I think the N900 is a truly great device. However, using it to its full potential feels like a battle half the time. I am a believer in FOSS, but unfortunately this has led to a world-beating device that is ham-strung as far as an average smartphone buyer/user is concerned.

I'll concede that this is a temporary situation, but currently getting this device to run at its full potential requires knowledge of linux, use of the terminal, configuring repositories, and much searching for help and information on maemo.org (which itself has its own problems...).

Particularly disappointing is the inability to automatically upgrade to the PR1.1.1 firmware in the UK - pretty disgraceful in my opinion.
[UPDATE: The firmware is now available OTA (as of 19/3/2010). For those that are being told to update via PC (which doesn't work), consult this thread for a resolution - http://talk.maemo.org/showthread.php?t=47752.]

In the spirit of this forum I'm therefore posting a simple, step-by-step guide to upgrading to PR1.1.1 in the UK. I'm assuming you're not an IT expert, you have a 32-bit Windows 7/Vista/XP PC, the N900 connected to your PC via the USB cable that came with the device, and simply can't be bothered with all the technical details surrounding the process.

1. Make sure your N900 is fully charged.

2. Use the N900's backup utility, and make a complete, full backup.

3. Download and install this on your PC - http://tablets-dev.nokia.com/maemo-d....5_2.5.2.2.exe

4. Goto this site on your PC - http://tablets-dev.nokia.com/nokia_N900.php

5. You will be asked for your IMEI number; you can find this by going to the 'Settings' application on your N900 and choosing 'About product'.

6. Enter your IMEI number and download this file to your PC - 'RX-51_2009SE_3.2010.02-8_PR_COMBINED_MR0_ARM.bin'. Move this file to the root of your hard disk, i.e. C:\.

7. Switch off your N900; unplug the USB cable if it is connected.

8. Use the slide-out keyboard on your N900; press and hold the 'U' key, keep this pressed as you plug in the USB cable, and watch the N900's screen carefully - the Nokia logo should appear in the centre of the screen, with the USB symbol to the top-right. It may be difficult to see because the back-light will not be on. Release the 'U' key.

9. Run 'Maemo Flasher 3.5' on your PC (you installed this in step 3).

10. Run this command at the prompt that appears on your PC in step 9 - 'flasher-3.5 -F c:\RX-51_2009SE_3.2010.02-8_PR_COMBINED_MR0_ARM.bin -f -R'. The flashing process will start. Do nothing and wait for it to finish.

11. When flashing is complete, your N900 will re-boot. It will ask you to confirm the regional settings & time. When it has finished booting, use the N900 backup utility and restore the backup you made in step 2.

Welcome to what the rest of the world has had for the past few weeks...

This should also work as a general guide for when you need to re-flash too.

I've not read through the big PR1.1 thread, but can this only be done on Windows? I use a Mac, though I do have a Windows XP disc from when I had my PC, which I'd be able to run in a VM.

Yes, can only be done on windows. So if you want to play safe, go to your friend's place who have XP and do it from there .

You should be able to follow a similar process with a Mac. For step 3, use this link for 32-bit x86 Mac OS X Leopard and Snow Leopard - http://tablets-dev.nokia.com/maemo-d...5.2.2_i386.dmg, or this link for 32-bit PPC Mac OS X Leopard - http://tablets-dev.nokia.com/maemo-d....5.2.2_ppc.dmg.

So, is this confirmation that it's safe to flash the "global" firmware on a UK device? I don't care about missing some UK-specific "content", just not bricking the device.

For some reason, that image is unable to mount. Is there any other links to it?

It's perfectly safe as far as I can tell - I've done it myself, I would consider myself a 'power' user, and I've found no problems at all.

If you go here - http://tablets-dev.nokia.com/maemo-d...-downloads.php, all the download links are available; try direct from there. The Flasher documentation is here - http://wiki.maemo.org/Flasher.

don't UK have OTA update?

they do and pr1.1 is on OTA, i did it, i cant understand why its worth flashing when you can OTA the update unless u are having issues