There is ALWAYS a Work-Around
So, first I have to say, F*CK Verzion and how they cripple all of the great features Bluetooth has to offer when it comes to their cellphones.
I took my lovely Chocolate in today because the data port/charging port/headphone jack (they are all the same on the Chocolate) wasn’t working. They confirmed the problem and thankfully my phone was still under warranty so they kindly replaced my phone with a new one. I was really happy about this because I had a crack in my screen that was slowly staring to get bigger. The problem came when they said “Since the data port is messed we can’t transfer your info. Is that a problem?”
I wasn’t worried because I had backed it all up with my trusty friend, BitPim. I have touted the power of BitPim before (Post 1, 2) but to my surprise, when I tried to connect to my phone, BitPim gave me an error message: “Directory Blocked by Service Provider”. I was IRATE! I have 100′s of contacts and wasn’t about to spend 5 hours typing them all in by hand. I thought for a bit about how I could possibly change the internal settings of my phone to allow Bluetooth data transfer. I wondered if LGDownload, the wonderful software used to configure LG phones, could help me out. To make a long story short, my phone is completely restored — contacts, ringtones, wallpaper, preferences, speed dial settings; everything back how I had it.
How did I do it?
It was really pretty simple. Here are the steps to bypass the Bluetooth restrictions on the Chocolate with firmware V05 and higher.
Disclaimer: Doing this yourself isn’t hard but I want to state that I am in no way responsible for anything that happens to your phone by following these directions. If you mess your phone up just take it to a Verizon Store and they can restore it for you. It’s just fun to try the things by yourself. These directions are meant for an experienced computer user, so in-depth detail is lacking. This process should work for any LG phone you can find the .dll’s for.
- Start BitPim (if you don’t know what I’m talking about, read here)
- Start LGDownload
- After LGDownload connects to your phone via Bluetooth COM port and checks the version numbers, etc click on the NV Edit option (F9)
- It will ask for a code, it is “000000″ (sometimes this is provided already, if so, just click “OK”) Your phone will now DM mode. Your phone will say “Service Required” Don’t worry, that’s what it is supposed to do.
- Now, leave LGDownload AS IS (ie, don’t close it or click on ANYTHING) and make BitPim (which you opened earlier, right?) the active window.
- Use BitPim as your normally would. While the phone is in DM mode, it can’t and won’t check for any restrictions placed by Verizon.
- When you are done updating, etc., close BitPim,
- Finally, close all active windows in LGDowload by using the “exit” or “done” buttons making sure you do not change any settings and freak-out your phone. The phone will reset itself with all of your updated data.
That should do it. That’s a big FU to Verizon for blocking my BitPim!
Other posts I authored that may be of help:
How to Manually Update your LG Chocolate
What is BitPim?
Please don’t ask me for a copy of LGDownload. I have access to it because of my job. You will have to find it for yourself. (ie, torrent) Sorry.
Filed under: F.Y.I., Lessons Learned, Tech, Tips
