Tuesday, November 11, 2008

How to debrand Rogers Nokia N95 8GB DIY

People that have purchased a Nokia N95 8GB from Rogers might be disappointed as Rogers has branded this phone. Branding also locks out certain features to force the customers to use the network. Rogers has a nasty habit of forcing their own customers to use the Internet on their network for such things as ring tones, wall papers, themes, games etc. The manufacturer makes these phones without all these locks as other carriers around the world do not force their customers. I guess the other carriers world wide are happy that the customer chose them in the first place. Rogers really has no competition on GSM side in Canada so it seems that they like to squeeze every dollar out every customer. With the Nokia N95 8GB NAM-4 Rogers has locked out the feature where customers can use their own MP3 songs as ring tones. Its bad enough to pay $3.99 for 20 seconds of a song, when a full song is only $1. I will show you how to debrand or unbrand your cell phone to the state that Nokia had intentionally made this cell phone. basically what you have to do is to change the product code of the phone to a version that has an unbranded firmware available for it from Nokia itself.NOTE: Please understand that the software is not made by me and problems can occur and I am not responsible for anything that can occur. Loss of Internet connection, bad cell phone battery, Windows malfunction, disconnection of the cable while upgrade can damage the phone permanently. The warranty on the phone may be voided by changing product codes. If you change your product back to the original Nokia might not realize this, but I am not Nokia and do not know.There are a few things that you'll need to get this done. You will need 2 pieces of software

1. NSS - Nemesis Service Suit
2. Nokia software updater from Nokia

Download these programs and install them onto your computers. I did the Nokia Software updater first, but i don't think it really matters. The drivers for the phone will be installed when you install the Nokia Software updater.When installing NSS you will be asked a few questions:*virtual usb device*F1 usb device*Nemesis usb multi-flashing device*Diamond protection device*prodigy LPT devideChoose the virtual usb device option.Now that you have both software's installed you will need to first change the product code. The product that i have used is: 0561948To do this you will need to plug your phone with a Sim card in the phone. Once connected the phone will ask how you want to connect the phone:Please choose the PC suite option. Then the computer will start searching for drivers and install them for you. Once the phone is configured properly run the NSS software. On the top right hand side of the software you will see a magnifying glass button (“Scan for new device”). Click that.Now click on the icon "phone info" and then on the right hand side you will see "read phone" click that. Above that you will see a product written there. Change that product code to: 0561948 and click on the check box that says enabled and then click on write. On the bottom of the NSS window you will see "done".When that's done close the NSS software and run the Nokia software updater. make sure that phone's battery is fully charged and make sure that you do not move the phone around or the cable while the updater is working. PLEASE make sure that your computer is stable. I have only tried this with a Nokia N95 8GB Nam-4 from Rogers. The nokia software updater will try to search for an update for the phone. If there is an update then the updater will run the update. If you have a N95 8GB branded from another carrier you may have to try different product codes as certain product codes have different updates available.Nokia software updater will let you know its done and Voila your done. Remove the phone from the computer and the phone will reboot. You'll know right away if it went properly when that damn Rogers logo does not appear during boot up.
Here's a list of possible product codes for the Nokia N95 8GB:
0550348: FRANCE
0550352: ALPS
0549487: EURO1
0550359: EURO2
0550370: TURKEY
0550372: SCANDINAVIA
0550373: BALTIAN
0550798: RUSSIAN
0550799: UKRAINE
0550800: BELARUS/MOLDOVA
0550375: CIS, Bulgaria
0550378: EURO3
0550379: BALKANS
0550801: GREECE, CYPRUS
0550802: ISRAEL
0555180: SINGAPORE
0555181: MALAYSIA
0555187: EMERGING ASIA
0550455: INDONESIA
0550454: NEW ZEALAND
0550453: AUSTRALIA
0550459: THAILAND
0550457: VIETNAM