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Currently there isn’t  an easy way to do a hard reset on the  N900. Nokia should include this in a future firmware as there is an urgent need for this feature: for performance reasons, a “clean start” and when selling your devices.

A Care Specialist for Nokia has shown how to do a hard reset for the N900, this is the only way to do this until we get an easier method. Haven’t tried this myself, but according to him it should work.

From a windows PC

You first need to download three pieces of software.

The first software you need is called "Maemo Flasher", and this is the program that needs to be installed on your PC and can be found here:

http://tablets-dev.nokia.com/maemo-dev-env-downloads.php

Download the latest version of Maemo Flasher (which is currently 3.5 at time of posting this), and make sure you download the .exe file.

Install that file.

Next you need the software for the N900 itself.

That can be found here:

http://tablets-dev.nokia.com/nokia_N900.php

This page will ask you to enter your IMEI, with very clear instructions on where to find it.

Follow the on screen prompts until you reach the download section.

There are two pieces of software you need to download from there.

1. eMMC content – This is the package to erase all data held on your 32GB storage.
2. OS 2009 – This is your operating system.

There is only one eMMC package available, so download that one. Its called Vanilla.

The OS is a little more difficult to figure out which one you need.

The notes alongside the software lets you find the right package easier.

I found the best way to check is to do the following: (On the N900)

1. Menu
2. Settings
3. About Product

This will show you this image(or similar)

Note the Version number on your N900’s screen.

Download the OS package that matches the Version on your device. As shown in the image above, using the red text as an example.

For people that purchased the N900 in the UK, the OS package will probably be the same as the red text. But make sure you check.

Software downloads complete.

Place these two software packages in the following location on your PC.

c:\program files\maemo\flasher-3.5

You should now have two .bin files in the directory above.

Next steps.

Updating the N900 OS

1. Your battery needs to be 100% full to prevent any crashes which could leave your phone dead.
2. Turn your N900 off.
3. Press and hold the U key on the keypad.
4. Insert the USB cable (a USB symbol should appear on the top right of your N900 screen, and also the Nokia logo in the centre).
5. You can now let go of the U key.
6. On your PC: Navigate to the Start Menu and select Run.
7. In the Run box, type: cmd. Then OK
8. In the command window, type: cd\program files\maemo\flasher-3.5
9. Type: flasher-3.5 -F RX-51_2009SE_1.2009.42-11.203.2_PR_F5_203_ARM.bin -f -R
   (the file name above may be different to yours, you will need to replace the filename with the filename of the software you downloaded).
   This image below shows the completed update of the OS, in the command prompt on your PC. This would have now removed any Apps you may have installed on the device, and reset the homescreens to how they were when you turned it on for the first time.

Your personal data, such as Contacts, Images, SMS will still be on the device.
So if you want to remove these aswell, follow the next steps.

Resetting the Mass Memory

1. Your battery needs to be 100% full to prevent any crashes which could leave your phone dead.
2. Turn your N900 off.
3. Press and hold the U key on the keypad.
4. Insert the USB cable (a USB symbol should appear on the top right of your N900 screen, and also the Nokia logo in the centre).
5. You can now let go of the U key.
   (If you have left the command prompt open on your PC from updating the OS in the previous section, ignore steps 5,6,7)
6. On your PC: Navigate to the Start Menu and select Run.
7. In the Run box, type: cmd. Then OK
8. In the command window, type: cd\program files\maemo\flasher-3.5

9. Type: flasher-3.5 -F RX-51_2009SE_1.2009.41-1.VANILLA_PR_EMMC_MR0_ARM.bin -f -R
   This image below shows the completed reset of the eMMC (32GB HDD), in the command prompt on your PC.

This would have now removed any data you had stored there. Including Music, Photos, Contacts, SMS..

The complete reset of your N900 is now complete.