HOWTO: Importing SMS messages from Nokia phones to N900
 

Hello guys,

I wrote a simple command line tool for importing SMS messages in csv format to N900. Using that tool I was able to import ~500 received and ~100 sent SMS messages from my old E66.

Here are few step how I did that:

1. I exported all messages to csv files using "Nokia Communication Centre" from Nokia PC Suite
2. merged together exported received and sent messages to one file. eg. sms.csv
3. copied sms.csv to device to home directory together with smsimporter binary
4. and then entered these commands from terminal:

chmod +x smsimporter

run-standalone.sh ./smsimporter sms.csv

5. done, now you should have your old SMS messages imported.

Code of that tool is little bit ugly, because I didn't wanted to spend all work day writing it. So, if someone want to improve it, write simple GUI for it, you are welcome.

PLEASE MAKE BACKUP OF YOUR MESSAGES IN THE DEVICE USING BACKUP APPLICATION BEFORE IMPORTING/EXPORTING YOUR OLD SMS MESSAGES!!!

EDIT:
- Added updated version of smsimporter. This version should automatically detect delimiter.
- Added smsexporter tool.

Re: HOWTO: Importing SMS messages from Nokia phones to N900
 

thanks for the effort, i'm a noob, so I have a question, how did you do the 3rd step? do i have to download the attached files to somewhere ? I want to copy my sms messages from N82 to N900... plz help.

Re: HOWTO: Importing SMS messages from Nokia phones to N900
 

hmm nobody interested to import their messages from a symbian phone to maemo??? =/

Re: HOWTO: Importing SMS messages from Nokia phones to N900
 

First, great job putting something like this together! I was definitely looking for a way to transfer my 1000+ SMS messages from my old E61 to my N900. After using the tool I have a couple of observations:

• The instructions mention exporting the SMS messages as a CSV. Upon inspecting the code, I realized that the program is expecting a semicolon ( ; ) as the delimiter. Just as a heads up to people who might be trying this out with a true CSV file (delimited by commas), you'll get a Segmentation Fault. Use semicolon delimiters instead.
• After I ran the program, I checked the Conversations app to make sure the messages had been imported. They had, of course. The only weird thing is that, despite having the correct dates from when I sent/received them, they showed up at the top of the Conversations list, despite being much older than messages I sent on the N900 recently. I rebooted the device, but that didn't change anything. This is only an issue for those like me who have already been using the N900 prior to running this import. Not a huge deal, but slightly annoying.

In any case, if you take the above into consideration, this is a great tool for those migrating from other devices and who want to retain their SMS communication history.

Re: HOWTO: Importing SMS messages from Nokia phones to N900
 

I wrote it in ~5 hours and I'm sure it can crash in some unexpected situations. CSV files exported from Nokia PC suite is using semicolon as delimiter.

I was importing my old SMS messages to the empty device, so I have all my conversations in the correct order. The most recent messages are on the bottom. smsimporter is filling storage_time, start_time, end_time fields, but for some unknown reason storage_time was always set to current date. So, maybe this is the problem, but I'm not sure.

Re: HOWTO: Importing SMS messages from Nokia phones to N900
 

1. download smsimporter-bin.tar.gz from attachment and unpack it on your PC
2. connect your N900 using USB cable in "Mass storage mode"
3. copy extracted smsimporter and your sms messages directly to device
4. disconnect USB cable
5. open X terminal
6. enter these commands:

cd /home/user

cp MyDocs/smsimporter MyDocs/sms.csv .

chmod +x smsimporter

run-standalone.sh ./smsimporter sms.csv

Please make backup of your messages in N900 before importing your old SMS messages.

Re: HOWTO: Importing SMS messages from Nokia phones to N900
 

No problem. Again, I think it's great considering the amount of time invested so far. I think the default delimiter may depend on OS/configuration. I'm using PC Suite on Windows XP and the default delimiter is a comma. However, there is a way to change it to something else:

Control Panel > Regional and Language Settings > Regional Options (tab) > Customize... (button) > "List separator"

Change "List separator" to a semi-colon and it's good to go. May need to restart PC Suite if it was running when this change is made.

Re: HOWTO: Importing SMS messages from Nokia phones to N900
 

how do I make a backup of my messages on n900? cause on PC Suite there is no way to get to sms .. it'll be appreciated if you tell me how to get from n900... thanks

Re: HOWTO: Importing SMS messages from Nokia phones to N900
 

Use "Backup" application installed on device.

Re: HOWTO: Importing SMS messages from Nokia phones to N900
 

ok when i type chmod +x smsimporter in X, it gives no such directory or file exists... however this works "cp MyDocs/smsimporter MyDocs/sms.csv" before chmod command

what is the problem here?

Re: HOWTO: Importing SMS messages from Nokia phones to N900
 

You missed period "." at the end of cp command:

cp MyDocs/smsimporter MyDocs/sms.csv .

Re: HOWTO: Importing SMS messages from Nokia phones to N900
 

thanks a lot!!!

just few questions...

I copied from the PC to .documents the two files (smsimporter and sms.csv
but in x termina I cant use the command

cp MyDocs/smsimporter MyDocs/sms.csv .

and then the

run-standalone.sh ./smsimporter sms.csv

I can only use the

chmod +x smsimporter

but only if i go to

cd /home/user/MyDocs/.documents

Re: HOWTO: Importing SMS messages from Nokia phones to N900
 

We realy need support from nokia ...
thanks for the great effort though..

Re: HOWTO: Importing SMS messages from Nokia phones to N900
 

ok I resolved

cp MyDocs/.documents/smsimporter MyDocs/.documents/sms.csv .

Re: HOWTO: Importing SMS messages from Nokia phones to N900
 

working is working but... nothing is displayed in the conversations...

Re: HOWTO: Importing SMS messages from Nokia phones to N900
 

excellent work, worked like a charm for me, exported all 768 messages from n85 onto my n900 :) just needs a good frontend for it :)

thanks again

Re: HOWTO: Importing SMS messages from Nokia phones to N900
 

why it runs for 1or 2 seconds and then nothing is showed in conversations? maybe I have italian as language?

changed language to english but nothing happens...

Re: HOWTO: Importing SMS messages from Nokia phones to N900
 

just follow the instructions above..worked for me..just becareful and remember where you have stored those files that you transferred over :)

Re: HOWTO: Importing SMS messages from Nokia phones to N900
 

I follow the instructions... when I launch smsimporter in x terminal is start but i works at least 1 second... then close without an error and no new messagges appears in converstations...

Re: HOWTO: Importing SMS messages from Nokia phones to N900
 

This is a great utility & really should be basic functionality supported by some nokia software.
I have limited technical experience but I will try it.
A GUI would be great. Where do we vote?

Re: HOWTO: Importing SMS messages from Nokia phones to N900
 

I found a problem,

when I copy the files each one takes the lenght of smsimporter...

I tried to copy one by one, they took the right lenght but... still not working...

just one thing... when I copy from my "old" E90 I select all the messagges (also MMS) could this make a problem creating the csv file?

Re: HOWTO: Importing SMS messages from Nokia phones to N900
 

just one answer, where the sms are stored on the N900?

Re: HOWTO: Importing SMS messages from Nokia phones to N900
 

Thanks! Worked like a charm, though the order of messages came around for me also, but I can live with that! Thanks again!

Re: HOWTO: Importing SMS messages from Nokia phones to N900
 

/home/user/.rtcom-eventlogger/el.db

Re: HOWTO: Importing SMS messages from Nokia phones to N900
 

i was getting segmentation fault, so I changed "list separator" to semi-colon from control panel again copied all of my sms through nokia suite in csv format but still im getting this errorrrrrrr ahhhhh! help!.?

Re: HOWTO: Importing SMS messages from Nokia phones to N900
 

thanks a lot!

Re: HOWTO: Importing SMS messages from Nokia phones to N900
 

Nice software and idea, exactly what i'm looking for, but when i try to execute i get an "permission denied" in line 11.

Was it my mistake? Any hint for me?

Thanks!

Re: HOWTO: Importing SMS messages from Nokia phones to N900
 

Worked like charm, I got my ols SMS's transferred to new "environment".
Thanks for good work.

Re: HOWTO: Importing SMS messages from Nokia phones to N900
 

how did u get it work???!! I'm seriously stuck with this sengmentation fault error... arrr can u explain how u got ur sms messages from ur old phone? I export them from Nokia PC Suite to a .csv file then copy paste my sent messages which are just 20 to the received messages .csv file and save them still I get this damn error! I'm using Windows Vista..

thanks in advance, if u'd help me out with this problem... I really need my old messages into n900

Re: HOWTO: Importing SMS messages from Nokia phones to N900
 

ok got em! i separately copied inbox and sent messages, only problem i have is that sent messages which I copied after received ones are showing all together ... I can live that... thanks OP!

Re: HOWTO: Importing SMS messages from Nokia phones to N900
 

I am still getting the "no such file or directory" message when I enter the chmod command, even though I did enter the period of the cd line before.

I just dragged the csv of the texts into the mail N900 directory. Does it need to go somewhere else? I could not see the MyDocs location when I connectd via USB.

What are we doing wrong?

Re: HOWTO: Importing SMS messages from Nokia phones to N900
 

You have to disconnect the from USB

Re: HOWTO: Importing SMS messages from Nokia phones to N900
 

I has disconnected from the USB but am still getting the error. I renamed the .csv file with all my texts to "sms.csv".

So now I have 3 files:
smsimporter (unzipped)
sms.csv (that came with smsimporter)
sms.csv (renamed personal text csv)

All in the main folder you see when connecting the N900 i.e. above .documents, .sounds etc.

Is this correct?

Re: HOWTO: Importing SMS messages from Nokia phones to N900
 

There is no sms.csv shipped with the importer :)
Now open terminal, "cd" to the directory with the files and execute these commands
FIrst: chmod +x smsimporter
Second: run-standalone.sh ./smsimporter sms.csv

Re: HOWTO: Importing SMS messages from Nokia phones to N900
 

strange. I have 2 sms.csv files. I will delete the one that I didnt create.

Noob questions:
Is the root directory when you plug in the N900 via USB the same as the MyDocs folder? Thats where I ahve the sms.csv file and smsimporter

I navigate to MyDocs successfully but when I enter chmod +x smsimporter it is still telling me in Xterm "no such file or directory":confused:

Re: HOWTO: Importing SMS messages from Nokia phones to N900
 

Are you shure the file is there? Look for it with "ls" or "dir"

Re: HOWTO: Importing SMS messages from Nokia phones to N900
 

Thats so strange. I see it in file manager app and when I connect the N900 to a PC via USB in the top Nokia N900/ folder.
I unzipped smsimporter on my PC then dragged it directly to main N900 folder.

How do I move the files from the default/ main N900 dir (the one when you just click on the N900 in windows explorer when connected via USB) to MyDocs?

Re: HOWTO: Importing SMS messages from Nokia phones to N900
 

Hi zb88,

After saving old messages to csv, open that file to a text editor in PC and check that the separator between fields is semicolon (";") and not a comma.

smsimporter (or pc suite csv save) doesn't do 100% job, I found a set of messages from one sender, they got assembled to a conversation in n900, looked fine in main view, but content was empty..

Re: HOWTO: Importing SMS messages from Nokia phones to N900
 

You can move the files with X_terminal app.
the command is:
mv <filename> <path/filename>
example: move file xyz.csv from current dir (/home/user) to MyDocs, that is under user:
mv xyz.csv MyDocs (keep the same filename)
mv xyz.csv MyDocs/xyz.csv (does the same)
mv xyz.csv MyDocs/abc.csv (rename file while move)

On my Vista, the "main" folder I see from N900 is MyDocs/.documents (dot in dirname makes it hidden)

Re: HOWTO: Importing SMS messages from Nokia phones to N900
 

so i wanna no how to merge both inbox.csv and sent.scv thx