Move Sidekick 3 to AT&T?

[ÂrçHäñG3|]

For starters, that text file refers to older models (way older models)! I'm not saying it's still not possible but if you flash a Sidekic with Linux, you take away what makes a Sidekick a Sidekick. You can buy many other phones that can be flashed much easier or modified to use whatever you want it for. Sidekics weren't designed for that purpose and therefore don't have a community outside of Danger's control that develops for the platform.

Let me point out what makes the Sidekick a Sidekick beyond the hardware for those that don't seem to get it.

Sidekick branding (boot screans, etc)
The Catalog.
T-Mobile charging us ridiculous prices for ringtones.
The Danger OS and platform.
T-Mail.
Custom web browser with Java support.
Sidekick backup service
Custom versions of AIM, Yahoo, and MSN.
The over priced games.

I know there's more than I've missed but that should be enough to get the point across.

[BlackDynamite]

For starters, that text file refers to older models (way older models)! I'm not saying it's still not possible but if you flash a Sidekic with Linux, you take away what makes a Sidekick a Sidekick. You can buy many other phones that can be flashed much easier or modified to use whatever you want it for. Sidekics weren't designed for that purpose and therefore don't have a community outside of Danger's control that develops for the platform.

Let me point out what makes the Sidekick a Sidekick beyond the hardware for those that don't seem to get it.

Sidekick branding (boot screans, etc)
The Catalog.
T-Mobile charging us ridiculous prices for ringtones.
The Danger OS and platform.
T-Mail.
Custom web browser with Java support.
Sidekick backup service
Custom versions of AIM, Yahoo, and MSN.
The over priced games.

I know there's more than I've missed but that should be enough to get the point across.

LOL, I agree 100%. It's all proprietary and locked down, and installing Linux changes it to all standard and open source- the exact oposite of what it currently is.

And you're correct- there are tons of phones that are way easier to flash with custom ROMs. That's what I have been saying- the people that have the skills to do it are mostly not concerned with Sidekicks because they are already working with other phones.

And yes, I realize the instructions were written for an older model but they are the same for a Sidekick 3 (as it says on various forums that have quoted his instructions).

As far as the community supporting it though, you're not entirely correct there. I have found a few newsgroups/forums where there is somewhat of a community interested in hacking it up. But most of them are full of kiddies chanting "it's not possible" and flaming anyone who suggests otherwise.

Heck, just look at how this thread is going for a perfect example of why this hasn't been done yet. Even after I posted a link to instructions on how to do it, written by someone who is now a Danger employee, we STILL have kiddies claiming it isn't possible and asking the mods to lock the thread.

Why the heck would we want to lock this thread? Just so the kiddies can continue to pretend they know everything and flame anyone who suggests otherwise?

There is valuable information in this thread that may be of great benefit to someone someday. Heck, somoene could come in here and add even more valuable information someday. There are links to videos showing everyone how to easily unlock a Sidekick without calling T-Mobile, and a link to instructions to remove that Danger proprietary OS and install open source Linux- with a real web browser, running real software that you don't have to buy from Danger, and most importantly- no Danger server requirements.

If the kiddies can't find any value in that information then maybe it is them that should stay away from threads like this. but to suggest it needs to be locked, just because there is information that they want to keep secret- well that is ridiculous.

[Heavy Fluid]

@ how many time you mention kiddies in this thread. I am officially done with this thread.

[BlackDynamite]

@ how many time you mention kiddies in this thread. I am officially done with this thread.

Well what am I supposed to think? We're talking about a device that is mostly targeted towards kids, and far more kids own them than adults. And the "I know everything" attitude I am getting by most of the posters only leads me to believe they are going through adolescence themselves.

It just takes the cake when several people ask for a thread to be locked with the sole reason being it is proving them wrong. LOL.

[Heavy Fluid]

Absolutely nothing has been proven. You found information that says that it "could" be done, not that it has been done, right? Anything could be done, like winning the lottery. Have you done that too?

I know I said that I was done, but I just can't let this one go. I want to see Mr Dawg (who keeps calling us kiddies) actually flash the phone, and get data and mms working on a provider other than T-Mobile.

[BlackDynamite]

Absolutely nothing has been proven. You found information that says that it "could" be done, not that it has been done, right? Anything could be done, like winning the lottery. Have you done that too?

I know I said that I was done, but I just can't let this one go. I want to see Mr Dawg (who keeps calling us kiddies) actually flash the phone, and get data and mms working on a provider other than T-Mobile.

I did not find something that says it "could" be done. I found step by step instructions on exactly how someone else did it. If you read it, it says part of it is from memory (as in- how he did it when he did it in the past).

And I just love the "if you don't personally do it then it isn't possible" mentality. The truth is, I probably won't do it. Why? Because, as I have said a million times already, I don't have the time. If you equate my time to money (based on the rate I get paid for working 8 hours at my job) then it is much, MUCH cheaper for me to spend the $50-$70 that AT&T is currently asking for 3G PDA/smartphones with full qwerty keyboards. And those phones have much better/more features than the Sidekick anyway (3G, MMS, better PIM, etc).

Again, these aren't my phones that I have with me 24/7. We're talking about my teenage kids' phones. So I would have to a- find the time, and b- take my kids' phones from them while I tinker. For that to happen, it has to be quick, precise, painless, etc. No experimenting for several hours (and if you read that link, it says it takes several hours even when done correctly).

I was mainly hoping that 1- somebody had found an easier/faster way, and 2- I could put this info out there so the next time someone is trying to get a Sidekick working on AT&T they will know it IS possible. And if they have the time, they can tinker with it and perhaps even find a faster/better way.

[iWonder]

Just buy them blackberries and get over it. If you a- don't have enough time and b- don't want to deal with phoneless teenagers (and who does?) then save the hassle, drawer the sidekicks and buy them blackberries. Sure there is the hassle of transferring their address books but at least you won't have to deal with our responses you refuse to accept.

And a Sidekick with out the Sidekick Data Plan isn't a sidekick. It's a brick with tons of buttons that make texting easier.

You said it yourself, you have no time, and no patience for data unlocking, which is impossible if you stick with the Danger OS because the web browser is designed for the backend. Sure you can attempt to flash linux. What happens if you mess up? Bricks. What happens if you actually get it working? No support.

Blackberry, iPhone, that pantech phone with winmo. You have options.

[BlackDynamite]

Just buy them blackberries and get over it. If you a- don't have enough time and b- don't want to deal with phoneless teenagers (and who does?) then save the hassle, drawer the sidekicks and buy them blackberries. Sure there is the hassle of transferring their address books but at least you won't have to deal with our responses you refuse to accept.

And a Sidekick with out the Sidekick Data Plan isn't a sidekick. It's a brick with tons of buttons that make texting easier.

You said it yourself, you have no time, and no patience for data unlocking, which is impossible if you stick with the Danger OS because the web browser is designed for the backend. Sure you can attempt to flash linux. What happens if you mess up? Bricks. What happens if you actually get it working? No support.

Blackberry, iPhone, that pantech phone with winmo. You have options.

Yes, that's probably exactly what I'm going to do. The only reason I haven't yet is because I'm holding out hope that AT&T will have the Touch Pro/Fuze soon. If they release that, then I'll buy a couple for me and the wife and the kids will get our Tilts. But if the Touch Pro isn't released by the time our 30 days is up then I'll go get them a couple Pantech Duos or Tilts or something...

[Heavy Fluid]

So why did this thread get started exactly?

[BlackDynamite]

So why did this thread get started exactly?

Because I wanted to know if someone knew of a way to unlock them and possibly get data working.

This isn't the only place I asked though and some of the other places were more helpful.

This place mostly said, "it's not possible, and don't question it because I know everything and I'm telling you it isn't possible" while some of the other places said "it's probably not worth the effort, but here is what you need to do."

After getting all the facts and determining that the 10+ hours it takes to flash Linux is probably not worth it, I decided I will probably not even bother with it. But it's still good to put that info out there so maybe someday when a college student who is between semesters and has more time than money reads it, maybe he can tinker with it and find a better way.

Unfortunately I am not in that situation. I work a lot of hours, and what little time I have left I am usually trying to spend quality time with the family before the kids are all grown up.

But to answer your question, this thread was started for the reasons it says in the first post. I had 2 Sidekicks that I needed to get working on AT&T. Unfortunately, this thread was basically no help to me in getting that done. Not one post in this thread told me how to unlock them. Several posts told me I would have to ask T-Mobile and T-Mobile would tell me no. Other posts said it would be expensive and I would need a 3rd party vendor to do it. Good thing I asked in some other places too so I was able to come back to this thread and post the links to videos that show you how to do it yourself without calling anyone- in 2 minutes, and the link to the Linux flashing instructions. But yeah, I'm the one who didn't do any research, right?

[iWonder]

You repeat a lot of the same things.

This thread was tons of help and answered your questions. You were to stubborn to accept them.

And if you truly did you research, you would know that data wouldn't work. If you truly did your research you would know that t-mobile doesn't unlock sidekicks anymore. If you truly did your research you would have known to just abandon data on ATT and just buy damn blackberries.

You just were hoping. You got answers. You denied them.

You're fault. Not ours.

[BlackDynamite]

You repeat a lot of the same things.

This thread was tons of help and answered your questions. You were to stubborn to accept them.

And if you truly did you research, you would know that data wouldn't work. If you truly did your research you would know that t-mobile doesn't unlock sidekicks anymore. If you truly did your research you would have known to just abandon data on ATT and just buy damn blackberries.

You just were hoping. You got answers. You denied them.

You're fault. Not ours.

Wow, I don't know if you are just trying to be a jerk or if you really don't have any reading comprehension ability. Just in case you really can't comprehend anything you read, I'll repeat it again:
1: You don't need T-Mobile to unlock a Sidekick. It takes about 2 minutes to do yourself and you don't have to call anyone. I posted links to 2 seperate videos that show it being done. I followed the same technique and it worked like a charm. and no, I didn;t get that info from this thread. On the contrary, I am the one who posted it in this thread when people like you were saying I would have to pay a lot of money to a 3rd party because T-Mobile doesn't do it anymore.
2: Data CAN work on another carrier. I posted a link to instructions for flashing Linux on a Sidekick. If you flash Linux on your Sidekick, data WILL work. The process takes over 10 hours though when done correctly, so it's not something you can just do on your lunch break.
3: This thread was not much help at all, and people like yourself continue to try to make the thread even less help. You keep saying all this crap about not accepting your answer, when I have already proven your answers to be false. If I hadn't posted links that show you how to do it, there is a good chance someone just reading this thread in a few months would probably think it was not possible. Good thing the links are there for anyone who makes it past all the BS and continues to read the thread.
4: You probably need to do your own research if you're going to chime in and act like an expert. Especially when you keep telling anyone who disagrees with you to do their research. The fact is you are WRONG about Sidekicks being unlocked (needing T-Mobile/3rd party/anyone else) and WRONG about data working on other carriers. I posted the instructions in this thread and yet you still insist it isn't possible. Give me a freaking break. If you know everything, and you say it isn't possible, then go ahead and explain why it isn't possible. Because as it stands right now, there is a lengthy set of instructions that I posted in this thread- written by someone who works for Danger, on exactly how he DID get Linux working on his Sidekick. And there are plenty of newsgroups/forums out there where others have followed those steps and have Linux working on their Sidekicks right now (that's how I found those instructions). And yes, data DOES work when you do it.

[AdmiralAK]

I vote to abstain from this thread - 43 posts and we've covered everything that needs to be covered.

[trjons]

Sorry to crap on such a productive and meaningful thread but WTF would you WANT to do this when the Sidekick 3 is such a crappy phone to begin with?

[BrokenSidekick3]

Well what am I supposed to think? We're talking about a device that is mostly targeted towards kids, and far more kids own them than adults.

Deaf people people have them too... beause the can text and its compatible with their hearing aids (the radio waves)