18 October 2006

Upgrading the E61 Firmware

I read with interest the new firmware released by Nokia for the E61. For example:
"I am waiting anxiously to get my hands on the new E61 firmware.
It is currently running 1.0610.04.04 and the new firmware version is 2.618.06.05. As soon as I get a chance to try it, I will post more details here "
This was written in August 18th 2006 on a blog called "All things fony!" which deals with E61 mods and stuff. Quite an interesting site.

To find out what firmware you are running, type in *#0000# in the dialer and immediately the phone should report what versions they are.
1.0610.04.04
19-04-06

RM-89

Nokia E61


So interestingly, mine was still the 1.0* version which is peculiar as I just bought it. Ah well. Fortunately, unlike older Nokia handphones, we dont need 'official' nor 'trained' Nokia 'service personnels' to flash the device to the latest and greatest firmware. For my 7710, I was scammed RM80 to get it flashed at a Dr.Mobiles, and vowed never to do so again. I hoped that the upgrade would make it faster, and have better character recognition. Unfortunately it was the Asian Version, so the upgrades were good for Chinese Character recognition which made my English character recognition even worse.

Anyway, the upgrade process was fortunately relatively simple! Just go to the Nokia Software Update Site, and follow the 5 steps.
  1. Backup Phone Settings (Tools / Mem / Options / Backup)
  2. Download the Windows based Software Updater (16MB)
  3. Install the Software Updater ( I had to install twice - the first attempt rolled back)
  4. Download the latest Firmware - 47.9MB (!!)
  5. Upload the Firmware to the device. It took about 8 minutes to upload the info to the E61, and the progress bar was moving slowly but surely. The device rebooted twice, and the last one showed the NOKIA logo (much to my relief) however it looked lower onscreen than usual.
Upon the restart,
  1. Had to reset the city/time settings
  2. Restore most settings from the memory card backup
  3. Restart the device again.
  4. Type in *#0000#
2.0618.06.05
14-07-06

RM-89

Nokia E61

Updated!

I didnt see much difference, only that the colours of the top two icons (Tx power and Battery indicators) tend to not change when the background fades. Otherwise its suppose to be faster. I guess I didnt have enough time with the old version to tell the difference.

yk.