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. I completed this upgrade on my own and had no problems. 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.

Upgrading your Chocolate enables speakerphone (Finally! How stupid were they not to include this in the first place?) and a few other little fixes. Not having a speaker phone was my only big problem with the Chocolate when I purchased it.

Step 1a

Get BitPim and backup all the data on your phone. This program is great for lots of other things too. It works with almost any type of cell phone, not just your Chocolate.

Step 1b

You need a few things to begin. First you need a data cable for your phone. The one that comes with the music pack works just fine. You can try this via a Bluetooth serial connection, but I couldn’t get it to complete this way. Second you need three files/programs. (I will not provide links to these for legal issues but you can easily find then via Google search or your favorite torrent search engine.) You need:

• LGDownload 1.x (Program for updating any LG Phone)
• Updated .dll files for your Chocolate. (0.2.44.0 vx8500.dll) Make sure they are for the VX-8500! (LGDownload needs them to properly update your phone.)
• The newest firmware for your Chocolate. If you have version T85VZV03, then you need to upgrade. Check by going to Menu–>Settings and Tools–>Phone Info. You can use firmware versions T85VZV04, V05 or V06 for the upgrade. I recommend V04. VO5 and VO6 block Bluetooth data communications to and from your computer. (Fix that here) I would link this but it is like 30MB and I’m not sharing that much bandwidth

Step 2

• Install LGDownload. Be sure to follow the “special” instructions included with the file.
• Install the VX-8500 .dll files so LGDownload can access them.
• Make the VX-8500 .dll files active. (This should happen automatically when you plug in your phone.)
• Specify the location of the T85VZV04 file so LGDownload can access it.

Step 3

• MAKE SURE your phone has a full battery! If your phone dies in the middle of this process you will be speaking to a Verizon representative shortly after attempting this upgrade.
• Plug the data cable into your phone and your computer. Verify the connection.
• Start the update process by clicking update Firmware. This will take 10-20 minutes.
• Your phone will restart when the update is complete.

Step 4

• Enjoy your the speakerphone on your Chocolate.

If you have trouble, need extra help, or whatever else, leave me a comment. I’ll get back as soon as I can.