removing orange homescreen

LeoWyatt · 5 Jan 2006 at 23:16

Got a n70 this afternoon and can't stand this homescreen. Is there any way of disabling it or removing it? It messes up any themes you put on it and the menu buttons do not work properly.

Also a quick question what does the button next to the rsmmc slot do?

Cheers guys

Sanchez · 6 Jan 2006 at 00:10

Hi there. I assume Orange messed up the N70 like they did the 6680. You'll need to find your nearest Nokia Service Centre and get the firmware flashed to get rid of the home screen I'm afraid.

As for the button next to the MMC slot, you tried consulting the manual? Could it be the voicetag button?

Dolph · 6 Jan 2006 at 00:38

A genuine nokia service centre won't (or shouldn't) flash you to a non-branded firmware, they'll risk loosing their lucrative service centre contract if they do.

There are some homescreen disabling apps for the Series 60 phones floating about (unapproved) that you could try, not sure if they work on the N70 though.

Sanchez · 6 Jan 2006 at 00:49

Cheeky bugger, he charged me £20 for it too

paul8811 · 6 Jan 2006 at 10:39

the mystery button just acts as a buttons for taking pictures in Landscape

LeoWyatt · 6 Jan 2006 at 16:54

Ok, tried that but it doesn't seem to make a difference to photos.

I'm just ringing round my local serivce centers to see who does them. I think i have found 1 which will but rest of them are cpws aren't clued up yet

hopefully within a week i'll be rid of the horrid screen.

EDIT: Ignore me about the button, have double checked the gallery and it works great.

LeoWyatt · 14 Jan 2006 at 18:21

Sorry to drag up an old thread, but as has been said above, visit your local NSC and get it flashed, active standby works great now and the menus seem faster, etc.

rOAdeh · 16 Jan 2006 at 14:50

I tried my local NSC in Brum (a CPW as it happens) and the bloke seemed adamant i'd lose my warranty if i flashed to the unbranded firmware. Plus they wanted to charge me £27 for the privilege!

Dolph · 16 Jan 2006 at 14:57

He's right about warranty, and the reason most places will charge you is because it can't be done under warranty.

bluetooth · 17 Jan 2006 at 17:01

CPW on Baker Street are very good and did my N70 in 20 min for FREE!!

sl33pyhead · 18 Jan 2006 at 01:45

Dolph said:
He's right about warranty, and the reason most places will charge you is because it can't be done under warranty.

Know of a couple of people who have had it done for free under warranty at Nokia service centres. Generally it seems by speaking nicely and explaining that the homescreen app has broken some standard functionality on the phone it then becomes a warranty issue. Does seem to vary from service centre to service centre though by all accounts.

Flashing with proper Nokia firmware is a much better solution than some of the killer apps around as they seem to have varying degrees of success and you never *really* get rid of the nasty homescreen app anyway.

Not quite sure how an official firmware flash at an approved Nokia service centre can void Nokia's own warranty however. :confused:

Dolph · 18 Jan 2006 at 10:02

sl33pyhead said:
Not quite sure how an official firmware flash at an approved Nokia service centre can void Nokia's own warranty however.

Well, imagine it like this. You have two graphics cards made by the same company but sold under different brand names. The cards are identical apart from the bios.

You flash one card with the bios from the other.

Is you warranty still valid?

That's basically what this situation is. Nokia service centres are not supposed to flash a branded phone to unbranded firmware, it's specifically forbidden in their service centre contract. Nokia also have specific agreements in place with the networks regarding branded handsets and so on, which could mean they have to pay compensation for breach of those agreements if their service centres are removing the branded software.

Because it's specifically forbidden, they cannot do it without invalidating the warranty, as it classes as an unauthorised software modification. It doesn't matter who is doing it, it matters whether they have permission to do it, and a service centre does not.

-Dolph

sl33pyhead · 18 Jan 2006 at 12:31

Dolph said:
Well, imagine it like this. You have two graphics cards made by the same company but sold under different brand names. The cards are identical apart from the bios.

You flash one card with the bios from the other.

Is you warranty still valid?

Yes the warranty is valid if the card was flashed by the manufacturer themselves or their direct representitive.

Besides - the phone is still a Nokia phone, sold under the Nokia brand regardless of whether is comes from Orange, Voda or anyone else. By flashing the phone you are simply removing the homescreen application and replacing the firmware with a vanilla Nokia firmware rather than than a version which Nokia has customised for Orange.
Orange may wash their hands of the handset but I fail to see how Nokia can void their own warranty on their own product running their own firmware (flashed officially via their own service centre) - especially when the first point of contact for any warranty issues would likely be the very service centre which flashed the phone in the first place.

Regardless of any agreements which may be in place the practice of flashing branded Orange phones back to vanilla Nokia firmware under warranty does and has happened and will no doubt continue to happen.

Dolph · 18 Jan 2006 at 12:42

Strange that Nokia totally disagree with you then. Given that, as the manufacturer, they can and do dicate what flashing is authorised and what isn't, irrespective of who is doing it.

The point is that a nokia service centre CANNOT officially flash a branded phone with a non-branded firmware. The can do it unofficially, but they cannot do it officially.

So your entire argument is flawed as it relies on the service centre being allowed to officially flash the handset, which they can't.

-Dolph

sl33pyhead · 18 Jan 2006 at 13:18

Dolph said:
Strange that Nokia totally disagree with you then. Given that, as the manufacturer, they can and do dicate what flashing is authorised and what isn't, irrespective of who is doing it.

The point is that a nokia service centre CANNOT officially flash a branded phone with a non-branded firmware. The can do it unofficially, but they cannot do it officially.

So your entire argument is flawed as it relies on the service centre being allowed to officially flash the handset, which they can't.

-Dolph

My point is that any firmware flash performed by a Nokia authorised service centre - especially if done for free "under warranty" is as official as it gets as far as then end user is concerned. The flash has been for all intents been both performed and authorised by Nokia and they cannot simply deny their legal obligations in the event of a hardware failure of other warranty issue.

I am not disputing that the "official" line is that an NSC should not do it, but it does happen, and I suspect that Nokia themselves are well aware that it goes on but simply turn a blind eye.

Dolph · 18 Jan 2006 at 13:42

sl33pyhead said:
My point is that any firmware flash performed by a Nokia authorised service centre - especially if done for free "under warranty" is as official as it gets as far as then end user is concerned. The flash has been for all intents been both performed and authorised by Nokia and they cannot simply deny their legal obligations in the event of a hardware failure of other warranty issue.

I am not disputing that the "official" line is that an NSC should not do it, but it does happen, and I suspect that Nokia themselves are well aware that it goes on but simply turn a blind eye.

Then the liability will fall on the NSC, rather than Nokia, to pay for the repair.

The flash has NOT been authorised by Nokia. Nokia specifically state the opposite. There is no confusion there.

If I'm forbidden from smoking in a building, and I smoke, it's not the fault of the person who forbid me from doing it.

And Nokia do certainly take it seriously, they have withdrawn NSC contracts from companies in the past. They don't have a lot of choice if they don't want legal ramifications from their contracts with the mobile networks.