User:Wirr/N900 Allrounder

=Introduction= Since the N900 has been released many developments have been made by the community. This page is to provide a quick start guide to assist new users in getting their devices up and running using current community updates and adhering to commonly accepted best practice. Instead of laying out all available options to solve common problems this quick start guide only describes one possible option.

Disclaimer: ''This page is a work in progress and will probably never be finished. Some of the procedures might prove to be quite risky. There's no guarantee that your phone won't start to eat your cat. You do everything at your own risk.''

=Hardware=

Hardware Requirements
To perform the steps described in this guide you need at least the following:
 * A Nokia N900, obviously
 * A MicroSD card > 2GiB
 * Standalone battery charger
 * USB A-A adapter
 * (Linux box)

Hardware Accessories
Information on all recommended hardware accessories is here.

Hardware Specifications
Information on the specs can be found here

Recommended Hardware Modifications
One of the most common issues with the N900 is the surface mounted USB port. If you are not careful with it, the port can be ripped from the PCB. Due to the design of the port if this occurs, it can be very difficult to repair successfully.

Therefore it is highly recommend to reinforce your USB port by soldering the casing of the USB to the PCB. Information on this is covered in great extent on talk.maemo.org

talk.maemo.org Fixing USB Thread

Another common modification is to remove the locking pins on all your microUSB cable connectors. This can be done by filing them down carefully with a small file.

The latter is important, especially if you don't feel confident in taking your N900 apart to reinforce the port.

=Firmware=

Initial Firmware Setup
So you have your N900 The first step especially if it's used is to flash the firmware. This can be used to clean off any unstable software and make a clean start.

It's recommended to download the latest Nokia firmware images for your region. The latest versions are highlighted.

Firmware Flashing

Download flasher from the repositories

/* TODO: Use open source flasher */

Download the firmware flasher: Flasher & SDK Downloads

Download the latest official Nokia Firmware Images for your N900: Firmware Image Downloads RX-51_2009SE_10.2010.13-2.VANILLA_PR_EMMC_MR0_ARM.bin md5sum: 488809ff96a0a05479d692e9f77aeb4f RX-51_2009SE_20.2010.36-2_PR_COMBINED_MR0_ARM.bin md5sum: b9f8690318a3be61767826d15b8c1784

Flashing the device
The following flashing procedure has proven the most stable to me:

Always use a fully charged battery!

flasher-3.5 -F RX-51_2009SE_20.2010.36-2_PR_COMBINED_MR0_ARM.bin -f Don't reboot
 * Turn your device off, disconnect USB
 * (As root) flash the FIASCO firmware image:
 * When you get "No suitable USB device found" connect your N900 through USB.
 * Wait for the flashing to finish.

flasher-3.5 -F RX-51_2009SE_20.2010.36-2_PR_COMBINED_MR0_ARM.bin -f
 * Flash original eMMC image:
 * Wait for the flashing to finish.
 * Reboot the device by _reinserting_ the battery

Upon first login, enter your locale settings (Timezone, local time, etc.).

Run latest official Nokia SSU (upgrades your device firmware to V1.3.1) by launching App manager / Update from the applications menu.