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Today I will kick of a new series, bringing thoughts and ideas dedicated to the N97. The first part of this series will focus on the fact that a N97 cannot be restored to exact factory default conditions.
One of the first things I do when I get a new Nokia device is connect it via USB (Mass Memory) mode to my PC, and copy EVERYTHING installed on the included memory card. Why? Nokia has a habit of including extra applications on the memory card with no way of getting them back once they are gone! One good example of this was the Photo stitching application called Panoman that was included with the N82. If a user accidentally formatted their card or had upgraded to a higher capacity card without making a backup, there was no way of getting it back.
When I got my N97 it obviously didn’t include a memory card, so I did the next best thing: make a backup of the Mass Memory. The backup had about 260Mb+ worth of data. The phone memory was not accessible in Windows, making a backup impossible.
Problem with the N97 is that most of the extra’s, which mostly consists of widgets, are not stored on this Mass Memory, but in the Phone Memory. So when I did a hard reset or firmware upgrade, all of these extras were gone. One would think that reinstalling the firmware through Nokia Software Updater would restore EVERYTHING back to the way the device was when it came out of the factory, but sadly that was not the case. If the application or widget is not included in the ROM, Nokia Software Updater will not restore. Strange things is that widgets such as Amazon, Accuweather and Facebook were wiped from the device, yet applications such as Boingo and Qik cannot be uninstalled as they are included in the ROM.
Same story with the Mass Memory. Included was a game called Rock Band Tour. Formatting the Mass Memory also deletes this game with no way of restoring. If it wasn’t for my backup, this game would have also been long gone. Jay from the My Nokia Blog also had the same issue. Even a backup of the phone memory didn’t work for him.
I love the fact that Symbian-based Nokia smartphones are highly customizable, but restoring them exactly to factory defaults should be just as easy. In this case it’s impossible. If Nokia does include extras, it should include them in the ROM.
Did you reset or upgrade the firmware on your N97, only to find out that some apps or widgets were wiped from the device?
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Hi,
What I would do is:
1) Menu -> Tools -> Utilities -> Memory -> Options -> Backup Phone Memory
This will backup the Phone Memory into Mass Memory/Memory Card.
2) Then do as what you mention above. Backup/Copy Mass Memory/Memory Card to PC.
After factory reset, do the opposite to restore, i.e.
1) Copy from PC into Mass Memory/Memory Card
2) Restore Phone Memory
Voila!
I am very glad to have found someone explaining the back up problem when you have no memory card! But I think I am not understanding it properly
Especially the second comment got me confused because I cannot make a usual back up on my memory card since there is no memory card included a described by Devin.
Now my problem is, that I do not exactly understand how you did make a back up after all. I read your text over and over but I think my insecurities combined with the money I payed for the phone got the best of me
Is it it possible to explain it one more time Devin? What did you do? Copy the mass memory to your PC and when updated the firmware you copied that file over your new resetted mass memory? Or did you also copy the phone memory(because you say that’s not possible but I’m able to access it through windows, right next to the mass memory)? And won’t it give problems to my mobile if I over wright my new blanco mass memory after updating my firmware?
O and btw, what does the latest version of firmware bring to the table, do you know that?
Maybe it’s all very dumb what I am writing now but sometimes I do not fully understand the English posts, so I am a bit carefull since this phone is used as a toy, but costs nothing like a toy
Can you help me?
Jonathan89,
what I meant was copying BOTH the content of BOTH phone memory and Mass Memory. You backup this and after a firmware update and copy and put it back.
Since the N97 doesn’t come with a memory card, we didnt talk about that.
We are talking purely phone memory and mass memory (NOT the memory card)
AnonCB 6th Aug
I’m hoping this is a dumb question but you wrote:
1) Menu -> Tools -> Utilities -> Memory -> Options -> Backup Phone Memory
as a step to do. How do I find this sequence? In Windows (running Vista, Explorer?; in Nokia PC Suite?; in Nokia 97 menus? I’m probably missing the obvious but I can’t find it…
Thanks for your time.
[...] an earlier post, I talked about how a hard reset or firmware upgrade on the N97 erases many pre-installed widgets [...]
Hi,
I have N97 and it is one of the best ever seen in my life. but the problem is before few days the new update i think R.2 reach the market and i got a massge on my moble to update it. i confirm the new update and every thing was perfect except one thing. once i use the GPS map it does not show the map when the conect the sattliate but if i select the local network it is work and the map is there. I can not use the network for the map while i have the GPS using by the sattlite with free cost. How can i fix this problem to see the map with connect to the sattlite without the network.
Thanks,
Essam
camera on phne n97 has locked its may have a bug i think can anyone help thanks drewy