meaning is there anything I can do (short of physically dropping it or something like that) in the process of bringing it to factory defaults (erasing all prior owners files/folders and reinstalling 1.2) that will make the phone unfixable?

I'd just feel a little better before I start reading up on the process if I knew I could not be left with an expensive paperweight at the end of the process...thanks.

Just read this if you're using Windows and you should be all set: http://wiki.maemo.org/Updating_the_t...ndows_7_32-bit
Oh and you should probably read this as well: http://wiki.maemo.org/Updating_the_t...MC_in_the_N900

(first flash the Fiasco image, then the eMMC)

EDIT: Oh, and to answer your question, yes. But flashing shouldn't brick your phone as long as you follow the instructions.

my only computer at this moment is ubuntu...

Theres Linux instructions as well http://wiki.maemo.org/Updating_the_t...firmware#Linux

It is virtually impossible to brick the N900 other than throwing it and smashing it so your safe to do as much flashing or anything else knowing it is impossible to brick.

ok just to be very clear...I have ubuntu 64 bit...
so I follow instructions as copied and pasted below which I list as a) and b)....first

1) from the a) section below use the "force-architecture" option. which will put the latest firmware 1.2 on the device. If I am conceptually understanding this it will put the kernel and bootloader on the device on something called the NAND which is like flash, and is mounted as / or the top of the file system. If I am getting this, it will also erase all applications in the /opt partition which is really a symlink to /home/opt. it will then "reinstall" its default apps in /opt. /opt is part of a 32 GB partition which contains swap space, /home (2GB) and /home/user/MyDocs, which holds the remaining 27 GB and can only be used for data not for installing apps.

2) after completing step a) go to step b)... flash the EMMC which is really not flashing the entire eMMC since the 2 GB /home partition has already been reflashed in stage a) above. so at this point I am really flashing the /home/user/MyDocs partition which will erase any and all files or folders that were created by the former user...
make sure when doing stage b) flashing the eMMC or /home/user/MyDocs partition that the device is fully charged...

I just want to make sure I understand conceptually what I am doing before I brick....err, I mean bring this device back to its defaults...

am I getting it or is my above assessment way off?



A) Linux

Once you have downloaded the flasher and the firmware image, follow these steps:

1. If you downloaded the .deb version of the Flasher, install it with:

sudo dpkg -i <flasher-package-name>

If you are using 64-bit Linux, you'll need to force installation as follows:

sudo dpkg -i --force-architecture <flasher-package-name>

If you downloaded the .tar.gz version instead, you should untar it manually. The instructions below assume you have untarred it to the current directory.
2. Turn off your device (make sure you unplug the charger or else the device will not power down completely. You can plug the device back into power once it starts flashing).
3. On your PC, run:

sudo flasher-3.5 -F <firmware-image> -f -R

If you are using the .tar.gz package, use

sudo ./flasher-3.5 -F <firmware-image> -f -R

4. It will say:

Suitable USB device not found, waiting

* N900: Whilst holding the ‘u’ key, plug the USB back in. Wait until you get a dark screen with the NOKIA logo in the middle and a USB logo in the top right, and let go of the key.
1. If the USB logo does not appear, and the device turns off - ensure the battery is charged by connecting to the wall charger for an hour.
* N810, N800 and 770: Take your device, and hold down the Home/Swap button (looks like a little house on the N800 and 770, and two overlapping rectangles on the N810), and while holding down the Home/Swap button press the power button to turn it on.
If it doesn't boot and start flashing, make sure the USB cable is plugged in.
5. It should start flashing and then reboot. You can remove the USB cable when the flasher program exits back to the shell prompt.

from README_Flasher-3.5_beta coming with the flasher dowload tgz:

For Nokia N900 with Fremantle image flashing mode can be enabled by
1. Turn off Maemo device
2. Press and hold down key 'u'
3. Connect USB cable between Maemo device and host PC while holding down key 'u'
4. When USB cable gets connected it powers Maemo device and set's it to flashing mode
5. When USB icon appears on right upper corner Maemo device is in flashing mode
6. You can release key 'u'

You will see USB image in the upper right hand corner of the screen if you did this correctly.

Maemo device will wait for Flasher-3.5 input indefinitely when it is in
flashing mode. If flashing is tried without setting Maemo device first into
flashing mode image flashing may fail because Maemo device may not be able to
change to the flashing mode automatically.

NOTICE: Make sure that device battery is fully charged before doing any
sort of flashing operation because flashing will fail if battery
runs out of power during image flashing operation and device
may not be able to charge empty battery after failure in flashing.


B) Flashing the eMMC in the N900
Image:Ambox_notice.png
When flashing the eMMC content, always flash the FIASCO/Rootfs image and then flash the eMMC. Do not boot up the device between the two i.e do NOT use the -R parameter at the end!


Flasing the eMMC resets the MyDocs folder contents to factory settings. N900 users don't need to reflash the eMMC of their device. If you are reading this it's probably because you got a pre-production device e.g. in the Maemo Summit. If you have a sales unit and you have problems with your eMMC you should contact Nokia Care.

Also note that any backups created in your MyDocs area will need to be copied off the device to be safe across an eMMC flash as the MyDocs area and other partitions on /dev/mmcblk0 will be erased.

Note that the eMMC images available do not contain pre-loaded maps. If you reflash your eMMC you will lose them (the Maps application will work as usual but you will need to download the maps needed).

In order to flash the eMMC, follow these steps:

* Fully charge the battery (IMPORTANT!!)
* Install Flasher for your OS (Linux, Mac OS X or MS Windows)
* Grab the Vanilla eMMC image (.bin file) from the Nokia repository
* Navigate to the directory where the image file was saved (Windows users: if you don't know the full path to the image, copy it to the flasher directory)
* Execute the following command (in Linux you have to be root!), WITHOUT the -R at the end of the command, keep the device plugged in after flashing:
o Windows

flasher-3.5.exe -F RX-51_2009SE_1.2009.41-1.VANILLA_PR_EMMC_MR0_ARM.bin -f

o Linux

./flasher-3.5 -F RX-51_2009SE_1.2009.41-1.VANILLA_PR_EMMC_MR0_ARM.bin -f

o Debian based Linux (e.g Ubuntu)

flasher-3.5 -F RX-51_2009SE_1.2009.41-1.VANILLA_PR_EMMC_MR0_ARM.bin -f

* Text similar to the following will be displayed on the computer:

flasher v2.5.2 (Oct 21 2009)

Image 'mmc', size 241163 kB
Version RX-51_2009SE_1.2009.41-1.VANILLA

* The dim Nokia screen will be displayed for a few seconds followed by progression dots. Text similar to the following will be displayed on the computer:

USB device found found at bus 001, device address 006.
Found device RX-51, hardware revision 2101
NOLO version 1.4.13
Version of 'sw-release': RX-51_2009SE_1.2009.42-11.002_PR_002
Booting device into flash mode.
Suitable USB device not found, waiting.
USB device found found at bus 001, device address 007.
Raw data transfer EP found at EP2.
[writing 74 % 179200 / 241163 kB 13180 kB/s]
Image(s) flashed successfully in 26.848 s (8982 kB/s)!

* The flash will take around 1 minute.

* Flash the FIASCO/rootfs image using the above commands.

* The flash will take a few seconds, after which the device will reboot.
* The bright Nokia screen will come up on the screen with the USB icon on the top right followed by progression dots with yellow LED blinking for a few seconds.

ok sorry for above that was a mouthful I have the flasher, should I be taking the "latest maemo 5 usa release" or the "latest" maemo 5 global release"

I am in the usa...

IIRC it doesn't really matter, go for the USA release.
And after you've done these steps, it will be in factory state.

thanks so much stage one complete now the only thing I am not sure of from the instructions...going to the flash eMMC stage...

do I turn the device off? or just plug it in usb and update the eMMC with the device on?

You flash the FIASCO image first, then you should enter the flashing line for the eMMC(and execute it, obviously). Then you can plug it out.