Sprint PPC 6700 - my attempt from the beginning - See *NOTE*

S

Smerfcia

New member
NOTE - I appreciate any help and to not waste so much of your guys' time please just take a look at the things I highlight in RED - those are the things I need help with, either an answer, a point in the right direction, and just as important is clarification and confirmation of info being correct. Also any suggestions on reorganizing this write up are welcome.

KEY - Red = Help, review, correct, suggest, confirmation of new info being correct/incorrect
Key - BLUE = To Do, things for me to update, pictures, clarification, more detail
KEY - Orange= Info more important that most

A little background - I'm new, still figuring out how to hook my 6700's to my computer appropriately! I'm not asking anyone to hold my hand but I will GREATLY appreciate it if people that know what they're doing can take a look at the things i'm stuck on and give a little push in the right direction. For people that don't know what they are doing - I will try to document this as well as I can from start to finish. I realize there is a lot of info for this phone already but I have yet to come across an exact how to guide like I've seen for other phones (touch pro i think was one i found that was step by step).

1 - Ordered phone from ebay private seller with 100% feedback on 90 items
had some problems but eventually got the phone - seller sent an extra 6700 for "parts" - the only thing wrong with it so far is the wifi won't turn on, it's missing the charger, stylus, and the black cap on the little joystick thing, otherwise it loaRAB into windows and recognizes sprints towers etc. pics coming.

2 - set backlight on both phones so they don't turn dark and stay that way.

side note - the phone that looks more beat up (which is barely any) seems to glitch a little when switching the screen rotation. i'm hoping this is just a software thing that will be fixed if i "flash" the phone.

3 - charge phones

4 - figure out how to connect phones to the computer.

side note - i have gotten my sanyo 8400 to work on cricket (sprint original). only talk and text work but not anything else.

side note - found out that there are a few menu's you can access from your phone - ##3434# (diagnostic mode??) ##778# (EPST menu?? - edit, view, cancel are the options) ##775# (EPST menu?? - only edit option?? - must enter MSL/SPC)

5 - Get SPC/MSL - I downloaded QSPT and BITPIM, "GetSPC," and Microsoft ActiveSync (latest version). Sync the phone and computer with ActiveSync, transfer unzipped contents from "GetSPC" (only needed dll file and the exe file with 2003 in the name) to phones root directory. Open exe file on phone, enter ESN (Hex) in top box make sure you use capitol letters, write down the new 6 digit nuraber which should be your SPC/MSL code. There are other ways to get this other than calling sprint such as looking up the SPC/MSL in the registry.

6 - check SPC/MSL - dial ##3434# and enter SPC - dial ##778# choose edit and enter SPC - dial ##775# enter SPC - if successful you should see the screen you would see if you dialed ##778# and choose view except now you can edit things on that screen.

7 - connect to QPST and change SPC to all 0's - some instructions i found said to keep adding ports until your phone is recognized - 1 and 2 were there and no phone so i added com3 and my computer restarted - not doing that anymore! found out my phone was using COM7 so i added that and was able to see my phone in QPST. once you see your phone choose start clients then start programming.

this is as far as i have gotten since i've been taking screen shots and pics along the way. well i tried to load the pics but the limit is something like 14kb/pic. does anyone have a place to host these pics or am i just going to have to resize them?
 
so far i went back in to qpst and saved my spc as all 0's. then copied the 1042 prl to the phones first sub-directory (my documents). dialed ##778# option edit, entered new spc. display tab i changed Nam Name to Cricket and MSID to my 10 digit MIN. on NAM Settings tab i changed Nam Name to Cricket, Mobile Directory Nuraber to my 10 digit cell nuraber, MIN1 set to last 7 digits of the MIN provided by Cricket, MIN2 set to first 3 digits of the MIN from Cricket, MSID filled itself in. on PRL tab i choose edit for the Update PRL File box, browsed to the 1042 prl file on the phone. hit OK in top right hand corner of screen and i was prompted to continue making the changes which i clicked continue. when it was done i exited the phone service menu which caused the phone to reset. went back into that menu and double checked that everything changed correctly and everything is how i put it.

*228 won't program but i do get to the cricket recording and have to wait to eventually be told by the recording that it couldn't program. so i'm assuming the PRL loaded correctly. if i try to dial a normal nuraber i just get an off the hook sound immediately but i can reach crickets customer service by dialing 611.

i'm gonna try to figure out why *228 isn't working.
 
u must make sure that u have ur sid set to a cricket sid or otap wont work next make sure that the phone is placed properly on your account so that u can program if not call *611 and put it on ur account
 
hey i was told that all esn changes have to be done in a cricket full service store as of the 11th of this month. maybe i missed reading that somewhere but i was under the impression that cricket was just pushing people to the stores but it wasn't mandatory.

anyway i think i've made this whole process seem more complicated than it really is.

the only nuraber i was given by cricket that i didn't find a place for was something the tech guy called the "MSCSID" and it was a 4 digit nuraber. any idea where this goes? otherwise i did pretty much everything in ryanmogul6800's PST settings.

so at this point i need to go have the esn put on my account and then i'm guessing the only thing left is to flash a cricket rom. just for clarification a rom is basically a package of software and settings that installs all together instead of having to install each one and then go change all the settings by hand. is that correct that a rom just simplifies a bunch of steps?
 
so i'm a little stuck at the moment. i've been reading a lot and have a lot of info but if someone could clarify a few things for me and pretty much tell me if the info i have is correct i would greatly appreciate it.

my 6700 works on cricket now, calls and text but i want to upgrade to WM6 and clean up the install a bit but i'd like to find a rom that already has a good set up.

the 2 roms i've seen a lot about is the stuff from helmi_c and pdaphonejunkie but i'm not sure which one to choose. i just want one thats already done so i can go through the motions of putting it on my phone and then worry about making my own rom.

which WM build should i be looking for? i've read that 6.5 is not good for the apache but 6.1 is better/more stable. i think pda's rom uses build 20755 or something but in other threaRAB i've read that the best build to go with is 21042 i think.

so far my understanding is that a rom is a ready to go package that has the windows mobile software and possibly other programs to be installed on the phone and all necessary files to have it install correctly. a kitchen is a complete set of tools used to make a custom rom which would only differ from popular roms in terms of the core windows mobile build and personal preference on which extra programs to add/remove. is this all correct? thanks for any help.
 
sounRAB like u have done some homework, very good.


the thing about roms and everything you have read.... its all opinion. You may love one rom and it not work well for what I do. If you want something that suits you perfect, I suggest building your own. There are good roms out there, but you will find things about them you don't like, guaranteed.

Yes you are right about rom and kitchen.
 
so what WM build would you suggest as a good starting place? i'm not ready to re-invent the "wheel" and make a custom rom but i think i'm ready to flash a rom thats already put together. i understand that people will have their preferences on builRAB and roms but i just want one that is a good example of professional quality work. i know it will never be exactly how i want it until i make my own custom rom but for now i would just like something that is an update/upgrade to my current WM5.1.

from what i've read wm6.5 has a bit different visual layout as compared to 6.1 but is actually better than 6.1 for the apache? or are they both pretty stable now and it's just a matter of personal preference?

anyway i'm gonna go do some more reading and try to find a rom that's a good starting point. then i'm gonna attempt to flash it to the "parts" phone i was sent with my 6700. the "parts" phone just happens to be another 6700 that seems to work perfectly but is missing the charger, stylus and black cap on the thurab stick! ebay $40 for both ftw!
 
also if you know of a cricket rom thats pretty good can you point me in the right direction? i've come across a few mentions of a cricket rom but when i search for it i haven't found a widely accepted/popular cricket rom. search terms i've used on here, ppcgeeks, ppckitchen, and google: 6700, 6700 rom, cricket rom, cricket 6700 rom, apache rom, cricket apache rom etc etc.

another thing i'd like verification on is this: according to pda's instructions, flashing his rom is as simple as putting it in bootloader (hold top power, record button and reset button), install latest version of active sync, then hook phone to computer with usb, then run the RUU file and follow instructions but he also said that some custom roms have to be ran from the computer side if it's an .exe file instead of an RUU. is this all pretty much correct? i think i might have left a step or 2 out at the end for the RUU instructions but it should be close.

is it correct to say that roms custom or other with only come in 2 "flavors," RUU and .exe? any benefits of one over the other?

edit - better yet can you guys give me some screen names of some of the guys that have made some good informative posts here or ppcgeeks/kitchen or anywhere else? helmi_c only has a couple threaRAB that he started, all relating to different WM builRAB and none of them seem to be the most recent. pdaPJ has a wm6.1 clean rom for the apache that i may try if i don't find something else.
 
ok i went over and got pdpj's 6.1 clean rom, downloaded the ver1.00 noID and the plain ver 1.00. directions were to put phone in bootloader, then plug into the computer, then run the exe file. the ver 1.00 noID didn't work and the plain ver 1.00 only has 2 files in it. so far no luck but i'll get back at it tomorrow.
 
the update is below. before i get into that does anyone have any recommendations for a fast reliable clean rom? also i think i'm going to start messing with making a custom rom so anyone who can help guide me would be appreciated. i already know i need to go spend some time on ppcgeeks, ppckitchen and possibly xda. i will make my next post regarding the custom rom stuff.


ok it's been a little bit since i've sat down and messed with my phones. so far i still have my main 6700 working for talk and text and i recently put PDAPJ's rom on my spare 6700.

initially i had a lot of issues and come to find out it was a crappy usb cable that wouldn't stay connected long enough to sync with active sync or much else.

i had to use the getspc files on my main 6700 to get the spc from my spare. basically i just ran the files again on my main 6700 but typed in the spare 6700 esn. once i had that and a better usb cable i put the phone in diag mode ##3424# and hit start. then connected it to the computer with the usb, opened qpst, hit add new port, saw that com 9 was now available (i never add com 3 because the one time i did it rebooted my computer). added com 9, waited a few seconRAB for it to recognize the phone. once it saw the phone i went into the menu start clients, service programming, forget the next exact step but its something like click ok to continue, after this choose read from phone button in bottom left of screen i believe. after it read the phone, i changed the spc to all 0's and saved to phone.

once it was set to all 0's then the problems i experienced installing PDAPJ's rom went away. i used the bootloader noID ver 1.00, ran the file directed to from his walkthrough and everything went as he stated.

unfortunately i'm not one of the people that will ever use this phone to it's fullest potential, well at least not yet and not until i realize what this phone can really do, i've always been a talk and text person occasionally using the camera function but i've never had picture messaging or used the web on my phone etc etc.

so far i've used the wifi on the spare phone, streamed di.fm from it no problem but the regular battery drains in about 20 min when i was streaming the music. i'm having issues with my main phone and using the wifi, sometimes it works and other times it's too busy trying to connect to sprint and cricket #777 so i know i have some settings that need to be looked at.
 
I'm in the process of updating the ROM as well. You may not have used the right bootloader version. Do u know which bootloader ver u have? top power button + record + stylus in reset in bottom

I'm looking at cooking my own ROM with BuildOS. Go to ppcgeeks.com and look at the tutorial.
 
so far i have 3 sites to check out listed with most useful on top, please correct me if i am wrong. actually i'll list them in the order i think i should visit them.

ppckitchen/ppcgeeks
xda/hofo

anyway i know that there are kitchens which are just collections of tools and software bits and pieces and programs that are needed to make a rom. a rom is a compilation of the stuff to be installed on the device.

i'm assuming there are many kitchens available with some of them just being updates to older version. so are kitchens like cars? some have different features than others but they all do about the same thing? is there any kitchen that is better than the rest or is it simply a matter of which tools are included in the kitchen?

are there any tools, software, files etc that stand above the rest for making a rom for the 6700?

is it safe to assume that there is only one line of windows mobile? what i mean is windows mobile is fundamentally the same regardless of the version. is there a better alternative OS for our phone? i know a lot of that is personal preference but for example a friend of mine was talking about the palm pre and was telling me that the OS is way better in terms of battery life because it handles having multiple programs open differently, essentially he was saying that it is more of an effective and efficient OS. if this is the case i am definitely interested.
 
jlaing - initially the rom didn't work for me but that was because i did not have my spc set to all 0's. this was my assumption as soon as it failed to work and was confirmed to be the problem once i fixed that. i figured i could give it a shot just to check but i already knew going into it that it probably wouldn't work until the spc change. thanks for the input and taking a look at the thread.

i know i write a lot but i am doing so to keep track of my progress and to get input. i have every intention to continue documenting and eventually i would like to go back and restructure my thread/posts to the format i started in the first post. hopefully this will turn into a thread with a nice compilation of info and experiences so that someone like myself would have the ability to complete a flash on one of these phones from start to finish with very little knowledge or experience if any.

anyway my next step will be to upgrade the rom on my main 6700 that has talk and text working and then try to get the settings etc correct for internet and mms.
 
something else that would be good to find and i will look for is some kind of emulator for our phone so that any custom rom that is made can be tested on the pc in the emulator. excuse me if i'm using the wrong terminology at the moment but this is something i just thought of. if anyone knows of something like i'm talking about please point me in the right direction.
 
Your best bet is PPCkitchen.org I've been reading over and over and over until I was comfortable with starting the process. I have d/l'd BuildOS and have "cooked" a cutom ROM. I was going to flash the ROM to my 6700 this morning but it was time for me to go to work. So I'll probably flash it at lunch or after I get off.

If your not comfortable creating your own there are plenty of pre made ROMS out there like Helmi and some others I've seen on PPCKitchen and PPCgeeks. I can't say one is better than the other. Basically, it's personal preference. What works for u may not work for me. For instance, I cooked mine with Opera Mini, u may not care for opera. Just a simple example.
 
Back
Top