everyone should reflash their n900 in "my opinion"
 

ok i know i have read this somewhere in this N900 forum but it just my opinion that everyone should just reflash their n900. here is why

-for some damm reason, right after the reflash of my n900, the battery seem to improve greatly. at first my n900 would only last, about 9-15 hours of briefly browsing and using 3g and listening to music, and now it lasted a day and a half now as i'm listening to music and browsing the net right now <still have about 35% left>

-i think i heard this before, but reflashing also seem to solve a lot problem of my n900 rebooting none stop, one thing i did notice is when i install the apps that allow you to see the cpu load, everytime my cpu load to the max or rather the bar in the apps reached the red, my n900 would reboots and now after reflash, once again, the cpu has stop being load to the max and less reboots or rather no reboots happen at all

-another point i also have seen floating around this forum is that the reboots and soon leading to the n900 being bricked could possibly caused by a program that hog the cpu load and battery drain and like i said before, reflashing seem to did the trick with both


-btw sorry for the long post, i also have a quick question for you all is that after flashing the n900, did all the programs that originally came with the n900 stay the same or some of the programs change. if someone can check that out, maybe we can pin point to see if that program was the causes for the all reboots and the battery hogging .

Re: everyone should reflash their n900 in "my opinion"
 

When I reflashed my n900 (to no avail) I didn't notice any of the programs changing.

I'll be monitoring this post and its replies to see what I should do when I get my replacement n900 later today in the mail.

My n900 rebooted constantly and bricked and all that jazz. Rebooted it with every image possible and nothing helped. Sent in for a replacement. Reflashing the phone is such a simple process though, if it will help I'll do it, why not?

Re: everyone should reflash their n900 in "my opinion"
 

Hmmm my N900 is fine except the battery.. It drains quite fast...

Hmmm... Idk if reflashing solves the battery issue... Can someone confirm this?

Re: everyone should reflash their n900 in "my opinion"
 

how can I reflash?

Re: everyone should reflash their n900 in "my opinion"
 

I have had no reboots at all. I have personally powered down a couple of times.

My battery lasts longer than I need - I have never yet seen the yellow, let alone the red battery level... never got much below half full in a day.

My n900 runs like silk, without the slightest problem.

i guess I'm just extremely lucky.

Why would I take the risk of reflashing it and spoiling it?

Re: everyone should reflash their n900 in "my opinion"
 

http://wiki.maemo.org/Updating_the_f...29.2FWindows_7


follow that guide , but when you get to here

flasher-3.5.exe -F RX-51_2009SE_1.2009.42-11_PR_COMBINED_MR0_ARM.bin -f -R

make sure you type actual name of the bin of the flash you download not the one they show other wise it won't run like

flasher-3.5.exe -F "your exact name of your.bin files you download" -f -R

Re: everyone should reflash their n900 in "my opinion"
 

just click the links in my signature. reflashing doesn't help, bricking can be avoided by manually shutting down and powering up before 17 random reboots has occured.

Re: everyone should reflash their n900 in "my opinion"
 

hmmm if reflash won't help the boot problem, maybe it can still help about the battery draining problem, can someone that have n900 and have bad battery usage willing to reflash and see if their battery improve???

Re: everyone should reflash their n900 in "my opinion"
 

why reflash is the phone works fine ???
silly

Re: everyone should reflash their n900 in "my opinion"
 

it's like fresh start :) i'd like to do it every 6 months or so

Re: everyone should reflash their n900 in "my opinion"
 

It depends if you are using extras-testing, if you are using only extras then "theoretically" you shouldn't need to re-flash. (I'm sure sometime an app will sneak through that will cause issues, but I'm hopeful that the new policy for promoting through extras-devel -> extras-testing -> extras will make this a rarity)

If you are using extras-testing, it's probably a good idea - but again only if you notice issues. This isn't windows ;-)

And most importantly BACKUP! BACKUP! BACKUP!

Personally I think I will probably re-flash when the apps I need are all promoted to extras and there is a new firmware release, I'm hoping then not to need to re-flash, unless some dodgy app written by an idiot flattens my device (that will be me then)

Re: everyone should reflash their n900 in "my opinion"
 

Shouldn't it just work right out of the box?

Re: everyone should reflash their n900 in "my opinion"
 

If you install applications from testing and development?
The answer is yes they should, and most developers will try to make that aim. But to give a guarantee that it will always work?

The purpose of most devel repo's is to allow early testing, and it's pretty much accepted if you go down this road (on any platform) you are likely to hose your install and need to do a fresh one at some point.

testing is designed for UAT/QA testing and whilst packages there shouldn't hose your device, you still should be prepared for it.

packages in extras shouldn't need a re-flash, but as with all platforms and all systems, no testing system is 100% perfect - otherwise there would be no need for ticketing and bug systems.

Re: everyone should reflash their n900 in "my opinion"
 

is this myth confirm, plausible or busted?

Re: everyone should reflash their n900 in "my opinion"
 

I think it is pretty much confirmed that the reboot-bug can corrupt the file system. Also, after 17 random reboots in a row, the N900 is a brick and needs reflashing.

However, the myth that reflashing will solve random reboots is pretty much busted, at least untill a new FW is available. There are some rumors that Flashing with UK FW will somehow solve rebooting issues, but as of now this is a rumor, and I doubt it will fix anything.

Re: everyone should reflash their n900 in "my opinion"
 

Please search for and read the bug report regarding this.

Re: everyone should reflash their n900 in "my opinion"
 

Totally pointless unless...

a. You're having problems.
b. You use a lot of software from the testing or development repos.
c. You just get a kick out of having to redo all your customized setup.

None of those apply to me. So unless something changes I'll probably never reflash as long as I use the N900. I got one of the 1st G1s, used the heck out of it and have still never reflashed it. It runs like new. I reinstall my linux desktop only every few years and may not reinstall linux 'til the distro's EOL in 2014. Even with Windoze I almost never reinstall the OS for the life of a machine. I have one 8-year-old Win2000Pro machine in our office still running the original install perfectly. Some maintenance, common sense and if necessary, a little trouble-shooting can save a lot of setup time.

Re: everyone should reflash their n900 in "my opinion"
 

UK FW user here... I`ve used my N900 for 2 weeks now and its been flawless so far.

Re: everyone should reflash their n900 in "my opinion"
 

Just for clarity - do you reflash the same version or do you use a newer build? What version?

Also, no flash for me. My N900 is perfect, I have no intention of doing stuff to it as long as it's fine.

Re: everyone should reflash their n900 in "my opinion"
 

My N900 works fine, no reboots or anything except this damn battery problem. I have to charge it twice or thrice, if it is used extensively like using internet and phone calls. should I reflash it? is there a way to save all the conversations and contacts from n900? i don't want to edit all my contacts again after reflashing because it's a pain... also I have like more 2, 3 numbers under one contact.

any advice?

Re: everyone should reflash their n900 in "my opinion"
 

you know what...i disagree...i haven't had any problem with my N900 at all, so far.

Re: everyone should reflash their n900 in "my opinion"
 

Got tons of stuff from all over. devel, testing, separate repositories and stuff I've compiled myself, and no problems with my N900, so of course I'm not going to reflash it. That would just be a pointless waste of time.

Re: everyone should reflash their n900 in "my opinion"
 

What is that supposed to mean?

Re: everyone should reflash their n900 in "my opinion"
 

Re-installing/re-flashing an OS should never be necessary unless You have no idea what You've been doing with it...

Don't fix it if it ain't broken... :cool:

Re: everyone should reflash their n900 in "my opinion"
 

Someone's stuck in Windows mode! :D

Re: everyone should reflash their n900 in "my opinion"
 

Just to chime in with my .02 cents: have my N900 for over a week now. I have no issues whatsoever with the battery or anything else for that matter, lasts me over a day or so. My usage? few emails, sms, phone calls, little bit of browsing over wifi or edge.

Re: everyone should reflash their n900 in "my opinion"
 

formatting was an amazing thing with win98 , your computer was running so fast upon first boot !!
worked also with xp but less spectacular.
I miss the BSOD and the "file ntlgd is missing"

Re: everyone should reflash their n900 in "my opinion"
 

i think someone should code an app that runs in background and it shows the BSOD plus win98 bootup video and stays persistently at foreground so it is very close to the real thing. It can't be more authentic than that ;)

Re: everyone should reflash their n900 in "my opinion"
 

Sometimes just changing or removing some widgets/programs will fix issues without reflashing. I actually noticed a huge change in battery life after removing the mediaplayer widget. Go figure. :O

Re: everyone should reflash their n900 in "my opinion"
 

YES! I flashed my phone last week and I was wondering why the battery wasn't dead after 1 day

Re: everyone should reflash their n900 in "my opinion"
 

Ok for all those that are having battery issues, i do to. But i realizes why, i use this device so much more than i use a phone. This eats up battery.

I used to use my G1 for phones and very light browsing but since the n900 is so much more and has a perfect browser i use it much more than the G1 hence the battery drain. Try using it only for phone calls and see how long it will last.

Also the wifi range is amazing for a phone this eats up battery too.

ehab
www.elmotaheda.com

Re: everyone should reflash their n900 in "my opinion"
 

I still don't get it.. I see mixed signals here about the battery.. does reflashing the firmware fix the battery issue or no!?!?

Maybe there should be a poll about this.. :D

Re: everyone should reflash their n900 in "my opinion"
 

its a speculation right now, but so far, for user like me and some out there, reflashing seem to did the trick with the battery issue, ^^ so i think it just up to your opinion if you just want to try it out and see if you really annoy with your battery life right now

Re: everyone should reflash their n900 in "my opinion"
 

I think I will suggest re-installing our customers servers (AIX/Linux etc.) at work first thing today... :D Gotta give some major performance bonus... :rolleyes:

Re: everyone should reflash their n900 in "my opinion"
 

I am going to reflash-probably over this weekend sometime. I've only had my n900 about a month. There's no problems with shutting itself down or being overly slow or anything like that. Battery seems to be OK too. As long as I tell it not to connect to wifi or 3g internet then I can take it to work and the battery level is still near the top when I get home. Using it a lot, surfing over wifi etc drains the battery a lot quicker ( which you'd obviously expect) and it wont last half a day when I leave it on like that.
The reason I am going to do it is because I've installed a few things from the devel and testing repos and there's 2 or 3 that seem to be a bit funny. When you un-install them the icons do not dissapear from the apps list, and stray files seem to be hiding all over the place. I am sure there must be some in the rootfs as well, because I am sure that there is less space returned when the apps are uninstaslled, compared to where it was before they were installed, I've also been learning the xterminal and I think I might have made a few things manual instead of automatic, which I think means they wont update automatically now. Certain apps wont load for me either when other people seem to be having a great time with them. It's not a huge problem. It mostly gets used for web surfing etc, but I'd like to be able to do the same things everyone else can and don't get why something works for one person and wont work for another.
So, that's the reason- Maemo is completely new to me (until I got my n900) and I have been on a very steep learning curve, so now I just want to put everything back the way it was when I got the device and create backup/restore points before doing anything with it again. I'll also be able to test the reported battery thing. It'd certainly be a nice bonus if it lasted longer.

Could someone just confirm( preferably someone who has done it already), that be reflashing the n900 will return to the point like where I took it out of the box? - same programs installed/not installed and all that? I don't want to flash the hard drive area, just the root area ( which I believe you can do) and I have found the guide on how to do it. It even looks like I can re-install the apps I want very easily. I just want to put my mind at ease that it does work like I think it does before I go ahead and do it really.

Re: everyone should reflash their n900 in "my opinion"
 

ps sorry about the HUGE post lol- wrote more than I thought I was writing:)

Re: everyone should reflash their n900 in "my opinion"
 

Re: everyone should reflash their n900 in "my opinion"
 

What's with the font size?
What's with the thread hijacking?
Have you tried the default lock code?
Have you searched the forums on viewing the lock code?

Re: everyone should reflash their n900 in "my opinion"
 

Re: everyone should reflash their n900 in "my opinion"
 

Font sizes like these are really annoying, especially when you require help from others..It does not matter how you use it, unless you are trying to make a point in a busy thread (which this one apparently was a more quiet one) please refrain from using large font sizes.Thread hijacking (asking something else which is not related to this thread) is annoying. It would only prevent you from getting any help (as you have you revived an old thread that discusses something else and not everyone would assume someone would ask a random question in that very thread).

Now that you have posted your queries in the right place, there would be no need to discuss this further.