Unknown Carrier Upgrade?

[timm9]

Hi,

I’m pretty inexperienced but trying to learn. I have also searched quite a bit but I’m not sure I found the answer(s) I’m looking for. I have the 6800 with a small carrier that does not have the ability to release ROM updates, etc. They are a great company and do not cripple any of the phones features. They purchase phone from larger carriers and are not sure where they got the 6800’s. The stock 6800 is running R 1.64.00, D 2.17, WM 6.0. My questions are as follows;

Is there a way to find out which carrier the ROM is based on by any settings, etc. in the phone to avoid upgrading to the wrong ROM?

Is there a way to activate the internal GPS antenna via cab file, or registry edit without upgrading the ROM to run stand alone GPS such as TomTom?

Did I read correctly that when upgrading the ROM there is a way interrupt the process to avoid carrier specific features from being loaded?

Any help you might be able to give would be greatly appreciated including any questions I should have asked!

Tim

[BigDinCA]

Originally Posted by timm9

...Did I read correctly that when upgrading the ROM there is a way interrupt the process to avoid carrier specific features from being loaded?

I can tell you that you need to backup all your data and then hard reset (both soft keys depressed while pushing the soft reset button next to the microSD slot). After this happens, you will have to align the screen and go through the Windows prompts. Once you see the Today screen you will see a window pop up saying that customizations are about to run. Before they start, soft-reset the device. Then all the carrier junk keeps from loading. Re-sync to restore your data. If you aren't syncing to a PC then try PIMBackup. Just install it on your memory card and it will save everything you ask it to. Very simple and reliable.

And who is your carrier? You'd be surprised to find that somebody who knows a lot more than me is on this site with the same carrier.

[timm9]

Thank you! I thought I had read that in the many posts I have sorted through since June when I got the 6800! My carrier is Golden State Cellular in the Sierras between Tahoe & Yosemite. I'm a little "gun shy" considering I flashed the 6800 a few weeks after getting it and ended up with a Sprint phone. Fortunately the carrier was very good to me...

[BigDinCA]

Originally Posted by timm9

Thank you! I thought I had read that in the many posts I have sorted through since June when I got the 6800! My carrier is Golden State Cellular in the Sierras between Tahoe & Yosemite. I'm a little "gun shy" considering I flashed the 6800 a few weeks after getting it and ended up with a Sprint phone. Fortunately the carrier was very good to me...

I can guarantee that they are piggybacking on a major carriers network. Do you know if it's a GSM or CDMA phone? That can narrow it down for you.

[BigDinCA]

Ok. I did a little research for you and Verizon is a small partner for GSC. They are one of Verizon's roaming partners around Yosemite. I would imagine that you would wnat to update to a Verizon ROM first. That may help. If nothing else, try your tech support again and maybe let them know that you know they partner with Verizon. Maybe they can get you to some Verizon tech support. This is gonna be a tough one, because their website has no info on updates for your phone, nor does HTC's. You could always try calling HTC as well, but I've never done that, so I don't know if that would help you. The point is, it looks like you have a CDMA version of the phone, and that's a start.

[timm9]

The 6800 is the CDMA version. GSC has "agreements" with both Verizon and Sprint which allow roaming, etc. When I first got the phone I tried to register with the HTC site and was told that I could not register and they (HTC) would not support the phone, nor allow me to download updates etc. HTC indicated that my only option for support was through my carrier which is not really possible. HTC said they don't recognize my serial number that they applied when they built the phone. Don't get me wrong, after 14 years with verizon I'm very happy with GSC and their fully functional/uncrippled phones. There is a slight chance that the 6800 came from Alltel but I have not been able to confirm that. I was hoping that there was/is a way to determine which carrier ROM the phone currently has in order to upgrade the ROM without results similar to my previous attempt. Thank you again for your responses and help!

[BigDinCA]

Originally Posted by timm9

The 6800 is the CDMA version. GSC has "agreements" with both Verizon and Sprint which allow roaming, etc. When I first got the phone I tried to register with the HTC site and was told that I could not register and they (HTC) would not support the phone, nor allow me to download updates etc. HTC indicated that my only option for support was through my carrier which is not really possible. HTC said they don't recognize my serial number that they applied when they built the phone. Don't get me wrong, after 14 years with verizon I'm very happy with GSC and their fully functional/uncrippled phones. There is a slight chance that the 6800 came from Alltel but I have not been able to confirm that. I was hoping that there was/is a way to determine which carrier ROM the phone currently has in order to upgrade the ROM without results similar to my previous attempt. Thank you again for your responses and help!

Well all I know for sure is that Verizon is a partner with GSC. Having a roaming agreement is a different thing. It makes sense that they would have agreements with Sprint too, just because it's the same type of network. Knowing that Verizon is absorbing Alltel, I can see the phone being the Alltel version too. You can try here: http://forum.ppcgeeks.com/showthread.php?t=5091
Go to post #3 and there are some links to getting to stock ROMs.

[timm9]

Thank you again! I greatly appreciate the help!

I'm going to attempt to upgrade again. Is there a way (app, procedure, etc) to back up the actual OS incase I need to downgrade?

All of my data is backed up on a regular basis but was wondering about the OS.

[BigDinCA]

There is a way, but that's a little beyond my expertise. Actually, it's in a completely different universe. But maybe PM someone who does. I can recommend ImCoKeMan, only because I noticed him saying he could help dump a ROM before and I believe he's had a 6700 before.
http://forum.ppcgeeks.com/member.php?u=3923
He talked about the same thing at the top of this thread, albeit for a different phone. Just click on his avatar and you'll see the link on the right side of the page to PM him. Good Luck!

[timm9]

Thanks again! I'll give him a shout and see if he might be able to help. I hate trying the upgrade without a way to get back to my starting point in case things turn out badly.