Removing 'Vodafone' Software from Motorola V525

dcGT

Hi All,
I've heard it's possible, but does anyone know how to remove that god awful 'Vodafone Live' software that comes with the V525? I have the phone unlocked and I use O2. It's just a pain to see 'Vodafone splashed all over the screen. Is it some sort of 're-flashing' of the phone that is required? If anyone knows how to do it, or know who can do it, that would be great.

Cheers,

DC.

Sleipnir

yes you can do it with a firmware flash (you can also upgrade it to a v600) but you'll need a data cable, which i can't seem to find anywhere.

you can get the firmware's from http://www.motclub.com/

dcGT

Cheers for the info.....
by the way...would this do the job? ....


http://www.mobilefun.co.uk/product/3101.htm

DC.

dcGT

Also, I just downloaded the 'Unbranded V600 Full Flash' from that site (it had 4 parts) Is this the flash I need it upgrade the 525 to a 600 and get rid of the Vodafone stuff ?

Cheers,

DC.

vibe666

I'm looking for something to do the same to my g/f's v600. got it on ebay, but it's a t-mobile handset, and although it's unlkocked it has the same thing as the vodafone settings on it, and it means that i can't change the gprs settings to work with o2 because the whole thing is set up with 't-zones' (their web stuff, like vodafone live!) and it's part of the phone software.

anyway, let me know how you get on (i'll keep an eye on this thread) and i'll maybe get the cables myself and do the same.

dcGT

I also found data cables here (without the software) for £18 sterling (+ £4 delivery) for the V525

http://www.firstphoneshop.co.uk/mobile-phone-data-cables/

Does anyone know if these cables would be sufficient for flashing the phone?

Cheers,

DC.

vibe666

i used to flash a lot of nokia's when i lived in tenerife (lots of ex-pats bringing their locked phones over then finding they couldn't use them = good side line for me) and i discovered that USB cables are no good for flashing phones because the softwqare needs to be able to talk directly to the COM port it's using, which you can't do with USB (AFAIK anyway).

so you'll need either a 9 pin serial or 24 pin parallel cable, not USB.

strangely enough, i just looked at the link you posted and the item below the one you were talking about seems to fit the bill:

Motorola C300 / C330 / C331 / C332 / C333 / C350 / E380 / T270 / T280 / T280i / T720 / T720i / T722 / T722i / T725 / V60 / V60i / V66 / V66i / V70 / V120 / V200 / V200i / V300 / V400 / V500 / V525 / V600. LPT / Parallel data cable.

With suitable software this cable can perform the following operations : Remove Phone Locks. Remove Service Provider / Network Locks. ***Upgrade Phone Software.*** View Phone Information. Flash EEPROM. Repair IMEI Number data. Activate Test Mode. Test/Configure Phone Hardware. View / Reset Security Code. Testing and Tuning. + Many Other Service Features.

OUR PRICE £9.95

so I'm guessing that this is the one you'll need. now if you already have the software then once you have this you should be all set.

dcGT

Thanks for that vibe666 - I just have one question about the 'software' that is required. Is this just the Firmware flash from www.motoclub.com or do I need other software that enables me to perform the flash?

Cheers,

DC.

mad m

Originally posted by vibe666
i used to flash a lot of nokia's when i lived in tenerife (lots of ex-pats bringing their locked phones over then finding they couldn't use them = good side line for me) and i discovered that USB cables are no good for flashing phones because the softwqare needs to be able to talk directly to the COM port it's using, which you can't do with USB (AFAIK anyway).

so you'll need either a 9 pin serial or 24 pin parallel cable, not USB.

i dont know about the serial cables,i had a serial for a gx10i for unlocking the phone and it was recommended by numerous people to only get a serial cable so i did,but nothing so i got a loan of a USB data cable for the SharpGX10i and i disabled com ports in bios and just went to device manager and went to properties on data cable and advanced port settings and put USB cable which was on com15 to com1 and i unlocked GX10i and flashed a GX10 with GX10I flash also in a blink of an eye.....i have USB cables for the V525 and on some software they give u option to pick USB or Serial......but i can still disable com ports and put USB onto com1 if need be....well i suppose time will tell,at mo im downloading V600 Full flash but need the balls to do it.......take deep breath and hope for best.....hmmmmm will let u know.....

vibe666

there's a big difference between unlocking a phone and flashing it. unlocking is just changing a simple perameter of the phone's OS which can be handled very simply by simple software with only limited access to the phone's software. think of it as a windows update.

flashing is like completely re-installing windows and needs the software doing the job to have complete and direct access to the heart of the phone to completely reload the software the phone runs on. ever tried changing the engine of a car while its driving down the road?

i'm really full of euphemisms tonight, must be the power cut in my apartment block (laptop btw, before you ask:D). this is the only thing i can do until it comes back on. was watching a movie but i guess it'll have to wait.

anyway my point is, that you might well end up with a completely dead phone if I'm right. i don't pretend to know everything about the subject, but it wouldn't be a risk i'd take unless you can afford to lose that phone. don't say i didn't warn you anyway.

as for the motorola cable, the parallel cable is cheaper than the USB and is advertised as being up to the job of upgrading the software on the phone which the USB one doesn't. surely if it could do the job they'd advertise it as such being as it costs more. stands to reason.

i used to hang about a lot on the alt.cellular.nokia newsgroup and there was no end of discussion about USB versus serial/parallel cables, and there was quite a bit of frustration that nobody could come up with any software that could flash via USB, and also that 2K/XP wouldn't let the flashing software have direct access to the com ports which meant that you needed to use the serial/parallel cables and win98 to do the job.

i've been looking at getting a flashing kit again for quite a while, and they all seem to still be serial/parallel ones so i'm inclined to think that nothing has changed.

OK, i've rabbitted on for more than long enough, it's 11:45 and my eyes are hurting cos the only light is from the lcd on the laptop, so i'm calling it a night.

oh, and dcGT, I have no idea until i get my cable. don't get paid till tuesday, but i'll hopefully be ordering it then so i should be set by next weekend if you can wait till then before you make the plunge.