I bought an N810 on eBay and it's WLAN is not recognized by Nokia. the seller is not to be found, so I can't return it. How can I update the operating system and install new apps with out a valid WLAN?

Try another network. Mine doesn't work at my desk at work for some ludicrous reason - no logic one - no security on the network - but it's fine at home and other places. Otherwise, you can update the firmware by using the Nokia Software Update Wizard thingie - http://europe.nokia.com/A4678158

Tim

^^^I think he means the MAC address of the onboard wireless network adapter, which Nokia requires you to submit before downloading firmware images from the Web.

The Windows-based update utility you linked to may work, since I believe it downloads the images itself (I've never used the Windows utility, so I'm not 100% sure).

Actually the N810 I bought has a lable under the battery that says Not for Sale and Prototype B3. The seller is long gone, so I can't send it back. I'm just stuck with it. I hoped that someone would know how to bypass the Nokia requirement to have a valid WLAN ID number and update the n810 with a PC.

You should be able to use the windows update tool linked by timsalmon. As far as I know, it doesn't check your WLAN MAC address, and it DOES download the update.

I downloaded the Update Wizard. And, thanks to someone giving me a WLAN that worked I downloaded the update image. BUT -- when I run the wizard ... at first it does not automatically connect online, with more trys it never connects online. It does recognize that the n810 is connected. Then I use the manual update by choosing the file that I downloaded. The wizard replys "Unsuported software update file." Then it goes on to say, "The software on your Nokia 810 was not updated, because the update file is not supported by your device." What's happening???

Running 'cat /proc/component_version' in a terminal should tell you the hardware version of your device. If your n810 is truly a prototype, it might not be supported by the production firmware.

The linux flasher utility might be able to override the hardware version detection and enable you to flash it anyway, but that might break your n810.

By posting this message twice, you are ensuring that you get less cogent responses, because things that were said in the other thread won't be seen in this thread, and vice versa. No need for multiple postings on the same issue here.

I thought everybody was supposed to spam threads whenever they wanted to?