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Old 03-10-2009, 02:59 PM   #21
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Caspan View Post
I never had to generate a code to use mine? What code are you talking about?

I had a unlocked phone and before I debranded I was able to do this with no issues
Check your vendor ID number. I'm guessing it is 1 or -1
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Old 03-10-2009, 03:40 PM   #22
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Yes, an "engineering" unit will have that screen opened. However, if you have the software for debranding you have the software for generating these codes. I won't be going any further on how to's for this.
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Old 03-11-2009, 02:11 PM   #23
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Raptor464 View Post
Check your vendor ID number. I'm guessing it is 1 or -1
Mine is 179 to be honest and mine is all debranded
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Old 03-11-2009, 02:11 PM   #24
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Quote:
Originally Posted by John Clark View Post
Yes, an "engineering" unit will have that screen opened. However, if you have the software for debranding you have the software for generating these codes. I won't be going any further on how to's for this.
The more I remember my friend that got me this phone might have got it from an internal testing machine for the engineering department.
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Old 03-11-2009, 03:09 PM   #25
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I had debranded my Bold in order to be able to select 2g. Process went well, a little "hairy" the first time.
I started having a problem with the phone over heating (with either battery, so it was not a battery problem). Needed to take my phone into exchange center, so I "rebranded" it, and that went well.
I am probably not going to debrand my replacement phone as I found I usually like 3g and I am able to get more than a day from the battery, which suits me fine.
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Old 03-11-2009, 06:45 PM   #26
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Caspan View Post
The more I remember my friend that got me this phone might have got it from an internal testing machine for the engineering department.
Wait....weren't you saying in previous threads on this forum that this could not be done and that you had an unlocked AT&T bold without the option to switch between 2G and 3G? Did you get a new device or something?!
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Old 03-12-2009, 03:24 PM   #27
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Quote:
Originally Posted by estabulla View Post
Wait....weren't you saying in previous threads on this forum that this could not be done and that you had an unlocked AT&T bold without the option to switch between 2G and 3G? Did you get a new device or something?!
Time proved me wrong It wasn't possible until RIM leaked the software to do it. At the time I said that the software was either very low on the chat pole or not leaked yet. Since then I have dabbled with it and set my self free of the 3G lock. I get like 4 days if I don't use it a lot and that is with BT on 100% my god what a difference battery life can make as to how you feel about a device. I had my buddy at RIM looking for another device for me until I did that. I love the Bold now and wouldn't trade it for the world. Most powerful Blackberry in the palm of my hand......
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Old 03-12-2009, 05:41 PM   #28
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Amen
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Old 03-15-2009, 12:16 AM   #29
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How do you rebrand the phone?

Last edited by qtnsoca; 03-15-2009 at 12:20 AM..
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Old 03-15-2009, 02:26 AM   #30
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Quote:
Originally Posted by qtnsoca View Post
How do you rebrand the phone?
Rebranding and debranding are the same process. In debranding, you use the generic file (RIM), in rebranding you use the file that is associated with your vendor. As noted many times, the details can't and shouldn't be discussed here
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Old 03-15-2009, 06:32 PM   #31
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sweeet i made this guide


Quote:
Originally Posted by rootkited View Post
I was looking for some bold apps on a torrent site and i found a torrent named Blackberry Bold Unbrander.
It has a readme file with the following content



Any ideas about the release ?Should I try it ?I have a vodafone branded bold (unlocked)....

Regards,
Andrei
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Old 03-15-2009, 07:51 PM   #32
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Quick question. After I debrand my Bold to get the 2G option only and it turns out I want to go back, is it possible? I won't be stuck in debranded world forever if I don't want to be right?
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Old 03-15-2009, 09:26 PM   #33
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you will just need ur OEM VSM file
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Old 03-16-2009, 09:11 AM   #34
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Quote:
Originally Posted by chris2k5 View Post
Quick question. After I debrand my Bold to get the 2G option only and it turns out I want to go back, is it possible? I won't be stuck in debranded world forever if I don't want to be right?
I just found out the hard way that my phone can't use 3G anymore. I upgraded my firmware to the 247 version and then about 4 hours later i started to get damn "radio core catfailed reset" .. errors that forced me to reset my device. I though it was the new firmware and downgraded back to Rogers version. It was still having the issue. What I did no realize is that but upgrading my firmware it reverted my phone setting back to use 3G. By doing this it was using the 3G network and my VSM did not like that at all and kept throwing this damn error. after switching back to 2G everything was fine again. But another pit fall to watch for when debranding.....

I'm starting a new thread for this... Just to see what could fix it or what might of been the possible culprit to this the VSM or the unbranding.
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Old 03-17-2009, 03:11 PM   #35
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Does anyone know about and/or have experience with replacing /only/ a VSM file once the BB has been successfully rebranded? I can't find anything about this with Google searches.

Let me try to describe the situation clearly:

I have already successfully debranded my BB through the MML process, and it now has the engineering vendor ID of 1. Everything works as advertised, including the BB engineering screen, 2G/3G switching, and the voice codec choice. I got lucky and did not brick the BB. But, of course, the free access to AT&T Wi-Fi is gone, also as advertised. AT&T does not see the debranded AT&T phone as an AT&T phone any longer, naturally.

Let's suppose that you had a VSM file that was almost identical to the VSM that is now installed on the unbranded phone, with the /only/ difference being that the new VSM had a vendor ID for AT&T (ID 102) instead of for BB engineering (ID 1). A one byte difference in the VSM for the vendor ID--that's it--the rest of the file being absolutely identical to the BB engineering VSM in every way.

Two questions:

1. Would installing that new VSM alone make the phone look to AT&T like an AT&T Vendor ID 102 phone, and therefore makeit be able to use the AT&T Wi-Fi, assuming, of course, an AT&T SIM and a valid subscription?

2. To reinstall just the new VSM, do you have to go through the entire debranding process again and then reinstall the latest OS? Or can you simply reinstall or change a VSM, using the hidden screen in the MML, without rebranding and needing to reinstall the OS, that is, skipping the initial process of clearing the BB with the MML and also the reloading of the OS later on?


I realize my question is somewhat repetitive the way I have put it, but that is because I wanted to make what I was asking crystal clear.

Thanks.
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Old 03-17-2009, 03:17 PM   #36
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1. yes

2. yes, entire process.

But simply changing the vendor byte from 1 to 102 won't work correctly. You would need a generated VSM with your preferred VID and splash screen, etc. Also changing to 102 will disable the ability to switch from EDGE to 3G.

Last edited by Raptor464; 03-17-2009 at 03:30 PM..
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Old 03-17-2009, 05:56 PM   #37
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As Raptor464 said, it is the Vendor ID which enables/disables the ability to manually switch between 2G and 3G.

And as mentioned above, there are two reasons why someone might want to debrand an AT&T phone and continue to use it on AT&T's network:
1) The option to manually switch between 2G and 3G.
2) The ability to change the Voice codec for phone calls.

1) Requires a VSM with a VendorID that allows manual 2G/3G switching to be loaded on the phone. AT&T seems to require their own VendorID (102) in order to log into AT&T hotspots so this means that manual 2G/3G switching and AT&T hotspots are not compatible.

2) Requires a VSM with the Engineering Screen code embedded. By manually editing a VSM you can get the AT&T VendorID (needed for hotspots) and the Engineering Screen code. This means that voice codec switching and AT&T hotspots are compatible.
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Old 03-17-2009, 06:38 PM   #38
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Raptor464 View Post
But simply changing the vendor byte from 1 to 102 won't work correctly. You would need a generated VSM with your preferred VID and splash screen, etc. Also changing to 102 will disable the ability to switch from EDGE to 3G.

Quote:
Originally Posted by tateu View Post
As Raptor464 said, it is the Vendor ID which enables/disables the ability to manually switch between 2G and 3G.

And as mentioned above, there are two reasons why someone might want to debrand an AT&T phone and continue to use it on AT&T's network:
1) The option to manually switch between 2G and 3G.
2) The ability to change the Voice codec for phone calls.

1) Requires a VSM with a VendorID that allows manual 2G/3G switching to be loaded on the phone. AT&T seems to require their own VendorID (102) in order to log into AT&T hotspots so this means that manual 2G/3G switching and AT&T hotspots are not compatible.

2) Requires a VSM with the Engineering Screen code embedded. By manually editing a VSM you can get the AT&T VendorID (needed for hotspots) and the Engineering Screen code. This means that voice codec switching and AT&T hotspots are compatible.
Thanks to both of you. That seems pretty clear to me.

I think I understand what you're saying, which is that the 2G/3G switching is not inherent in the phone, per se, but rather is in the network itself which, when it sees the VID of 1 will allow it and when it sees the VID of 102, will not. But the voice codec function /is/ inherent in the phone, you can only get to it if you have the Engineering Screen Code, which is in the BB VSM, and which has a VID of 1, but with a VID of 102 it would still work if you started with the engineering VSM.

Furthermore, there is more to the VID than just the single byte (e.g., 66 for VID 102) in the first line, and that what you need to get the hotspot capability and the voice codec together, while necessarily sacrificing the 2G/3G switching, is a sort of hybrid VSM built from scratch, with the engineering features of VID 1 and the wi-fi recognition features of 102.

That is just of restatement of what I understand both of you to be saying. Please correct me if I have misunderstood.

Of course, I wouldn't know how to create such a hybrid VSM, if that is what is required. I thought I was doing pretty well knowing how to hex edit the single byte in VSM with a VID of 1 and change it to make it a VID of 102. Guess you can't trick a BB that easily.
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Old 03-17-2009, 06:52 PM   #39
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Quote:
Originally Posted by kenv View Post
I think I understand what you're saying, which is that the 2G/3G switching is not inherent in the phone
I believe that it is built into the phone/OS. It's just that when the OS sees a VendorID for AT&T, it disables that option.

Quote:
Originally Posted by kenv View Post
you can only get to it if you have the Engineering Screen Code, which is in the BB VSM, and which has a VID of 1, but with a VID of 102 it would still work if you started with the engineering VSM.
Access to the engineering screens is not based on the VID. There is a separate code in the VSM that needs to be loaded to access them. Just like there is code in the VSM to load a png splash screen. If you really wanted to, you could create a custom splash screen that shows up when you boot your phone.

Quote:
Originally Posted by kenv View Post
I thought I was doing pretty well knowing how to hex edit the single byte in VSM with a VID of 1 and change it to make it a VID of 102. Guess you can't trick a BB that easily.
That is exactly what I am saying. I haven't actually tested it but I believe you should be able to use the RIM VSM, change it's VID to 102, and get hotspots and the engineering screens. Oh, except that the RIM VSM doesn't have the APN info like the AT&T VSM does, so after loading a RIM VSM and the OS you have to go into Options -> Advanced Options -> TCP/IP and manually enter the AT&T APN info. Or...you could manually create a custom VSM with the RIM engineering code, AT&T VID, AT&T APN info and splash screens, etc.

Last edited by tateu; 03-17-2009 at 06:55 PM..
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Old 03-17-2009, 07:29 PM   #40
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Quote:
Originally Posted by tateu View Post
I haven't actually tested it but I believe you should be able to use the RIM VSM, change it's VID to 102, and get hotspots and the engineering screens. Oh, except that the RIM VSM doesn't have the APN info like the AT&T VSM does, so after loading a RIM VSM and the OS you have to go into Options -> Advanced Options -> TCP/IP and manually enter the AT&T APN info. .
Very, very clear. Thanks again. I did have to manually enter the APN info--no problem.

One last question--do you know if it's possible to load a new VSM into the BB /without/ going through the preliminary processes of debranding the phone, then reloading the VSM, then reloading the OS? I've seen conflicting answers to this on various forums.

That is, if you already have a functioning unbranded phone with a good working OS loaded, can you use the usual program with the "hidden screen" for loading VSM, and just load the new VSM without going through the whole process of re-rebranding the BB? Loading the VSM itself is a one second operation when done in conjunction with rebranding, whereas the entire procedure of unbranding, loading the VSM, then loading the OS with all the re-registration of the third party apps can easily take an hour or more. Maybe with just one byte changed in the VSM that could be done??
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