Debranding / putting original firmware on 6680

[At The Gates]

Hi,

I've just about had my limit with this phone on Orange. In addition to the phone being ridiculously slow (how the hell can it have a 220 MHz ARM9??) there's constant dropouts and total loss of signal due to Orange's inability to switch between 2G and 3G properly.

In a last ditch attempt to get some usability back (and the menu key woohoo) i need to know (if i'm allowed to ask)

1) How i can flash the phone with Nokia's original firmware. Do i have to go to a shop, and if so does anyone know any? Or can i do it myself with the firmware and any software?
2) Once it's flashed will i need to put in all the Orange details (Internet Connections, Service Centre Numbers etc). Is there any way to back these settings up in the Nokia PC Suite and use them?

Just to clarify, i only want it unbranded, NOT unlocked. I know it can't be done remotely and i wouldn't ask!

Thanks!

 

[Yas786]

I think you can flash these phones with the original firmware, might have to pop into a nokia shop or CPW if im not mistaken.

Just some info from my side, ive had my unbranded unlocked 6680 for almost a year now, use it with an 02 sim card. But like you my phone keeps locking up, crashing and is generally slower than an 90 yr old woman doing a marathon. I havent had it flashed to any new firmware upgrades, dont even know if any exist but then im too busy to go round and have a look.

Im so fed up of this phone that im replacing it with the nokia n80 whenever they come into stock. In fact ive dropped the 6680 so many times now without even a care lol. But the damn thing still keeps on going, just a shame its so damn slow and i have major signal probs even with o2, most of the time my phone is in 2g mode...hardly get 3g coverage whereas my mate gets 3g coverage easily with his phone but his isnt the 6680 though, he has an n70 which is slightly better but not by much.

 

[Siliconslave]

horrible things they are, mines off with o2 atm getting fixed cause it drops calls after 15 seconds, and its soooooo slow trying to convince myself not to buy a pay-as-you-go sony ericsson jobber and wait out the contract end!

 

[Dolph]

The biggest problem with the 6680 is the simple fact that it doesn't have enough ram. Imagine running windows XP with 128 meg of ram, and the problems it would give, and compare that to your phone... The biggest reason people claim flashing/debranding gives a speed boost is that it also clears and defragments the memory... Which you can do by formatting the handset without the hassle.

The 3g handover issue may well be firmware related though, It was supposed to have been rectified (or at least become less common) in the more recent versions, however you don't need to debrand to get the newer firmware, so any nokia service centre should be able to do that. (They won't debrand as it puts their service centre contract at risk if nokia find out). (It's worth noting that most other 3g handsets, including the N70, don't have anywhere near the problems)

If you really want to get it debranded, you can do so, but you'll need to get the various settings put back into the phone, and some features (specifically VPS indicator and Line 2) may well not work at all afterwards.

You're never going to get great performance out of the 6680 no matter what you do.