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Debranding K750i - Optus Zoo Instructions |
N.M.E.
Joined: Aug 02, 2003
Posts: 124
From: Western Australia
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Hi All.
I haven't made a post here in such a long time (a few months after getting my T610 I think) but recently I bought a K750i and remembered this place was great for information.
Anyway, I'm with Vodafone and have a distinct dislike for the Vodafone Live! stuff, especially once I read about the DRM on mp3 crap. Unfortunately for me, I bought my phone from All Phones and only had the option of a Live! or an Optus Zoo phone. As the Optus phone had no physical changes I went with it (even though it cost an extra $120AU).
Right. So now I have a phone and really the worst part is the big blue 'Optus Zoo' button on the main screen. Not tragic, but not really what I want, so it was time to start researching.
I found a LOT of helpful information about how to flash with custom firmware using the davinci stuff, but nothing specific for what I wanted. I read a lot and eventually pieced together what I needed and thought I'd share.
NOTE: This is not free as it requires you to buy a 'log account' from DaVinci Team which will cost around $16AU
First things first is to install the USB Flash drivers for the phone. The process/files for that can be found on the SE Support Site
First thing is to download the client from the DaVinci Team website: http://www.seuniverse.com/sonyericsson_files/k750flasher_13.7.zip
I used 13.7 because it said that it is made for the K750i over the standard USB cable. Unzip the client and load it up. Click the button at the top that says 'Flash files', select "K750 R1L002 EU2: EN FR DE ST ZU TR", tick the 2 download boxes and hit "Get Files".
While the files are downloading, go and grab your log account from DaVinci Team (http://www.davinciteam.com./index.php?page=logaccount) and get your login and password.
Once the files have finished downloading, hit the "Flash" button at the top and it should populate the Main and FS boxes with "K750i_R1L002_MAIN_EU_EMEA.DVT" and "K750i_R1L002_FS_EU2.DVT" respectively. Change your CDA to "CDA102337/10 - Europe2", tick the Finalization box, enter your account details at the bottom, switch your phone off, plug in the USB cable and hit the big Flash button. Follow the prompts on screen and you should be away. The process will take about 10 minutes and you'll have a nice unbranded K750i. The theory now is that you can update via the SE website and get the EU2 version of the firmware and not the Optus one. I haven't tried this as there is no need so if someone could confirm, that would be good.
If there are any questions/corrections or anything I've missed, please let me know.
EDIT: Hid the long SE URL.
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All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing - Edmund Burke
[ This Message was edited by: N.M.E. on 2005-09-06 04:49 ] |
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Redback
Joined: Sep 20, 2004
Posts: 32
From: Sydney
PM |
Hi,
I've also got the Optus Zoo icon on the right button but it's not really a big deal. What I want to know is, is it worth upgrading from R1J002 to R1L??
What are the differences? I've had the phone for a month and R1J seems fine, except for a few crashes but you'd expect that. Is there any better camera quality with R1L? |
N.M.E.
Joined: Aug 02, 2003
Posts: 124
From: Western Australia
PM |
Sorry, don't know.
I only got my phone a week ago and it already had R1L. Look around and I'm sure you'll find posts with a comparison.
All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing - Edmund Burke |
MonkeyButler
Joined: Sep 07, 2005
Posts: 4
PM |
How can you tell if the firmware's been upgraded? I got my K750 a few weeks ago (for $530 AUD!!! Although it was Vodaphone branded) and I have no idea what version it is. And does flashing/upgrading return the original software replaced by Vodaphone's crap? Seriously, what good are demos for three games and a stupid Vodaphone welcome message? |
N.M.E.
Joined: Aug 02, 2003
Posts: 124
From: Western Australia
PM |
You can get to the service menu by pressing
>*<<*<*
from the main screen.
From the menu that pops up, go Service info -> Software info and have a look what the firmware version is.
I have no idea if this debranding process will work for the Vodafone Live! phones. I don't know if the hardware itself is different. If it does work, then I pretty much paid $120AU to remove the Vodafone badge from the phone 
If you try it and it works, please let us know. You may want to look around first though..I'm sure other people have tried it.
All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing - Edmund Burke |
numb
Joined: Feb 07, 2005
Posts: > 500
PM |
debranding also works with Vodafone Live phones, they are the same hardware, only difference is in firmware.
Any operatorbranding can be removed by flashing generic firmware to the phone regardless of operator.
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max_wedge
Joined: Aug 29, 2004
Posts: > 500
From: Australia
PM, WWW
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N.M.E , what besides the OPTUS ZOO right softkey button was changed after debranding. I assume the OPTUS ZOO link in the menu - but what does it turn into - a link to SE online content, or just a link to the homepage specified in your internet settings maybe?
btw, thanks for sharing! |
P'cisT
Joined: Sep 06, 2005
Posts: 10
From: Australia
PM |
Nice write up.
Did DaVinci get rid of the shutter sound on mute as well?
I noticed you chose the CDA for the UK region. The Aussie CDA is actually 'CDA102338/59', but its no biggy.
I'm also interested whether or not the phone can still be updated via SEUS |
N.M.E.
Joined: Aug 02, 2003
Posts: 124
From: Western Australia
PM |
@numb - Thanks for confirming that.I guess I did pay extra just to not have the logo
@max - The zoo button becomes a 'menu' button...Actually pretty useless The link on the menu becomes "Internet Services" which takes you to that little SE start page (I dont think it actually makes a connection to get that far). Basically apart from that you don't have the optus startup and shutdown animations. I think that was it. I didn't look around too hard before flashing it. Oh. Also there is now only 1 link at the top of "Pictures" and menus like that.
@P'cisT - I have no shutter noise when the phone is on silent. The CDA you said wasn't in the list. I wasn't game enough to try typing one in manually so I chose the one closest to what I thought (I was going by the EU2 bit).
I haven't tried another firmware update via SEUS yet.. Will let you know when I do that.
Thanks for the replies guys
All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing - Edmund Burke |
max_wedge
Joined: Aug 29, 2004
Posts: > 500
From: Australia
PM, WWW
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Cool, thanks for that. Probably enough improvements, even though minor, that it would encourage me to debrand. 
I like the concept of having less chuff in the picutres mentu etc.... |
victorh017
Joined: Jul 24, 2005
Posts: 379
From: Caracas, Venezuela
PM |
@NME
This is a very good post, and very necessary. People NEED to know that the davinci update is not free!
The Davinci website lets you download the software, and its program actually flashes the phone but if you don't have a credit purshased beforehand the davinci flasher will leave your phone unoperative!!! BEWARE OF THIS!!!
That happened to my phone and luckily for me I already had a paypal account so I was able to buy the credit inmediately.
But I think that is very misleading and they should clearly warn you BEFORE you do anything of the risk involved.
Basically I paid 10 euros just to have the spanish T9 in my phone for it was already debranded. A RIP-OFF!!! And the worst part is that it actually deleted the English T9 (I don't use it that much for we speak spanish in Venezuela) but still I think it was an absolute scam. Then I wrote to let them know that I wanted to have the English T9 back in the phone, (it was already there) and basically they washed their hands.
 CMDJ5 > T230 > T610 > K700i > K750i > K810i > K850i > G900 RED > C905 Gold |
N.M.E.
Joined: Aug 02, 2003
Posts: 124
From: Western Australia
PM |
@max - Yeah. I find that the little things make it quite a bit nicer
@victor - That's an unfortunate story. What I would recommend is flashing your phone using a CDA that uses both English and Spanish and that way you can keep upgrading with it using SEUS with those 2 languages. Unfortunatley I don't know which CDA it is..Or even if there is one?
Anyone have any ideas?
All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing - Edmund Burke |
shiggsy
Joined: Sep 14, 2005
Posts: 3
PM |
Hello all .. this is my first post and all this phone flashing business is new to me! Just got a K750i and have succesfully de-branded from Vodafone onto R1L002, the intention being to then use SEUS to get the newest firmware.
I understand that SEUS will be checking my CDA to see if I can update, but it currently wont let me claiming that they do not support my provider (since I did the flashing). Everyone on this forum seems to be saying I should have updated the phone's CDA to CDA102338/38 (I'm in the UK), but that option is not in the list on my DaVinici program - does anyone know how I can get it there so I can have another go?
I'm much happier with the unbranded phone now anyway, so I wont be too upset if I'm stuck with it, but it'd be a shame if I'd banned myself from SEUS future updates?! |
shiggsy
Joined: Sep 14, 2005
Posts: 3
PM |
Oops.. forgot to mention that the CDA that I DID use was the one mentioned in the intructions at the start of this thread CDA102337/10 - Europe2) - so maybe this answers the question as to whether SEUS works after this update process?! |
celtic mad
Joined: Jul 17, 2004
Posts: 56
PM |
I was having trouble upgrading my firmware as I was on 02. I have used this useful guide and have successfully debranded my phone and upgraded my firmware to the latest R1N035 firmware.
Thank you once again for this very useful guide! |
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Posted: 2005-09-06 05:43
CMDJ5 > T230 > T610 > K700i > K750i > K810i > K850i > G900 RED > C905 Gold
