Success changing branded Z500 firmware! - GSM-Forum

reefer45 · 08-14-2005, 16:13

I flashed my Z500 with the latest leaked Orange firmware, i was pretty happy with the result but what frustrated me was the hardcoded links to "Orange World" on the desktop(inner LCD). So what i did was to load up the different files of the firmware in a hex editor and i looked for the strings i wanted to change. After some digging i found both the strings and the urls they were hardlinked to. I noticed that if i didn't add or remove any bytes but just changed the ones listed to other names and urls i had use of everything would work as normally but with my network which is "3 Sweden". I could now instead of having "Your Pages" at Orange have "My 3" which makes a whole lot of bigger sence. Anyway i will play around a lot more with this today and will check if it might even be possible to "import" entire files from one firmware to another to remove as much branding as possible!

darior · 08-14-2005, 17:01

Good for you that your "mixing" with f/w files goes in the direction you wish for!

I myself have not dared to tamper with the hex / bin files but I have tried the Orange f/w. Although I liked the "originality" of the extra menu on the desktop left side, I did not stand the orange colour everywhere and the fact that the "middle button", when pressed in desktop mode, does not lead you to the menu. In fact it leads you nowhere. So I quickly decided that the Orange f/w was not for me. But if it gets enough de-branded I'll might change my mind and try it out once again. Who knows?

Instead, what I did to get my Z500 as much un-branded as possible, was to follow the advices given in some threads in the italian forum "anvi.it/forum" i.e. I used the British operator O2's f/w (Z500bweg2) and replaced the "Rsrc2_low" file with the one from the Norwegian f/w Z500CVEG1 (almost completely de-branded apart from some connection profiles that you cannot erase i.e. Telenor MMS).

This mix gives me the Samsung original startup and shutdown logos (the exception to this is that the O2's logo appears for a couple of seconds when you have entered your PIN and are awaiting the phone to show the desktop.) It also gives me the O2 f/w's benefits which are for instance: no pre-defined connection profiles that cannot be erased; the left "white dotted" key, above the "green" one, does not lead you to the wap-browser but to the message menu. Something much appreciated by me. I had the Swedish Telia f/w Z500CGEE6 prior to the O2 dito and I just hated that this left quick button leads to the wap-browser (not to speak of the startup/shutdown logos, branded of course by Telia).

Lastly I just want to say that I do not take any credit to this how-to-make-the-z500-as-much-un-branded-as-possible-guide. The credit goes to the anvi forum member "Rexnet" and other un-named Italian forum members that have experimented in the un-branding-procedure and so kindly has shared their experience whith the rest of the world. Thanx guys!

Before I leave the keyboard I just want you to consider the following: If you're not absolutely sure of what you're doing, you better leave it as it is since flashing a mobile's firmware is a potential risk of damaging your phone permanently, not to speak of the warranty that probably gets completely declared null and void.

Cheers and good luck!

/Darior

Deniser · 08-14-2005, 22:05

Can you give me the link to the O2 firmware as I can not find it.

darior · 08-14-2005, 22:46

@Deniser

Please accept my apologise! I thought that I in my previous post, sort of insinuated where I'd found the O2 firmware but apparently I wasn't cristal enough so here it is the link to "paradise" ;-)
http://www.anvi.it/forum/index.php?showtopic=20637

Please don't use any f/w which is marked "obsoleto" (=ancient, old) OR "dannoso" (=harmful)!

/Darior

reefer45 · 08-14-2005, 22:57

dariour: as long as u dont mess with the boot loaders part of the firmware there is little risk in killing the phone. i do not play with the boot loader files as i consider that far to dangerous. in my playing with the hex editor i've had the phone lock up right after showing the orange animation but just put the phone in download mode again and flashed the unedited firmware there again and the phone was alive again.

stefan_f_a · 08-15-2005, 01:39

Hi there ppl =) Any chance any of you could send me a firmware flashing software for the SGH-Z500 ?
Thanks !

--EDIT--
Nevermind

mostafa-oujdi · 08-15-2005, 02:00

pls i need pin out for samsung z500 !!
thinks

Deniser · 08-15-2005, 10:51

Quote:

Originally Posted by darior

@Deniser

Please accept my apologise! I thought that I in my previous post, sort of insinuated where I'd found the O2 firmware but apparently I wasn't cristal enough so here it is the link to "paradise" ;-)
http://www.anvi.it/forum/index.php?showtopic=20637

Please don't use any f/w which is marked "obsoleto" (=ancient, old) OR "dannoso" (=harmful)!

/Darior

Hithanks but when I clicked on the link to download the file I got

This is the placeholder for domain rapidshare.se. If you see this page after uploading site content you probably have not replaced the index.html file.

What do I need to do to get the file ?

Deniser · 08-15-2005, 10:56

Quote:

Originally Posted by stefan_f_a

Hi there ppl =) Any chance any of you could send me a firmware flashing software for the SGH-Z500 ?
Thanks !

--EDIT--
Nevermind

Go to this thread for all you need

http://forum.gsmhosting.com/vbb/showthread.php?t=226147

dixiesgirl · 08-15-2005, 11:05

has any one manage to download the firmware for o2?

Deniser · 08-15-2005, 11:16

Quote:

Originally Posted by dixiesgirl

has any one manage to download the firmware for o2?

No I haven't I used the link above and when I used the link for the O2 firmware I got a funny message. The link I used is earlier in this thread

dixiesgirl · 08-15-2005, 11:17

iv tries the link above aswell and still get a funny msge

dixiesgirl · 08-15-2005, 11:24

Deniser could you put up the link you used plz

alchemyst · 08-15-2005, 11:42

Since I had the file from when the link was working, I rar'ed it up (saves a few megs

) and uploaded it:
http://rapidshare.de/files/3999317/z...2_eg3.rar.html
Get win-rar if you don't know how to extract rar files.

Deniser · 08-15-2005, 18:03

Quote:

Originally Posted by alchemyst

Since I had the file from when the link was working, I rar'ed it up (saves a few megs

) and uploaded it:
http://rapidshare.de/files/3999317/z...2_eg3.rar.html
Get win-rar if you don't know how to extract rar files.

Thanks your an angel

08-14-2005, 16:13	#1 (permalink)
reefer45 Insane Poster Join Date: Dec 2004 Age: 44 Posts: 89 Member: 95076 Status: Offline Thanks Meter: 1	Success changing branded Z500 firmware! I flashed my Z500 with the latest leaked Orange firmware, i was pretty happy with the result but what frustrated me was the hardcoded links to "Orange World" on the desktop(inner LCD). So what i did was to load up the different files of the firmware in a hex editor and i looked for the strings i wanted to change. After some digging i found both the strings and the urls they were hardlinked to. I noticed that if i didn't add or remove any bytes but just changed the ones listed to other names and urls i had use of everything would work as normally but with my network which is "3 Sweden". I could now instead of having "Your Pages" at Orange have "My 3" which makes a whole lot of bigger sence. Anyway i will play around a lot more with this today and will check if it might even be possible to "import" entire files from one firmware to another to remove as much branding as possible!

08-15-2005, 02:00	#7 (permalink)
mostafa-oujdi Freak Poster Join Date: Sep 2004 Age: 48 Posts: 234 Member: 81575 Status: Offline Thanks Meter: 12	pin out samsung z500??? pls i need pin out for samsung z500 !! thinks

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08-14-2005, 17:01	#2 (permalink)
darior Junior Member Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Sweden Posts: 15 Member: 156907 Status: Offline Thanks Meter: 0	Good for you that your "mixing" with f/w files goes in the direction you wish for! I myself have not dared to tamper with the hex / bin files but I have tried the Orange f/w. Although I liked the "originality" of the extra menu on the desktop left side, I did not stand the orange colour everywhere and the fact that the "middle button", when pressed in desktop mode, does not lead you to the menu. In fact it leads you nowhere. So I quickly decided that the Orange f/w was not for me. But if it gets enough de-branded I'll might change my mind and try it out once again. Who knows? Instead, what I did to get my Z500 as much un-branded as possible, was to follow the advices given in some threads in the italian forum "anvi.it/forum" i.e. I used the British operator O2's f/w (Z500bweg2) and replaced the "Rsrc2_low" file with the one from the Norwegian f/w Z500CVEG1 (almost completely de-branded apart from some connection profiles that you cannot erase i.e. Telenor MMS). This mix gives me the Samsung original startup and shutdown logos (the exception to this is that the O2's logo appears for a couple of seconds when you have entered your PIN and are awaiting the phone to show the desktop.) It also gives me the O2 f/w's benefits which are for instance: no pre-defined connection profiles that cannot be erased; the left "white dotted" key, above the "green" one, does not lead you to the wap-browser but to the message menu. Something much appreciated by me. I had the Swedish Telia f/w Z500CGEE6 prior to the O2 dito and I just hated that this left quick button leads to the wap-browser (not to speak of the startup/shutdown logos, branded of course by Telia). Lastly I just want to say that I do not take any credit to this how-to-make-the-z500-as-much-un-branded-as-possible-guide. The credit goes to the anvi forum member "Rexnet" and other un-named Italian forum members that have experimented in the un-branding-procedure and so kindly has shared their experience whith the rest of the world. Thanx guys! Before I leave the keyboard I just want you to consider the following: If you're not absolutely sure of what you're doing, you better leave it as it is since flashing a mobile's firmware is a potential risk of damaging your phone permanently, not to speak of the warranty that probably gets completely declared null and void. Cheers and good luck! /Darior

08-14-2005, 22:05	#3 (permalink)
Deniser Junior Member Join Date: Aug 2005 Age: 58 Posts: 27 Member: 170430 Status: Offline Thanks Meter: 0	Can you give me the link to the O2 firmware as I can not find it.

08-14-2005, 22:46	#4 (permalink)
darior Junior Member Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Sweden Posts: 15 Member: 156907 Status: Offline Thanks Meter: 0	@Deniser Please accept my apologise! I thought that I in my previous post, sort of insinuated where I'd found the O2 firmware but apparently I wasn't cristal enough so here it is the link to "paradise" ;-) http://www.anvi.it/forum/index.php?showtopic=20637 Please don't use any f/w which is marked "obsoleto" (=ancient, old) OR "dannoso" (=harmful)! /Darior

08-14-2005, 22:57	#5 (permalink)
reefer45 Insane Poster Join Date: Dec 2004 Age: 44 Posts: 89 Member: 95076 Status: Offline Thanks Meter: 1	dariour: as long as u dont mess with the boot loaders part of the firmware there is little risk in killing the phone. i do not play with the boot loader files as i consider that far to dangerous. in my playing with the hex editor i've had the phone lock up right after showing the orange animation but just put the phone in download mode again and flashed the unedited firmware there again and the phone was alive again.

08-15-2005, 01:39	#6 (permalink)
stefan_f_a Junior Member Join Date: Aug 2005 Age: 44 Posts: 29 Member: 167653 Status: Offline Thanks Meter: 0	Hi there ppl =) Any chance any of you could send me a firmware flashing software for the SGH-Z500 ? Thanks ! --EDIT-- Nevermind

08-15-2005, 11:05	#10 (permalink)
dixiesgirl Junior Member Join Date: Aug 2005 Age: 37 Posts: 14 Member: 170365 Status: Offline Thanks Meter: 0	has any one manage to download the firmware for o2?

08-15-2005, 11:17	#12 (permalink)
dixiesgirl Junior Member Join Date: Aug 2005 Age: 37 Posts: 14 Member: 170365 Status: Offline Thanks Meter: 0	iv tries the link above aswell and still get a funny msge

08-15-2005, 11:24	#13 (permalink)
dixiesgirl Junior Member Join Date: Aug 2005 Age: 37 Posts: 14 Member: 170365 Status: Offline Thanks Meter: 0	Deniser could you put up the link you used plz

08-15-2005, 11:42	#14 (permalink)
alchemyst Major Poster Join Date: Jul 2005 Age: 44 Posts: 44 Member: 161452 Status: Offline Thanks Meter: 0	Since I had the file from when the link was working, I rar'ed it up (saves a few megs ) and uploaded it: http://rapidshare.de/files/3999317/z...2_eg3.rar.html Get win-rar if you don't know how to extract rar files.