Active Topics

 


Reply
Thread Tools
Posts: 3 | Thanked: 0 times | Joined on Jan 2014
#1
Hello everyone

I have a n900 for years now and I can say I had many good moments with it.
But about a year now, I couldn't do basic tasks with it (like opening e-mail from gmail with the default pop/imap client or connecting to facebook...)

I wanted to reflash my device for a couple of years now but as the title suggests I have no usb. I've read this is a common issue with n900's...
But since I already had an external battery charger for my two extra batteries, I didn't mind much. I have to note here that I already had a micro-usb replacement part and new screws and I was just waiting for a phone jack replacement to start soldering all these...


So after a little research I ended up with a suggestion to upgrade to the community ssu... which I did yesterday!

After the reboot though... The device was stuck in a boot loop. I have to note here that I have installed boot menu and recovery mode which I could enter at first. Nevertheless, every after half a minute the device was on, it shuted down wether I was trying to boot it normaly or entering some commands in the recovery terminal (even if just left it at the promt)

So I decided to flash my phone by soldering the micro usb I had already. When I opened the phone I found out that this was impossible (or at least for me) as you can see here

I can only solder the sides of the micro usb part and hope that the pins are touching the right ones on the board...
I ended up trying to make them touch by bending them a little and placing the cable with the part manually on the board. I had little success, the device started booting up with the dim nokia screen and a slight blink of the red led light. Which I knew was bad but...

Anyways, the flasher couldn't see the device, I've tried different cables, different batteries, different computers with different OS's (my main pc has ubuntu, I have a laptop with xp and mint) with little success.

During this time, the phone sometimes stuck in a reboot loop in which it rebooted in the nokia dimmed screen over and over again - even after replacing the battery, it would vibrate and boot in the dimmed screen as soon as I entered the battery back. But after replacing the battery a few times and (!) placing or removing the external sd card, the phone stoped booting up by itself and responded normal again.

Untill after a few tries, it won't recover again. As I removed the micro usb part I saw most of the pins where broken or laid too back, and when I tried placing them back, I ended up with one...


So I'm stuck in this loop where I can't flash, can't enter recovery console and can't place a battery in the device without it rebooting over and over again.

I read in some thread that it could be possible to read the internal emmc by soldering a usb cable... I can't seem to find more details on how to do that.

It would be nice to be able to recover my device or at least recover this month's contacts and messages (I already had a backup a month ago)


Any help is appreciated, thanks
Attached Images
    
 
Posts: 1 | Thanked: 0 times | Joined on Oct 2014
#2
Hi,

Just wondering if you managed to get anywhere with this? I've just encountered the same problem.
 
Posts: 3 | Thanked: 0 times | Joined on Jan 2014
#3
Well... I now have a samsung galaxy note 3...

The old nokia phone is in the same condition in my closet, forgotten and alone...
 
Posts: 3 | Thanked: 0 times | Joined on Jan 2014
#4
Unfortunately the situation is still the same

I ordered a replacement female micro-usb and soldered it on the mainboard but the phone is still not booting up properly.

So I got a samsung galaxy note 3 and left it in the closet...
 
Posts: 159 | Thanked: 217 times | Joined on Oct 2011
#5
The method of using the test pads under the battery is detailed in this thread (look at Wonkos post for Data+,Data-.5V and GND for temporary USB connection). I flashed my secondary phone with it, so it is valid fix. Fortunately I could resolder the charging pins for the new usb port to pcb, so I can use the port for charging as long as I short circuit the data leads coming under the battery and if I need to reflash I just use all the four wires coming from under the battery.

Be aware that this method bypasses some of the protections that the normal usb-port has.

Last edited by Kossuth; 2014-10-21 at 17:05.
 
Posts: 330 | Thanked: 556 times | Joined on Oct 2012
#6
BackupMenu is the first thing I install on my N900 now whenever I flash. Handy because you can ssh to it, in the absence of USB. Even more handy if you make a full backup right after installing it.
 
Reply

Thread Tools

 
Forum Jump


All times are GMT. The time now is 09:31.