weird OS on N97

Puteq

Hi all, hoping someone can help me with a problem i am having with an N97 phone. a friend bought it online, got it cheap from China or somewhere (not sure of the details). anyway when they powered it on, it has some abnormal OS on it, not the normal nokia software. first thing i thought of was to upgrade the firmware, but neither the 'Nokia Software Updater' nor the 'Nokia PC Suite' recognise the phone when connected to a PC (even though the PC does recognise it as a removeable drive within windows). When attached, the windows autoplay window identifies it as 'MTK MT6225' and a quick google doesnt really tell me what this is. i am guessing its some kind of hacked software to overlay the original official nokia chinese language with some hacker software so that it would be in english, but that is just a guess. When i type *#0000# at the main screen, it comes back with the following information:

V 10.1.021
22-03-09
RM-327
Nokia N97 (12.01)

I tried the option in the 'Settings' menu to 'Restore Factory Settings' but it prompts me for a password, i tried 1234, 12345, 0000, neither of these work. would anyone know what this password might be by default? I tried resetting it to factory defaults using things like *#7780# which some sites suggested, and tried pressing the relevant buttons as per this site:

http://mynokiablog.com/2009/07/18/how-to-hard-reset-your-nokia-n97/

None of this worked, so my question is this, does anyone have any idea what this MTK software is, and can i get rid of it and revert the phone back to factory default english nokia OS?

thanks for any info anyone might have

itsmine

Sounds like it might not be a real Nokia N97, but a looky-likey?

bluemachaveli

Does it say Nokla? Its more than likely a knock off. All those cheap chinese phones are.

Obskure

Hi OP.
The quickest way to check if the phone is an original S60 mobile:
Go to the the normal home screen. Press & hold the multimedia Key (Silver diagonal key) and then wait to see if the multi-tasking menu pops up! This menu should show at least two icons Stand-by and Homescreen.
I wouldn't hold out in hope though. I've come across before. The hardware is a perfect copy but the software is just a java clone without multi-tasking abilities.
Best of luck!

Davy

Puteq wrote: »

a friend bought it online, got it cheap from China or somewhere (not sure of the details). anyway when they powered it on, it has some abnormal OS on it, not the normal nokia software. first thing i thought of was to upgrade the firmware, but neither the 'Nokia Software Updater' nor the 'Nokia PC Suite' recognise the phone when connected to a PC (even though the PC does recognise it as a removeable drive within windows). When attached, the windows autoplay window identifies it as 'MTK MT6225' and a quick google doesnt really tell me what this is. i am guessing its some kind of hacked software to overlay the original official nokia chinese language with some hacker software so that it would be in english, but that is just a guess. When i type *#0000# at the main screen, it comes back with the following information:

V 10.1.021
22-03-09
RM-327
Nokia N97 (12.01)

Two things in bold would be flags for me.
Nokia n97's are RM numbers of 505, 506 and 507 depending on region. I dont think you will have much way forward with this unfortunately.

Nonoperational

Its a fake. Sorry.

Puteq

Obskure wrote: »

Hi OP.
The quickest way to check if the phone is an original S60 mobile:
Go to the the normal home screen. Press & hold the multimedia Key (Silver diagonal key) and then wait to see if the multi-tasking menu pops up! This menu should show at least two icons Stand-by and Homescreen.
I wouldn't hold out in hope though. I've come across before. The hardware is a perfect copy but the software is just a java clone without multi-tasking abilities.
Best of luck!

Thanks for the feedback everyone. I have to say if this is a fake, it is pretty much a perfect copy from a hardware point of view (I had considered it might be a fake but had looked up pictures and youtube videos before posting). But from the sounds of things, good copy or no, it still seems to be a copy because the software on it is totally screwed up allright :-(

Thanks for the info anyway

dogbert27

Hey OP,

just found this article and it might explain your phone:

http://www.hs.fi/english/article/Nokia+most+affected+by+counterfeit+phones/1135251302792

Puteq

dogbert27 wrote: »

Hey OP,

just found this article and it might explain your phone:

http://www.hs.fi/english/article/Nokia+most+affected+by+counterfeit+phones/1135251302792

Good find dogbert that is exactly what it must be, thanks for the link. The phone itself is physically a perfect copy, but the OS on it is rubbish. I had never heard of this before, something to look out for i guess.

deep1

Puteq wrote: »

Good find dogbert that is exactly what it must be, thanks for the link. The phone itself is physically a perfect copy, but the OS on it is rubbish. I had never heard of this before, something to look out for i guess.

I hope you didn't spend lots of money on it?
just curious, if you type *#06# what does it give you?

Puteq

deep1 wrote: »

I hope you didn't spend lots of money on it?
just curious, if you type *#06# what does it give you?

Well i dunno how much was spent on the phone, I was actually just looking at it for a friend who bought it online, I'm not even sure where she got it from exactly. I don't even the phone any more, i have since returned it to her, so i dont rememeber what comes up when i try *#06#, i had tried all the codes i came across online when i was looking at it over the weekend but i dont remember exactly what that produced.