????still puzzled about firmware????

[carty]

hello please can someone out there enlighten me about a few points,i originally asked about the firmware upgrade to v20, i am currently on an 18 month contract with vodafone and my firmware is v11, what i would like to find out is......if i change my product code using NSS,then hopefully upgrade to v20 using the nokia upgrader will i...

1.still be on contract to vodafone,or does my phone become pay as you go ?
2.will vodafone be able to suss out what i have done and kill my phone ?
3.does changing the product code unlock the phone to any network ?
4.what is de-branding exactly and by using NSS is this what i will be doing ?
there are probably other questions that i forgot to mention but for now this will get me thinking!!

any replies to my predicament will be appreciated greatly,i have NSS freshly loaded onto my pc,but i am still umming and ahhing about what to do,by the way my contract with vodafone still has about 14 months left,so if my N95 becomes like i mentioned in point 1. i might as well forget it..cheers

[randomfan]

hello please can someone out there enlighten me about a few points,i originally asked about the firmware upgrade to v20, i am currently on an 18 month contract with vodafone and my firmware is v11, what i would like to find out is......if i change my product code using NSS,then hopefully upgrade to v20 using the nokia upgrader will i...

1.still be on contract to vodafone,or does my phone become pay as you go ?
2.will vodafone be able to suss out what i have done and kill my phone ?
3.does changing the product code unlock the phone to any network ?
4.what is de-branding exactly and by using NSS is this what i will be doing ?
there are probably other questions that i forgot to mention but for now this will get me thinking!!

1. yes. your contract follows your SIM card, not the handset.
2. no. it's not illegal. the only possible problem is when your phone breaks and needs repairing, as debranding will make your warranty void. but many people seem to have been able to get their debranded phones repaired without problems, so obviously they don't check very thoroughly.
3. no. your phone will still be locked to vodafone.
4. somewhere in the phone it stores a product code which distinguishes between the different handsets and different operator variations. when you use nokia software updater it'll look at your product code and only give you the latest firmware for your code. what you'll be doing with NSS is changing this code to the generic N95 one, which gets firmware updates quicker than the operator variations.

[Ian Ross]

hello please can someone out there enlighten me about a few points,i originally asked about the firmware upgrade to v20, i am currently on an 18 month contract with vodafone and my firmware is v11, what i would like to find out is......if i change my product code using NSS,then hopefully upgrade to v20 using the nokia upgrader will i...

1.still be on contract to vodafone,or does my phone become pay as you go ?
2.will vodafone be able to suss out what i have done and kill my phone ?
3.does changing the product code unlock the phone to any network ?
4.what is de-branding exactly and by using NSS is this what i will be doing ?
there are probably other questions that i forgot to mention but for now this will get me thinking!!

any replies to my predicament will be appreciated greatly,i have NSS freshly loaded onto my pc,but i am still umming and ahhing about what to do,by the way my contract with vodafone still has about 14 months left,so if my N95 becomes like i mentioned in point 1. i might as well forget it..cheers

1. Yes you will be on Vodafone contract still. You may have to get the contract settings sent to you by Vodafone from here:-

http://www.vodafonehelp.co.uk/ota.php?ModelID=223&e=0

2. Don't think Vodafone are interested so long as you are paying your contract.

3. The other reason that Vodafone aren't interested is that debranding doesn't unlock the phone (this I believe can be done through Vodafone for about £20).

4. Debranding is changing the 7 digit code in the phones memory which tells the Nokia Software Updater which firmware (sometimes called software) to load on a particular phone.
For instance, code 0536062 tells the NSU to load Euro 1 firmware, as designed by Nokia with no adulterations, with English language pack (amongst others).
Whilst code 0547869 tells the NSU to load the Vodafone firmware with it's themes, screensavers etc. that Vodafone phones come with.
These codes for the N95-1 can be found here:-

http://allaboutsymbian.com/forum/showthread.php?t=58225

The advantage of debranding is that firmware updates are available a lot sooner for generic, unbranded, phones. Sometimes, months in advance. Also, in my experience, generic firmware runs a lot better than branded firmware and can offer more features. For instance, some operators do not include VoIP (internet phone calls) in their software, for obvious reasons.
Hope this helps.

[carty]

many thanks for the replies, sh*t or bust went and did it,no problems so far now on v20 firmware:devious