Paul's complete guide to upgrading your Omnia to HH1, and what to do when things go wrong!

[Guest dedafmonteur]

what is so special about this rom?

what are the big benefits?

[Guest panagiog]

Dear Paul thanks for everything!

Can i ask, if i want to ''run'' another rom from DZXX3 like DXHH1 what can ido?

Edited October 20, 2008 by panagiog

[Guest Aneeliyo]

Paul, being a total idiot just wondering if this would work on my omnia? I bought it in Thailand. Or how about manila2D?

Thanks for the wonderful step-by-step guide, very usefull for people like me.

Regards

Aneel

[Guest tqthanh]

i followed the guide to set my device to singapore region . but there isn't singapore in the list . there are just UK , France , Swiss , Polish . My device is from France Orange . plz help me .

[Guest Germex]

i did it.. like this... but when i press reset in my mobile, the phone go on up.. and prix put this:

OnDeviceChange: DBT_DEVICE ARRIVAL

PDA DEVICE not found

[Guest Germex]

EVERYTHING IS ROLLING JUST, WHE I GONNA FLASH THE PHONE WITH THE UPDATE HH1, AFTER I CLICK ON THE TWO BOXES, SAY:

INCORRECT SOFTWARE VERSION

PLEASE CHECK THE DEVICE

[Guest Germex]

i did everything but now.. when i gonna make the update.. say:

Incorrect software version

PLease check the device

and now the phone is in portuguese...

[Guest abuawab]

hi guyz

i'm trying to put my omnia into life again

it was stuck at the IMNIA logo while upgrading from dzhh3 to dzhj1

BUT IT IS STUCK NOW AT 83%

should i REFLUSH with grand_prix ?

help is needed

[Guest giniebb]

Hello,

I'm a french newbie and I have a problem with my i900. After a bad flash, my phone won't boot. When I turn on the device, the phone stay on the starting logo "Samsung Player Addict". I tried a hard reset, but nothing change.

So I decide to try a flash in bottloader mode. I follow the step, I have click on "DETECT", plug my phone with USB cable, click on reset pin with stylus, but nothinh append. My phone is not detect.

Have you some idea or solutions for my problem?????

Thanks

[Guest Dextro]

i trying to reset my phone and i'm getting stuck at the :

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Downloading EBOOT...

EBOOT finished!!

Downloading PDA region #1(DISKIMAGE)...

How long should it normally take to download that diskimage?

thanks in advance

[Guest Srdo]

Hi, all!

I am using Omnia bought here in Croatia:

pda: i900XXHHC/PAHHC

phone: i900XXHH9

To which ROM version can I upgrade?

Thanks!

[Guest astroboy88]

Update: A real HH1 build is now available, see this post for details!

Since there's a bit of confusion out there about how to upgrade to HH1, I figured i'd write a little post about upgrading your Omnia :rolleyes:

First of all, some background.

At the time of writing, the HH1 ROM is NOT available officially for download from Samsung.

Unfortunate, but hopefully they will release a ROM newer than the current officially available ROM (DXHG4) in the near future. Now, HH1 has a number of benefits over previous ROMs including improved stability, improved speed, improved finger-friendliness and most importantly for many, the return of haptic feedback in the input methods that disappeared from earlier ROMs. For this reason, after seeing that an Omnia user had successfully obtained an upgrade to HH1 from his local service centre, I set about seeing if we could make it more widely available.

In a nutshell, I found the blog of said person, found his mobile number on the blog, texted him asking if he would be willing to help make the ROM available, and it turns out he was already a MoDaCo member! :) I then e-mailed him some instructions on how to dump, provided and FTP login, and he then did the business :( At this point user 'chaimd' stepped in, and repacked the raw files from the dump into a flashable format. After he uploaded this to the mediafire file hosting service, we were ready to go!

Flash formats

Omnia updates can contain a number of different parts. They can contain an updated bootloader, a PDA part (the main part you use), and a radio part. The radio part is the part that deals with the interaction with the mobile network... and contrary to popular misunderstanding is not related to the FM radio :D The PDA part and the radio part have seperate version numbers (which you can see in the 'versions' application in Start -> Settings -> System), the format of which is explained here.

While experimenting, we have learned that PDA parts sometimes do not like to co-exist with newer radio parts. For this reason, I would generally recommend that you flash the HH1 update on top of a radio ROM / base that is known to be compatible.

The tools

Omnia updates are generally flashed one of 3 ways. Firstly there is the standard updater that Samsung ship, which flashes with an Activesync'd device as it's starting point. This is all well and good, but if for some reason you have a device that won't fully boot, it won't work. Secondly there is something that looks very similar to the standard updater, but flashes the device from bootloader. The Polish SAHH2 update is an example of this. This is a good recovery tool. Finally, a Samsung internal application called 'Grand Prix' allows you to flash from the bootloader too. This is very clearly an internal engineering tool, and should be used with extreme caution!

The bootloader

I've talked about flashing from bootloader, so i'll say a few quick words on how the bootloader is found. Contrary to HTC devices, where the bootloader is accessed by pressing a key combination, the Omnia seems to enter the bootloader under specific circumstances. When the device is booted (i.e. when the reset pin has just been pressed), it seems to look for an application requesting bootloader access via USB (e.g. either of the second two update methods above). If this is found, it'll stay in bootloader ready to be flashed. If not, it will continue to boot normally. When the device is in bootloader, the 'Samsung Omnia' logo is on screen. This state is also the state the device seems to be getting stuck in when people are having a problem flashing.

How I recommend flashing HH1

For the best chance of success, I strongly recommend flashing HH1 from a Windows XP box. I know that not everybody has access to this, but I personally have had issues using Vista, and in the community there have been reports of this being a problem too.

I recommend first flashing the Portugese HG5 complete flash via 'Grand Prix', then flashing HH1 using chaimd's updater. The reason for this is that it will give you a HG5 radio ROM, but also it will give you a starting point before HH1 that we know will work. It removes the unknowns that I have seen so far causing problems.

IF YOU CONTINUE WITH THESE INSTRUCTIONS, YOU DO SO AT YOUR OWN RISK! I / MODACO TAKES NO RESPONSIBILITY FOR ANYTHING THAT MAY GO WRONG! YOU RISK BRICKING YOUR DEVICE IF THERE IS A PROBLEM!

Hope I made the above point clear :(

The usual flashing safeguards should be adhered too. Make sure your device has plenty of battery power, if you are flashing from a laptop make sure it is plugged in and has power in the battery and never, ever interrupt the flashing process or turn off either your PC or the device during the flash.

Got it? Good... let's go!

Step by step!

Step by step guides always go down well... so here's my step guide to HH1'ing your Omnia!

1. Ensure Omnia is charged

2. If flashing from a laptop, ensure it has plenty of battery power!

3. Make sure your flashing machine is running Windows XP (duh!)

4. Close down all applications on your flashing machine.

5. Download this file - this is the 'Grand Prix' flashing tool

6. Download this file - this is the HG5 update image

7. Download this file - this is the HH1 flasher

8. Download this file - this is the Samsung XP driver for the radio flash bootloader mode

9. Ensure you have an application installed capable of extracting RAR files, e.g. WinRAR

10. Extract all of these archives to a new directory

11. Switch to the new directory

12. Run the installer for the Samsung XP driver

13. Run USDL_GrandPrix_v1.5.2_XP.exe

14. In 'Step 1', drop down the box and ensure 'GRANDPRIX LV image' is selected (as shown in figure 1)

15. In 'Step 2', click 'EBOOT+PDA+PHONE(+CSC)' and browse to the 'Code_i900XCHG5.img' you extracted from the HG5 archive (your application will then appear as shown in figure 2)

16. Click 'Detect'

17. Plug your Omnia into a USB port, then press the reset pin...

18. The download will automatically start! Do not touch ANYTHING until it tells you it is done!

19. When the process is done, your device should boot into Portugese Windows Mobile 6.1. Let it boot to the startup wizard... it will automatically reboot one. Wait for the startup wizard to appear again.

20. Exit 'Grand Prix'.

21. Ensure your device is now showing as 'Connected' in ActiveSync.

22. Run 'i900DXHH1_PDA_updater_xp.exe'

23. Click the two checkboxes, and hit 'Verify device'... the flashing process will now begin.

24. When this process is completed, you can exit the updater, boot your device and all being well, you should be at HH1!

B)

IF THINGS GO WRONG!

If something terrible happens, you will likely end up at 1 of 2 scenarios. The first scenario is that you will be stuck at the 'Samsung Omnia' logo, and the device won't boot. If this is the case, restart from step 13... that is reapply the complete HG5 update. You should then be back in business. The second scenario is that something really terrible will happen and you won't even get the bootloader. You will get a blank screen, and XP will identify a device called 'MONAHANS', with no suitable driver. Should this happen, at this time, YOU WILL HAVE TO RETURN YOUR DEVICE TO A SAMSUNG SERVICE CENTRE!

And finally...

I'll try and keep this topic updated as new updates come out, please vote in the poll and indicate whether you have successfully completed the process.

Thanks! :P

P

Hi, I'm new for omnia, I had follow your step and by mistake update rom "XCHG5" this is spain lang, can you send me a English ROM run from "Grand Pix" please.... I can not read this lang, if possible please email to me @ [email protected] thank you very much for your help.

Al

[Guest rendeiro2005]

Hi, I'm new for omnia, I had follow your step and by mistake update rom "XCHG5" this is spain lang, can you send me a English ROM run from "Grand Pix" please.... I can not read this lang, if possible please email to me @ [email protected] thank you very much for your help.

Al

NOT spanish language. it`s PORTUGUESE one!!!! they try, but still Portugal!!!

[Guest waltibaba]

i failed... i did everything exactly as instructed and my phone is now completely bricked. the light doesn't even come on... plus im in serbia so by the time i get this back from the service center i can buy a new phone... guess ill stay with my old but trustworthy 3250...

[Guest javman]

hi

who's tell me how i should flash my omnia (sahj1) when the grandprix and the os updater doesn,t do that.

when i click detec and reset omnia grandprix find the omnia and starting download eboot, but progress is not doing. he's stay and stay and nothing. why ? can you help me ?

[Guest noknok]

hello there and first of all thank you for the guide and the informations

i got a big problem

i tryed to flash it (via exe file) with wm6.5

and at the first step it succeed to download the boot image but on the "downloading boot image twice" everything stuck there. the omnia now is on samsung omnia logo and after resets and hard resets nothing happened

i tryed to reflash it again with "exe" firmware but the start button never came avalaible

i tryed the method you described with grand prix but it seems like the pc does not recognize the device when i connected, or open it or reset it

so i stuck with the omnia on samsung omnia logo

i cant turn it off from the button, i full charged it, i hard reset it but nothing is happening

man i would appreciate if u can tell me any other idea

Thank you in advance

[Guest viruscell]

Download Progress -> Checksum failed!

PDA Device 1 ready to download!

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

PDA 1 starts downloading...

Don't plug it out until the label becomes blue!!!

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

EBOOT will be written.

Total 1 PDA region(s) will be written .

PHONE will be written.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Downloading EBOOT...

Eboot : Write to SDRAM FAIL!!!

Download failed!!

Download Progress -> Checksum failed!

can´t even start writing, error in eboot. after that, phone gets stucked at Omnia logo with status bars on the bottom. But when I reset it, it´s still working as usual..

[Guest viruscell]

now it´s f*cked up...

Analyzing the Combined Image...

Wrote to C:\_eboot.nb0 successfully

Wrote to C:\_phone.bin successfully

Wrote to C:\_xip0.nb0 successfully

Done!!

Calculating file parameters(DISKIMAGE)....

Calculating file parameters(DISKIMAGE) Done!!

OnDeviceChange: DBT_DEVICEARRIVAL

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

PDA Device 1 ready to download!

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

PDA 1 starts downloading...

Don't plug it out until the label becomes blue!!!

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

EBOOT will be written.

Total 1 PDA region(s) will be written .

PHONE will be written.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Downloading EBOOT...

EBOOT finished!!

Downloading PDA region #1(DISKIMAGE)...

PDA Write count : 977

PDA finished!!

Writing dummy CSC header...

Downloading PHONE...

KW.KIM Create retry(25)

KW.KIM Create retry(24)

KW.KIM Create retry(23)

KW.KIM Create retry(22)

KW.KIM Create retry(21)

KW.KIM Create retry(20)

KW.KIM Create retry(19)

KW.KIM Create retry(18)

KW.KIM Create retry(17)

KW.KIM Create retry(16)

KW.KIM Create retry(15)

KW.KIM Create retry(14)

KW.KIM Create retry(13)

KW.KIM Create retry(12)

KW.KIM Create retry(11)

KW.KIM Create retry(10)

KW.KIM Create retry(9)

KW.KIM Create retry(8)

KW.KIM Create retry(7)

KW.KIM Create retry(6)

KW.KIM Create retry(5)

KW.KIM Create retry(4)

KW.KIM Create retry(3)

KW.KIM Create retry(2)

KW.KIM Create retry(1)

KW.KIM Create retry(0)

Download failed!!

i did not remove battery or reset the device again, as I saw it could be worse. but phone now is detected as "unknown device", and no driver fits it. mey I reset to try again downloading to phone, or have something to do in the actual state?

pls answer asap, who can, don´t know till when battery will keep phone on..

[Guest viruscell]

nevermind my posts, all ok now... problem was a slow pc, changed to my own, flashed all ok, phone working nicely. Thanks Paul, you´re the man.

br

[Guest viruscell]

said ok too early.. phone restarts when using a sim card, right before it gets signal. when power phone without sim, no problem. already downloaded rom again, all was ok, as log below shows. I don´t wanna HH1, just wanna phone with Portuguese language, and as I understood, hh1 will flash only pda part, so radio should be working by now, although it´s not.

i´m trying to full flash with another rom now, to test if the problem remains, if anyone has an advice for me, i´m all ears..

br

Analyzing the Combined Image...

Wrote to C:\_eboot.nb0 successfully

Wrote to C:\_phone.bin successfully

Wrote to C:\_xip0.nb0 successfully

Done!!

Calculating file parameters(DISKIMAGE)....

Calculating file parameters(DISKIMAGE) Done!!

OnDeviceChange: DBT_DEVICEARRIVAL

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

PDA Device 1 ready to download!

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

PDA 1 starts downloading...

Don't plug it out until the label becomes blue!!!

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

EBOOT will be written.

Total 1 PDA region(s) will be written .

PHONE will be written.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Commanding Device Large Disk Format...

Downloading EBOOT...

EBOOT finished!!

Downloading PDA region #1(DISKIMAGE)...

PDA Write count : 977

PDA finished!!

Writing dummy CSC header...

Downloading PHONE...

OnDeviceChange: DBT_DEVICEARRIVAL

GetSize : 16998400

PDA 1 finished downloading!

[Guest coffeebeankat]

hi im new to the whole rom and smartphone thing i got my omnia 4 days ago and have not had any luck connecting to functions web/wifi/messenger/internet anything !

it is a unlocked handset with vodafone branding and i want to use on o2. I have had the seetings sent to the phone via samsung and i have updated the software from samsung site when i got it it said

PDA version XXHHD/ACHH3

PHONE BUHH2

Now says

PDA XXHJ6/ACHJ2

PHONE BUHJ1

I really want to get this working preferably without the vodafone stuff on it in english and connected to my router and the internet but i am beginning to loss hope. I am not a massive techie but i can manage to follow intructions if someone can direct me to what i do next.

Im off to find a wifi free connection now so i can test on that, but i have not had any problems connecting anything else to my home network before.

Is it likey my phone is broken ?

[Guest johnny054]

I'm trying to get back to my original rom CEHJ2 (currently: DXID1)

I get incorrect version...

I tried all the solutions found on this forum but it didn't work.

Last thing i didn't try is updating with grandprix.

How get it make a img of the CEHJ2?

I saw another solution that is dissemble with executor. Then use the eboot, pda.bin, phone.bin and customer.csc with grandprix. But when i do that i get 2 eboot: eboot.nb0 et eboot_2.nb0... wich one should is use?

Thanks.

[Guest johnny054]

anybody?

[Guest popescu ion]

My phone doesn't accept phone part ...

[Guest ersinjeofizik]

Hi my phone shows Only "Samsung omnia" splash logo, and stuck there..

I tried so many time, but process did not begin, "Waiting for device" text never changed, so my PC does not recognized my device..

My cable is:

Data link cable

MODEL: APCBS10BBE

is there any proble with my cable? My pc does not give a warning that says any usb device connected, so it behaves as I did not plug my device to USB cable.. So what is the problem??