vB Easy Archive - Debranding a w705a

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Debranding a w705a
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Posted by: keroro27

I recently bought a w705a from rogers on contract and i want to unbrand it
I tried some of the tutorials but it didn't seem to work
im pretty new at this unbranding concept
Would anyone like to help me? Thanks

Posted by: aryajoon

Can you be more specific? It's hard to help if we don't know what the problem is!

Which tutorial did you try?
What step didn't work?
Where did you download A2Uploader from?
What messages did it give you when trying to flash?

Posted by: keroro27

it didn't recognize my phone at all
i downloaded the a2 uploader from http://wrox.wordpress.com/2008/11/01/a2uploader/
using this tutorial
http://www.se-stuff.net/help/debranding.html

Posted by: aryajoon

Your A2Uploader is a different version, I haven't tried it, but you can try a different one.

The one here works for me for sure:
http://www.se-lifestyle.com/filebas...e=A2%20uploader

But even if you had a working version, you'd have trouble with that site.

Those instructions are no good for Rogers, because I'm assuming that you want to use AMERICA region / branding.
There is no up-to-date AMERICA firmware update via SEUS as far as I know.

I'm not sure how to update using SEUS, but my method will work for sure with any firmware. Try these instructions:
http://www.howardforums.com/showpos...87&postcount=16

You can ignore the last section about languages if you don't need additional languages. Let me know if you have any trouble.

Posted by: keroro27

i have a question
i 4got the code where you can check the mms settings/ internet settings?

there was this <*<<

I heard u need to keep these certain information incase u want to rebrand ur phone.
Mind helping me? thanks

Posted by: aryajoon

Quote:

Originally Posted by keroro27

it didn't recognize my phone at all

I forgot to mention one other thing: after you download A2Uploader, you need to run ggsetup. The file should already be in the same .zip archive that you get A2 from.

This will install the phone drivers so that your computer will recognize the phone.

Posted by: aryajoon

Quote:

Originally Posted by keroro27

i have a question
i 4got the code where you can check the mms settings/ internet settings?

there was this <*<<

I heard u need to keep these certain information incase u want to rebrand ur phone.
Mind helping me? thanks

All Rogers settings are already in the Rogers forum of howardforums, have a look in the FAQ section.

The settings currently on your phone can be double-checked by going to settings -> connectivity.

The code you are thinking of is to enter service mode:
> * < < * < *

This lets you check if your phone is SIM locked or not, as well as some other tests.

There is also another code that allows you to enter SIM unlock codes:
< * * <

I don't know of any other codes for hidden menus.

Posted by: keroro27

i was also wondering... i have my5, will it affect if debrand it?

and another question... have u tried rebranding it?

Posted by: aryajoon

My5 won't be affected, neither will any services you currently use with Rogers (browsing plan, texting plan, voicemail, caller ID, etc.).

You will lose all data on your phone memory when you debrand, so just make sure any important info is backed up on memory card or SIM.

I haven't tried re-branding, why would you want to?
Maybe SEUS can re-brand it for you, but I don't want to try.

Posted by: Jonavin

Does the debranding allow you change the two button defaults ("Vision" and "urMusic" on Rogers version).

Posted by: aryajoon

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jonavin

Does the debranding allow you change the two button defaults ("Vision" and "urMusic" on Rogers version).

If you only want to get rid of those 2 buttons, there's no need to debrand.
There is a way to re-assign the buttons, but it's not simple. You need to use A2Uploader, and it's the same process whether you have de-branded or not.

If you want the two buttons to go back to default settings (without re-assigning to custom buttons), then it's MUCH easier.

If you change to default, the left button becomes "Media" (i.e. same as going to Menu -> Media) and the right button becomes "Search" (shows links to previous websites visited, bookmarks, google search bar).

There are 2 files at TPA/PRESET/CUSTOM:
LEFT_SOFTKEY_HOOK.itm
RIGHT_SOFTKEY_HOOK.itm

If you overwrite either one with a custom .itm file, you will re-assign that button to be whatever you want it to be. If you delete them, they will default to the buttons I mentioned above.

.itm file is basically a .rar archive of an .xml file.
So that means, you need to create an .xml file with proper settings, then archive it into a .rar file. Then simply rename the new .rar to .itm and upload this .itm to /TPA/PRESET/CUSTOM with A2Uploader.

Sample contents of LEFT_SOFTKEY_HOOK.xml or RIGHT_SOFTKEY_HOOK.xml:

Code:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<MenuItem version="1.0">
  <item_text>
        <TEXT default_lang="en" str="Camera" />
  </item_text>
  <item_help>
        <TEXT default_lang="en" str="Camera" />
  </item_help>
  <item_icon />
  <item_action>
    <ACTION type="Internal" str="Camera" />
  </item_action>
</MenuItem>

The hardest part is knowing what "ACTION str" to use. There is no extensive list anywhere and a lot of the time you have to guess or google some forums.

Some examples are:

Camera:
Camera

Email Inbox:
Msg_Email_Inbox

Write New Email:
Msg_Email_WriteNew

Email Menu:
Messaging_Email

Messaging Inbox:
Msg_Inbox

Write New Message:
Msg_WriteNew

File Manager:
FileManager

One last step is to delete the following files located at /TPA/PRESET/SYSTEM/CUSTMENU:
cust_menu_data.dat
cust_menu_done_unpacking.dat

These will be re-generated when you power on your phone.
Good luck!