How To De-Brand a Vodacom/Vodafone Nokia N97 and Get The Latest Nokia Firmware:
Please remember you do this at your own risk....you could “brick” your phone. (There are ways to fix that, apparently, but it’s not covered here)
Preferably do this on a Windows XP Pro (32 bit) Laptop (with a fully charged battery).
1. Ensure your phone’s battery is fully charged.
2. Ensure you have a FULL backup of your phone (contacts, pictures, audio etc) as this will be lost! Also, some applications you installed may also be lost, just reinstall them after the update.
3. Ensure you have Nokia Software Updater (NSU) installed as part of the Nokia OVI Suite. (www.nokia.co.za or OVI Disk that came with phone)
4. Connect your phone and set it to “PC Suite” mode at least once after installing OVI Suite. (This installs phone drivers and cable drivers needed.)
5. Get and install NSS (http://www.b-phreaks.co.uk/index.php?main_page=page_2) (I used version 1.0.38.15)
6. Reboot your PC after NSS installation, just for good measure.
7. Hard Reset your phone to ensure there will be no conflicting software on it… (See point 22 below, how to hard reset)
8. Once the phone is on again, connect it via USB port (can use Bluetooth, USB is more stable and reliable) and put it in "PC Suite" mode.
9. Do not open OVI or PC Suite or any other Nokia software. (If any are open, close them…)
10. Open NSS software. On the far right, click "scan for new device".
11. Now click on "Phone Info" and then "Scan".
12. Click the "Read" button now.
13. To the right you should see your phone's current "Product Code", it should be 0585732 (For Vodacom SA)
14. Click the "Enable" checkbox next to the code.
15. Enter the following code in the box: 0576559 (This is the product code for MTN South Africa phones.)
16. Click "Write".
17. Click "Read" again, to confirm that the new code was written.
18. Close NSS and go to NSU.
19. Run the update from Nokia, you should see that you have V10 and that V12 is available. Do the update. (Depending on your Internet connection speed, this part downloads 145MB, so it could take a couple of minutes…)
20. It should complete and the phone should reboot and you should have V12 running with no problems.
21. If your phone keeps rebooting itself (switching on and off, on and off), Hard Reset it again…
22. How To Hard Reset:
• Remove the battery from your phone for 10 seconds, then put it back.
• DON’T SWITCH ON THE PHONE!
• Open the slider to show the keyboard
• Hold the left shift + space + backspace and switch the phone on (while still holding down all the buttons mentioned)
• The phone will switch on, show the Nokia sign for a while, now release the buttons, it will then restart.
That’s it, you are now free from Vodacom's inability to release software, provide any sort of customer service, and most importantly, ENJOY your awesome N97!! (Oh, that’s if you don’t mind the camera lens scratch itself...
Oh, and no more “Vodafone” “Yebo gogo” crap on your phone! How cool is that!
Enjoy V12, and any new releases that Vodacom will not be releasing because they suck!
Please remember you do this at your own risk....you could “brick” your phone. (There are ways to fix that, apparently, but it’s not covered here)
Preferably do this on a Windows XP Pro (32 bit) Laptop (with a fully charged battery).
1. Ensure your phone’s battery is fully charged.
2. Ensure you have a FULL backup of your phone (contacts, pictures, audio etc) as this will be lost! Also, some applications you installed may also be lost, just reinstall them after the update.
3. Ensure you have Nokia Software Updater (NSU) installed as part of the Nokia OVI Suite. (www.nokia.co.za or OVI Disk that came with phone)
4. Connect your phone and set it to “PC Suite” mode at least once after installing OVI Suite. (This installs phone drivers and cable drivers needed.)
5. Get and install NSS (http://www.b-phreaks.co.uk/index.php?main_page=page_2) (I used version 1.0.38.15)
6. Reboot your PC after NSS installation, just for good measure.
7. Hard Reset your phone to ensure there will be no conflicting software on it… (See point 22 below, how to hard reset)
8. Once the phone is on again, connect it via USB port (can use Bluetooth, USB is more stable and reliable) and put it in "PC Suite" mode.
9. Do not open OVI or PC Suite or any other Nokia software. (If any are open, close them…)
10. Open NSS software. On the far right, click "scan for new device".
11. Now click on "Phone Info" and then "Scan".
12. Click the "Read" button now.
13. To the right you should see your phone's current "Product Code", it should be 0585732 (For Vodacom SA)
14. Click the "Enable" checkbox next to the code.
15. Enter the following code in the box: 0576559 (This is the product code for MTN South Africa phones.)
16. Click "Write".
17. Click "Read" again, to confirm that the new code was written.
18. Close NSS and go to NSU.
19. Run the update from Nokia, you should see that you have V10 and that V12 is available. Do the update. (Depending on your Internet connection speed, this part downloads 145MB, so it could take a couple of minutes…)
20. It should complete and the phone should reboot and you should have V12 running with no problems.
21. If your phone keeps rebooting itself (switching on and off, on and off), Hard Reset it again…
22. How To Hard Reset:
• Remove the battery from your phone for 10 seconds, then put it back.
• DON’T SWITCH ON THE PHONE!
• Open the slider to show the keyboard
• Hold the left shift + space + backspace and switch the phone on (while still holding down all the buttons mentioned)
• The phone will switch on, show the Nokia sign for a while, now release the buttons, it will then restart.
That’s it, you are now free from Vodacom's inability to release software, provide any sort of customer service, and most importantly, ENJOY your awesome N97!! (Oh, that’s if you don’t mind the camera lens scratch itself...
Oh, and no more “Vodafone” “Yebo gogo” crap on your phone! How cool is that!
Enjoy V12, and any new releases that Vodacom will not be releasing because they suck!
