 2005, 04:32, said:

Microsoft reps have explained why operators have not released WMP10 update yet at the 3GMS World Congress 2005.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Can you tell us what they said?

Edited by rvbcrs, 22 February 2005 - 05:24 AM.

[tsutton]

Pennan, on Feb 21 2005, 23:22, said:

* Better support for playlists
* Support for a library
* Support for better syncing in Windows Media Player 10 (on Windows XP)
* Support for album art images
* Support for skins
* Support for PhotoStory 3
* Support for MP3 ring tones in the OS
* Support for other codecs provided by the manufacturer

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Has this been confirmed that it will be added for mobile version of WMP10?

[pharma79]

puppy, on Feb 22 2005, 04:32, said:

I think it is against this forum rule for posting illegal ROMs...  So, I'm sorry that you will not be able to get the ROM from me.

So whats point in backing up a rom ? Obviously to return to original situation after you have installed another brand`s rom , OK ? So is IT LEGAL ?
I`m starting to doubt if this method works at all .
And thank for your MUCH MUCH helping .

[tsutton]

pharma79, on Feb 22 2005, 13:27, said:

So whats point in backing up a rom ? Obviously to return to original situation after you have installed another brand`s rom , OK ? So is IT LEGAL ?
I`m starting to doubt if this method works at all .
And thank for your MUCH MUCH helping .

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

He is saying that you can back it up for your own use & purpose, but you can NOT post the files to this forum as it is illegal to share it with others.

[Pennan]

tsutton said:

Has this been confirmed that it will be added for mobile version of WMP10?

Take a look at the official Windows Media Player 10 Mobile web page:
http://www.microsoft...le/default.aspx
The FAQ is here:
http://www.microsoft...mobile/faq.aspx

rvbcrs said:

Can you tell us what they said?

This is what John Starkwether from Microsoft said in a strange interview found at msmobiles.com:

so that goes back to us, we on a pretty regular basis will update software based upon what operator will say "I need that little minor adjustment" and an OEM will say "we have somebody looking for this" and we constantly do updates, so we do those things on a fairly regular basis and then we´ll do a complete major update that will incorporate all of those updates that happen on a regular basis as well as many additional things.

at the time that they ship the device, when they, Orange, or any other oprator decides to ship another version of that phone, or update the software for whatever reason they from the business perspective, then that they have a chocicee to include those newer things. Now, once a new, let´s say a major, software upgrade is made available, at that point OEMs will be working on the latest software. OEMs want to use latest software and so do the operators. It just depends on where their device is launched in the cycle of new software.

Edited by Pennan, 22 February 2005 - 10:07 PM.

[puppy]

pharma79 said:

So whats point in backing up a rom ?

Since there is no official ROM for Audiovox SMT5600 from Audiovox, having a backup gives you the ability of restoring original ROM after you have flashed other vendors' ROM onto the unit.  One thing I am still trying to find out is whether or not the SMT5600 unit can still operate on 850MHz cellular towers after flashing 900/1800/1900MHz ROMs.  I'm working with my source and trying to get a definite answer from HTC engineers.

rvbcrs said:

Can you tell us what they said?

The full interview is available here: http://www.msmobiles.../i.php/562.html

[Pennan]

puppy, on Feb 22 2005, 04:32, said:

I’m not going to argue with you on which is the best MP3 player, but I simply said that iPod product line is far a better MP3 player than HTC Typhoon.  It is OK that you don’t agree with me, but you shouldn’t have said that my comment was stupid.

Microsoft reps have explained why operators have not released WMP10 update yet at the 3GMS World Congress 2005.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Ok, sorry. Nothing personal. I guess I have read too many of  these kind of posts lately. Suggesting an iPod...  :roll:

I haven't argued about the best MP3 player. iPod is most likely better. But I don't care about that. WMP10 is a media player.
I don't think all of us who are waiting for an update to WMP10 Mobile needs to be reminded that the iPod is a better MP3 player.
I'm sorry, but that's a stupid comment to me.
We are waiting for an updated media player that works on our phone.

Please read about the new features the new version has and then try to understand why we want it. It's not just an MP3 player...

I already know why operators haven't released it.

Great article about backing up the ROM, btw.  

[Pennan]

puppy, on Feb 22 2005, 22:35, said:

Since there is no official ROM for Audiovox SMT5600 from Audiovox, having a backup gives you the ability of restoring original ROM after you have flashed other vendors' ROM onto the unit. One thing I am still trying to find out is whether or not the SMT5600 unit can still operate on 850MHz cellular towers after flashing 900/1800/1900MHz ROMs. I'm working with my source and trying to get a definite answer from HTC engineers.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

It's also great for Qtek 8010 owners who bought their device through the operator Telia and then updated the ROM from Qtek.

Telia has added branding, settings and ClearVue applications.
All customizations from Telia are removed when updating. This was not even mentioned in the update information. It has been added later.

[jimmyz]

The checksum error is simply because you have the wrong filesizes specified.  You're making people cut off the end of the file.  This is how I totally destroyed my SMT5600 firmware.  Now that I've been experimenting a bit, I've finally had success in backing up/restoring a rom.  The way I did it was using an external card reader and WinHex.

First step is to put your card into your reader and fill the entire card with 0's.

Second step is to boot up in 3-color mode and then using Tera Term issue the "r2sd all" command.  It'll show you a bunch of info (including the correct filesizes in hex value) as it runs the backup.

Third step is to shutdown the phone and remove the card.  Then put the card into your reader and find the boundary where the data stops and all the 0's are left from before.  Select all the data up to this point and tell WinHex to copy it to a new file.  You can then save this file as your backup.

To restore a phone, you just write out a new card with all 0's like we did before, then use the Disk Clone feature in WinHex to copy the data from the file onto your SD card.  Leave all the offsets set to 0.

When you put this card in a phone and boot up into 3-color mode, it'll automatically prompt you to restore from the card by pressing vol-down.  Press it and you should not see any checksum error, and you'll see a series of status bars during the restore.

Remember that in WinHex whenever you are working with your SD card, to open the Physical drive, NOT the logical drive.

I have done this process a few times with no problem at all, the key is to just make sure you don't cut off any data, that will obviously change the checksum value and give you an error.

Now if anyone could do this for an SMT5600 I would be very greatful.

[abatis]

One thing to note is when you use Tera Team Pro make sure you have disabled USB in your activesync settings.

Jimmy,

How about using the WinHEX backup feature to make an Image and than copy back to the SD? Just curious if that would work. Nice program by the way.

regards

abatis.

Edited by abatis, 10 March 2005 - 07:37 PM.

[cr0bar]

WMP10 isn't anything special anyway. I've used it for erm.. since before Christmas and only ever synced it once or twice. Tend to just do it the old way via my computer.

Although MCE2005 is a nice stable os even though it's just XPSP2 with the mce.exe to make it pretty. =)

[blaznc]

When I run Tera Term Pro and select serial-usb and hit ok, an error occures. "Cannot open ,"  is the text displayed. Any help? Thanks

Brandon