- Sony Ericsson Phone Modding and Flashing
What is phone modding and why would I do it?
Phone Modding is a process where you modify your phone software or tweak it to do various things. Some of them are listed below-
- If you think your Sony Ericsson (SE)stock default phone volume is too low.
- If you think your software is messed up and dont have the time to give the phone away and pay a lot of money
- If you want to turn your normal phone into an Ipod with Loud Mega Bass settings, change the walkman interface, skins which you usually cannot do normally
- If you want cool moving flash themes or like a dice wallpaper which rolls the dice when you shake it or changes wallpaper (some phones only)
- If you want to change the appearance of the boring default menu
- If you want to change the drivers of the camera for better performance
- If you want to change the boring old font to a sexy new font
- If you want to change the layout of the standby page
- Change the battery icon / startup shutdown screens
Step 1: Identify your phone and its screen resolution
There are two types of phones normal phones
Normal phones include k530 k550 k610 k770 k790 k800 k810 and w580 w610 w660 w710 w830 w850 w880 etc.
A2 phones: C510, C702, C901, C902, C903, C905, G905, G705, K630, K660, K850, K858, T700, TM506, V640, W595, W705, W715, W760, W890, W902, W908, W910, W980, Z750, Z770, Z780
You need to find out the CID version also. You can find this on normal phones by the secret service menu. Go to your Standby (Normal) screen.
- Use the directional/joystick keys press the RIGHT key. Dont worry about what appears just keep pressing those buttons.
- Press * key
- Press left, again left
- Press * key one last time
- You will see a menu with the first option Service info. Read everything and check the software version CID (49,51,52,53 etc) and the branding – RED etc, ASIA , AMERICA etc. If you cant find those extra options no need to worry continue.
- TIP: The menu above will help you determine if everything on your phone is working well or not.
If the above method does not work: (A2 phones) Follow the procedure to install A2 Uploader in case of A2 phone or XS++ in case of other phone) you should see something like 
Here the Flash CID (here 52) and RED DB 31XX(3150) are to be noted. Please skip ahead if you dont understand and come back
2.I know my phone. Now the software
Basically the best tools or the ones ill be using here will be A2Uploader for my G502 A2 phone. alternatively you can use XS++ 3.1. The interface differs a little bit but the principle is the same
Download Links:
1. XS++ 3.1 for non A2 phones: http://www.4shared.com/file/31320268/de535436/XS_version_31.html
2. A2 Uploader for A2 phones: http://www.4shared.com/file/78355548/7d06473a/A2_Uploader_V3.html
3.FAR Manager + JD Flasher: http://www.4shared.com/file/57668515/2faa8be8/Far_Manager__JDFlasher_T6__CID.html
Choose 1. If you only wish to flash or modify your file system. Pathching can also be done. This might not be able to READ (Backup the data on the phone out to your computer)
Choose 2. If you have an A2 Phone. (You can try 3 also)
Choose 3. If you are advanced. FAR Manager is by far the best but has a crappy interface.You need to know what you are doing.
3. The Risks
- If you flash the wrong firmware files, the phone may give an error starting up but it CAN BE FIXED
- If you screw with the GDFS part of the phone. You die.Nothing can be done
- If you do not backup the files and you want them back its your responsibility.
- Flashing causes all contacts ,data,apps on the phone to be erased. So be careful
- Wrong driver files like the wrong camera drivers might give an error while starting or the wrong acoustics might cause high volume distortition , no volume from the headset etc.
- I think you lose the warranty once you mess with the file system
4. ” I AGREE” Lets start
After downloading one of the files above, Unzip everything somewhere. Install the two files in case of A2 phones.
In case you get errors or your phone is not detected see http://cshared.com/sony-ericsson-usb-flash-driver-installation/ If that fails too http://www.x-drivers.com/catalog/flash/mobile_phones/companies/sony_ericsson/models/seus/7572.html. Download and run the SEUS (Sony Ericsson Update tool). Remember it HAS to be detected.
5. Browsing the file system
Now get your USB DATA CABLE. Lets start.
- Turn off your phone. Remove the battery and put it back in
- Plug the USB end of the USB data cable into the computer
- Now here pay attention. Hold the “C” button on normal phones OR (2 or 5 key on A2) and connect the other end of the cable to the mobile. Dont Let go of ‘C’ till the driver is installed.
- You should see a “New Hardware detected ” Message. On Vista and Seven this should be installed automatically through windows update. It takes time. Else on Windows Xp if it gives the “Found new hardware” wizard. Say No Windows Update this time, Install from specified location and point it to the downloaded and unzipped version of (http://www.akshayy.com/sonyericsson/wp-content/uploads/usbimages.zip)
- After It gives an installed successfully confirmation start up A2 Uploader or XS++. Im using A2 here. Click the File System button on the right and press enter.
Before connecting
Here 1.Option in the figure above is used for Flashing new firmware files. 2. For browsing and editing the filesystem installed. 3. Is used for patching or scripts (advanced) & Identify the device 4. Is used to stop when you are finished with everything. Remember to press that before you disconnect.
You should see this after you connect
After connecting
In the above diagram: 1. Shows you the filesystem. 2.Is showing you that the flash memory driver is installed (Win 7)
3. Tells you the processes taking place and device info.
Congratulations you know how to browse the filesystem now.
6. Backing Up Files.
- Please remember to do this as you are eventually going to mess up something later.
- On the five folders – the /tpa , /sys, /boot, /ifs etc. Right click each one and select the READ option. It takes a lot of time but please do this. It will backup all the contents to your hard drive where the A2 uploader program resides so you can restore the files without having to flash the whole thing again.
- If you do mess up and you cant get out of it flashing with new firmware is the only option
7. Installing New Files
The procedure varies depending on the file you wish to transfer
For Flash wallpapers:
A) Download the right size. Check your cellphone screen resoultion in the specs and download those resolution wallpapers. For sample Ive downloaded the Blue Evolution theme (G502 ModPack) from http://i-sony-ericsson.blogspot.com/. A Mod Pack is one where everything Fonts – Layouts – Wallpapers – Acoustics are already customized for your phone into one ZIP file
B) To install Remember you should have two files for a flash menu. The .SWF (flash file) and the .THM file
On the right File System Browser Panel Navigate to tpa/Preset/System/Desktop/Flash manually. This is where all the flash swf files go. Not the .thm files. Open the other file you want to copy in my computer elsewhere. Then DRAG the file into the window. It will get copied or replaced. Then do the same for the corresponding .thm file. You have a new flash wallpaper!
Similarly for
Flash Menu:
thm > tpa/user/themes
swf > tpa/preset/system/desktop/flash
Acoustic:
ifs/settings/acoustic
Camdriver:
ifs/settings/camera
Displaydriver:
ifs/settings/display
Startup:
tpa/preset/system/settings
Softkey:
tpa/preset/custom
Fonts:
tpa/preset/system/fonts
Slang:
tpa/preset/system/language
Customization:
tpa/preset/custom
LightEffect:
tpa/system/lighteffect/systemeffect
Layout:
tpa/system/layout
Sidebar:
Dispose of an entire folder to the memory card as storage. Then, to set the sidebar, find the file on the phone. Swf, press Options> Set As> Wallpaper. I have SideBar
Frames:
tpa/preset/system/multimedia/pe/frames
Clipart:
tpa/preset/system/multimedia/pe/clipart
Funlayer:
tpa/preset/system/multimedia/pe/funlayer
Motyw:
tpa/user/themes
Menu:
tpa/preset/system/menu
jjpatcher:
tpa/user/other
Patches:
tpa/user/other/patches
There. You know how to add new files.
This is what the final result is
A few Links are here.Check them according to your phone.
==============================================================================
Iphone theme – http://rapidshare.com/files/141706256/Iphone_y_Fast_Food_Flash_2.0_By_Lagunalor.rar
Man U theme – http://rapidshare.com/files/135217807/Smiley_Funny-V2___Manchester_United_By_Lagunalor.rar
Walkman Dance – http://rapidshare.com/files/153124842/Walkman_Dance_Duo.Flash_2.0_By_Lagunalor.rar
Purple Sky – http://rapidshare.com/files/153773700/Bronzy_y_Purple_Sky.rar
Ubuntu pack/Linkin park – http://walkmans.wordpress.com/category/240×320/
Acoustics Packs – http://www.4shared.com/dir/5108371/7acde666/Acoustics.html
CamDriver – http://www.4shared.com/dir/2812893/b660e3b7/Camera.html
Any other stuff – http://www.4shared.com/dir/2730556/43f8e259/sharing.html
=============================
iDiscover 
February 13th, 2010 at 4:00 pm
GBU … Regards
February 24th, 2010 at 9:27 pm
Thankss. works great.
June 10th, 2010 at 9:23 am
my is dead not on intry any times themes are bad my phone dead…….
June 10th, 2010 at 9:24 am
w300i
June 12th, 2010 at 3:55 pm
I have k530i….
Could you please explaine that, how can i add flashed menu to
It !
June 13th, 2010 at 9:08 am
try this
that should help
November 4th, 2010 at 6:39 pm
Hey please help me:
My quesitons are:
Is the Sony ericsson elm (J10i2) a A2 phone ? (so yes, how could i know that, it’s not in the list, but when i look on the internet it could be it IS)
When i connect my phone to the A2loader it will give me an error:
unknown ChipID (F100), RETRY
phone pre-boot failed, possible RECOVERY needed.
What do i have to do, what can be the problem. It sias possible recovery needed, so that means it can be fixed? please tell me how.
Also i tried the XS++ v3.1 and it connected. But ‘n/a’ is nearly everywhere when i see it in XS++ as you see here:
19:34:55| Baseband ID: F100
19:34:55| Protocol Version: 4.1
19:34:55| Warning: IMEI name does not match GDFS name (IMEI:NULL GDFS:n/a)
19:34:55| …using GDFS name
19:34:55|
19:34:55| Profiling SEMC phone…
19:34:55| Platform: Unknown
19:34:55| OTP CID: 0
19:34:55| EROM CID: 0
19:34:55| EROM Color: n/a
19:34:55| IMEI: n/a
19:34:55| Phone ID: n/a
19:34:55| Region: n/a
19:34:55| CDA: n/a n/a
19:34:55| Firmware Version: n/a
19:34:55| EROM: n/a
19:34:55| Ready for operation!
than when i go to FSX and klick on start it will say:
Sorry, your phone is NOT SUPPORTED
Error: FSX failed
FDX Shutdown!
I just want to put a flash menu in it..
Please tell me what i have to do
thx
November 4th, 2010 at 7:35 pm
@someone with the j series.
There are a few reasons why it may not work with your phone.
1.Your phone isn’t supported.(Most probable)
2.If you have seen people online flash that particular phone, you might have a corrupted GDFS
3. Your phone uses the CID53 security thing,where you may want to try with farmanager and cid53 jdflasher.
If your phone works fine, ignore the recovery needed part. It comes when the software can’t read it.
December 12th, 2010 at 8:29 am
good one.
but the theme is not working.
it still loads the same old black classy theme….
and i can’t understand how to add the patch. pls explain it.
and where to add the application for menu(the jar files for opera, kd player,etc.)
and thanks for teaching me modding. this was my first time.
January 10th, 2011 at 10:36 pm
Very Good Site. Thnks.
January 13th, 2011 at 4:58 pm
verry nice,
whish i would have found that tutor before i started flashing my Sony Ericsson W705, now it’s screwd up. But on the beginning you wrote: “1.If you flash the wrong firmware files, the phone may give an error starting up but it CAN BE FIXED
”
Well it happend to me to use the wrong firmware cid53 instead of cid52, so I guess it all did not fit so it stopped flashing after a while with A2Uploader and since then it wont start and I’m not able to flash the write firmware
1st try:
13.01.2011 14:07:02 ChipID:E800,EMP protocol:0401
13.01.2011 14:07:02
13.01.2011 14:07:02 PHONE STATE: “RETAIL”
13.01.2011 14:07:02 FLASH CID: 0052
13.01.2011 14:07:03 OTP LOCKED:1 CID:52 PAF:1 IMEI:xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx CERT:RED
13.01.2011 14:07:05 LDR:2008-07-23 11:47 1202-0422_DB3210_EXPLORER_LOADER_APP_SDRAM_R2A065
13.01.2011 14:07:05 LDR CAPS:SYSTEM FLASH GDFS FILESYSTEM TA
13.01.2011 14:07:06 LDR:2009-04-21 18:29 1202-0421_DB3210_CS_LOADER_ACC_SDRAM_R2A081
13.01.2011 14:07:06 LDR CAPS:SYSTEM FLASH SIGNATURE AUTH
13.01.2011 14:07:06 writing “C:\Users\Andreas Glas\Desktop\W705_R1GA031_MAIN_GENERIC_RK_DB3210_CID53_RED_BROWN_BLUE.mbn”
13.01.2011 14:07:06 ALLOWED DOMAINS:BLUE BROWN RED
13.01.2011 14:07:06 MAXIMUM CID:53
13.01.2011 14:07:07 Will flash 820 blocks…
13.01.2011 14:09:35 ssw file accepted
13.01.2011 14:09:35 writing “C:\Users\Andreas Glas\Desktop\W705_R1GA031_FS_ADRIATIC_DB3210_CID53_RED_BROWN_BLUE.fbn”
13.01.2011 14:09:36 ALLOWED DOMAINS:BLUE BROWN RED
13.01.2011 14:09:36 MAXIMUM CID:53
13.01.2011 14:09:36 Will flash 1696 blocks…
13.01.2011 14:12:13 llbug: blk write fail. fatal
13.01.2011 14:12:13 [a2_fout_ssw] can’t send NET packet
13.01.2011 14:12:13 Elapsed:787 secs.
since than:
13.01.2011 14:14:27 Unknown ChipID (0), RETRY
13.01.2011 14:14:27 phone pre-boot failed,possible RECOVERY needed.
13.01.2011 14:14:27 Elapsed:19 secs.
13.01.2011 14:16:51 ChipID:E800,EMP protocol:0401
13.01.2011 14:16:51
13.01.2011 14:16:51 PHONE STATE: “RETAIL”
13.01.2011 14:16:51 FLASH CID: 0052
13.01.2011 14:16:51 ReadOTP failed
13.01.2011 14:16:51 phone pre-boot failed,possible RECOVERY needed.
13.01.2011 14:16:51 Elapsed:17 secs.
13.01.2011 14:19:44 ChipID:E800,EMP protocol:0401
13.01.2011 14:19:45 erom_readvar: error reading unit 2/1062
13.01.2011 14:19:45 error while reading security units
13.01.2011 14:19:45 SECURITY UNITS CAN’T BE READ !
13.01.2011 14:19:45 DAMAGED FIRMWARE,GDFS OR EMPTY PHONE
13.01.2011 14:19:45 CONTINUE ON YOUR OWN RISK
13.01.2011 14:19:45
13.01.2011 14:19:45 PHONE STATE: “RETAIL”
13.01.2011 14:19:45 FLASH CID: 0052
13.01.2011 14:19:45 ReadOTP failed
13.01.2011 14:19:45 phone pre-boot failed,possible RECOVERY needed.
13.01.2011 14:19:45 Elapsed:7 secs.
13.01.2011 14:43:46 ChipID:E800,EMP protocol:0401
13.01.2011 14:43:46 BOOTROM MODE DETECTED
13.01.2011 14:44:16 [] can’t get NET header
13.01.2011 14:44:16 can’t get ready_to_receive PDU
13.01.2011 14:44:16 phone pre-boot failed,possible RECOVERY needed.
13.01.2011 14:44:16 Elapsed:39 secs.
13.01.2011 14:45:24 ChipID:E800,EMP protocol:0401
13.01.2011 14:45:24
13.01.2011 14:45:24 PHONE STATE: “RETAIL”
13.01.2011 14:45:24 FLASH CID: 0052
13.01.2011 14:45:24 ReadOTP failed
13.01.2011 14:45:24 phone pre-boot failed,possible RECOVERY needed.
13.01.2011 14:45:25 Elapsed:7 secs.
13.01.2011 14:46:26 ChipID:E800,EMP protocol:0401
13.01.2011 14:46:26
13.01.2011 14:46:26 PHONE STATE: “RETAIL”
13.01.2011 14:46:26 FLASH CID: 0052
13.01.2011 14:47:26 [A2ROM_loader_on_loader] can’t get NET header
13.01.2011 14:47:26 A2ROM_loader_on_loader:bad result [00/FF]
13.01.2011 14:47:26 can’t load ACCESS CPU preloader
13.01.2011 14:47:27 phone pre-boot failed,possible RECOVERY needed.
13.01.2011 14:47:27 Elapsed:91 secs.
13.01.2011 14:51:15 ChipID:E800,EMP protocol:0401
13.01.2011 14:51:15 BOOTROM MODE DETECTED
13.01.2011 14:51:45 [A2ROM_loader_on_loader] can’t get NET header
13.01.2011 14:51:45 can’t get ready_to_receive PDU
13.01.2011 14:51:45 Can’t load ID loader !
13.01.2011 14:51:45 Elapsed:42 secs.
13.01.2011 15:22:05 ChipID:E800,EMP protocol:0401
13.01.2011 15:22:05 BOOTROM MODE DETECTED
13.01.2011 15:22:35 [] can’t get NET header
13.01.2011 15:22:35 can’t get ready_to_receive PDU
13.01.2011 15:22:35 phone pre-boot failed,possible RECOVERY needed.
13.01.2011 15:22:35 Elapsed:41 secs.
13.01.2011 15:23:29 ChipID:E800,EMP protocol:0401
13.01.2011 15:23:29 BOOTROM MODE DETECTED
13.01.2011 15:23:59 [] can’t get NET header
13.01.2011 15:23:59 can’t get ready_to_receive PDU
13.01.2011 15:23:59 phone pre-boot failed,possible RECOVERY needed.
13.01.2011 15:23:59 Elapsed:36 secs.
13.01.2011 15:27:06 ChipID:E800,EMP protocol:0401
13.01.2011 15:27:06 BOOTROM MODE DETECTED
13.01.2011 15:27:36 [] can’t get NET header
13.01.2011 15:27:36 can’t get ready_to_receive PDU
13.01.2011 15:27:36 phone pre-boot failed,possible RECOVERY needed.
13.01.2011 15:27:36 Elapsed:36 secs.
know it was my stupid mistake but is ther a way to fix it or do i need to recycl it now?
January 13th, 2011 at 5:02 pm
I think there are ways to downgrade CID TO 52 but its very hard to do so.
I think CID53 should be fine, what you need a customization pack. I dont think there is anything wrong with the phone
January 13th, 2011 at 6:17 pm
Thanks, but like you can see A2Updater first installes
W705_R1GA031_MAIN_GENERIC_RK_DB3210_CID53_RED_BROWN_BLUE.mbn and than it updates W705_R1GA031_FS_ADRIATIC_DB3210_CID53_RED_BROWN_BLUE.fbn flashing the *.fbn file stoped with an error so it did not install and could not get that fare to intall the customization pack aferwards
now it will not start flashing anymore
any idea?
Thank’s, Glasi
January 14th, 2011 at 4:01 pm
Then your phone is probably corrupted, try other files. If the flashing goes smoothly the phone is fine. If it does not, bad luck buddy! Think its corrupt!
February 5th, 2011 at 9:33 pm
I have Hazel J20i….
Could you please explain how can i add flash menu to it…tq