How to Update Your Samsung Omnia ROM/firmware

Written on 4/06/2009 04:29:00 PM by poison_ivy

So I finally upgraded my Omnia to the latest Asian ROM—after much hair pulling. My problem started because I first upgraded my Omnia to a custom ROM. Anyways, in this post, I’ll try to make a definitive guide to upgrading your Omnia without you doing a lot of Googling. WARNING: Updating your Firmware may cause damage to your Omnia if not done properly. Be sure that your mobile phone is fully charged and that your laptop or computer is plugged in a UPS. Power failures while updating might cause the bricking of your Omnia. Update your ROM at your own risk.

Overview

Samsung releases their ROM in different versions. If you purchased your Omnia in Hong Kong, it doesn’t mean you can upgrade it to a ROM downloaded in Samsung UK. To have an idea of what your ROM version is, go to settings -> system tab -> version. The version would show two parts: PDA and Phone version. This thread on Modaco regarding naming schemes would let you know which country your ROM version came from. To make it simple, ROM versions that start with XA are ROMS that are downloaded from Samsung UK, DX from Philippines, DZ from Singapore, etc. Before clicking on the download link from the UK ROM version of the Omnia in Samsung’s website, be sure that your ROM version is from that specific country, otherwise you’ll get the error message: incorrect software version.

For First Time Updaters/ Regular Official ROM downloaders

If this is your first time upgrading your Omnia, then you’ll have no problems. Just follow what I said in the overview; check your device ROM version and download the ROM from the country where your ROM version originated. Follow Samsung’s instructions on their website and be sure that: (1) You have the latest ActiveSync version or Device Center (for Vista users) installed, (2) You’ve downloaded and installed Samsung Modem Drivers (for XP users). You can download the Samsung Modem Drivers from this thread on Modaco, be sure you’ve registered in order to view the download links.

For those who want to upgrade to a ROM from another country or those who have installed a custom ROM

Now things can become a little tricky. I myself have upgraded my Omnia’s firmware to a custom or unofficial ROM which can be found in this thread. Things went well especially since I’ve used an XP computer.

Now since I’ve reported some new widgets from Samsung’s latest ROM version, I wanted to upgrade my ROM so I downloaded the ROM from the Philippines since that was where the ROM DXHH1 originated. This time, I’m using a Vista machine so I downloaded the update for Vista. When I ran the exe file, I got the message: “Device already has the latest firmware installed”. WTF?! How can that be? I have an aging ROM version?!! So I thought the only way to get around that was to update using the first method I tried which was the grandprix method but since I’m running Vista, I followed the steps on this thread. I did everything but then another problem came up: I successfully updated the PDA version but not the Phone version. The solution? A combination of the steps on the Vista upgrade and Paul’s original guide to updating Omnia, but this time, I did it on an XP machine. Here’s what I did.

1. I disassembled the XP ROM installer using i900executor which can be found here.
2. Installed Samsung Modem Drivers and ran Grandprix XP version which can be downloaded here
3. Followed Step 9 on the Vista Solution (Hit detect and then soft reset to start the update process on grandprix).
4. Now I’m running both the latest PDA version and Phone version on my Omnia.
   

In my opinion, I think the vista process would have gone well if I have installed the Samsung Modem Drivers for XP instead of the i780 drivers. One poster suggested using the Samsung Modem drivers instead while the original poster, Vennerr93 suggested just leaving the PHONE part blank which would lead to the removal of the phone symbol with exclamation.

If you’re in the UK and you want to try other ROM versions from other countries, you might get the Incorrect Software Version when trying to update using the Samsung Official updater. Follow Paul’s Incorrect Version Fix and you might be able to upgrade using Samsung’s Official Updater. Otherwise, the only way is to use GrandPrix and disassemble the installer using i900EXEcutor.

Conclusion

Yes, updating your firmware can be a bit scary but in the end you’ll reap the benefits through faster user interface and longer battery life. Besides, how will you ever gain knowledge if you don’t try, right? Good luck.

Posted in Mobile Phone Tips, Other Resources, Samsung mobile phones, Windows Mobile |

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