Hi there people,

Been wating up re flash my phone to the same version it is (as i believe i have the latest)

My first question is this: My phone is actually unlocked and i bought it unlocked from hong kong.. Would reflashing it make it locked?

I am running windows xp and have the usb cable for the phone.. perhaps you guys could tlel me the most stable/straight forward way to flash my phone whether it be done via cable through XP or on the phone itself?

I am very worried about screwing it up so is there a guide which would be video or documents to help with newbies like me?

I know it can be quite risky.. Is it worth me doing a complete hard factory reset which would be the EmmC and something else right?

Thanks guys.

Reflashing won't lock it.

Windows XP should work, although problems with 64 bit versions have been reported. Check the wiki on the firmware upgrades. You're probably better off downloading a Linux (Ubuntu for example) LiveCD and work from there.

More info here:
http://wiki.maemo.org/Updating_the_tablet_firmware

Whether you want only your OS to be flashed or your user space as well, is up to you.

no it wont lock your phone and using the Usb cable with Xp is the most stable way as windows 7 give error some times .

and it all depends on how good you read wiki while reflashing .

is the user space the space that i can use for files/media etc?
Is it always worth reflashing the N900 or only when there are noticable continous problems with it?
If it should be reflashed... (even though im already running the latest) and there are no major problems with it what would be a reason to do a reflash?

Thanks for your quick reply!

didn't get the first point(apology for that)
tbh i have relfashed my device about 25 times since last Dec :P
and i haven't faced any problem reflashing that many times .
If your device is running without any problem then there is no reason to reflash , as it removes all the applications and it's really annoying for me :$

I applied the phrase "user space" for anything under user/(MyDocs)

Reflashing is usefull when tweaking got out of hand, when too many unstable programs got installed, etc.

ok guys thanks so much for your quick rpelies.

Very helpful indeed.

what are signs of a phone going bad then due to too much tweaking?

Random reboots, reboot loops, sluggish behavior and unresponsiveness.

I'm on this website here: http://tablets-dev.nokia.com/nokia_N900.php
I actually got the phone from hongkong but live in Australia. The phone is unlocked. Which .bin file is relivent to me?

Thanks guys.

It's also probably important to add that my current FW Ver is: 20.2010.36-2 on here http://tablets-dev.nokia.com/nokia_N900.php i can see: RX-51_2009SE_20.2010.36-2_PR_COMBINED_MR0_ARM.bin now thats the global one as there is none for Australia but the phone is from hongkong. Does that mean i should get the middle east one? am i even getting the correct .bin file too?

Very sorry people i had no idea that link would redirect you to a page asking for your IMEI no.
Here is a shot of the page i was seeing.
Thanks.