Removing Orange Homescreen

[Sploogie]

I got my 6680 today on orange. but like the 3230 and other recent symbian phones, its got that god awful orange homescreen which isent allowing me to change the background picture. so the question is, does anybody know how to remove it? ive looked in one of the third party file explorers. but i don't know what im looking for. anybody got any ideas?

cheers

[Slave2mobile]

Your no alone here mate, been waiting since the end of feb for this phone, finally got mine today, only to discover that orange have once again ruined a perfectly good phone by branding it to death :x
The home screen wouldnt be so bad if you could enable or disable it, and in theory, it works along the same lines as the D500 home screen, it just looks so out of place with the rest of the phone menu system.
I dont think id like to completely lose the use of the home screen, just have a choice weither or not to use it.
Hopefully someone will answer our cries!!!! :cry:

[neruanza]

Guys maybe a good theme will solve your problems....

[Slave2mobile]

After spending a few hours exploring the root menu directories with a file explorer, the Orange home screen is built in, and cant be edited or removed without flashing the phone, however, I came across a post on another symbian forum about the nokia 3230 having the same problem.

This is a way of temporarily hiding the home screen.

Hold down the menu key and select "phone" and the home screen disappears.
You can lock the keypad and the home screen stays hidden, but, as soon as you press any numbers keys, or enter the menu system, then return to the main screen, the home screen comes back, so you'll have to repeat the process.

This wont solve the problem full term, orange should really give the users a choice, instead of shoving their bug infested software down our throats. :x
However I atleast now I can hide the home screen when the phone isnt in use, so thats good enough for me, for the time being.
Hope this helps. :D

[dj^^]

is it of the ACTIVE STANDBY mode.??
inside setting>phone setting>Standby mode

it can be off...

if not go to themes change ur themes and you're done.

[ianpolice]

Might be going along the wrong lines here guys but if you go to themes and then choose the one youre using and edit it you can change screensaver to text or time then the stupid orange thing dosent come on at all

[BipolarChucker]

It has got to be said that the home screen idea is an absolute diatribe.
Possibly the worst implementation of a an even worse idea I've ever had the misfortune to encounter. Why it is that Orange think they are better at GUI design than Nokia is utterly beyond me.
The fact that you cannot turn this home screen off is just the "kick when your down" you didn't want. Think of it this way: You buy a PC and you want to change the desktop font to white because you have an almost entirely black background but you can't because the fonts aren't changeable. Scenario 2: You have slight visual problems and you'd like to choose a larger font... you can't.
Scenario 3: You buy a theme of your favourite car/woman etc, install it and.... the home screen image hasn't changed. Are you forced to buy your themes from Orange now? Can anyone say Microsoft anti-trust and non-competitive? See where I'm going?

I cannot complain more bitterly about it. They have succeeded in destroying the front end of a potentially fantastic phone by slapping their child designed icon's with the most boring GREY "Arial" font all over the "desktop" of the phone. The phone is great but I refuse to live with this horrendous home screen and the sooner I can get rid of it the better.

The more people that complain to Orange about the fact that they can't turn this crap off the better. When (if) they see they've made a mistake hopefully they'll sack the muppet that thought of the idea and at least release a firmware that allows you to turn it off. They've REALLY angered me with this step. Who the hell do they think they are telling me what I'm allowed to customise my phone with?

[yaz0r]

Ok, here is a very very early and partial fix to the homescreen problem.
This fix will prevent the home screen to reapear when using the dial key. The only way to have it apear again will be to use the exit buton in the menu.
So, if you want to exit the menu, hold the blue key and select the phone entry in the menu.

This way, you can avoid seeing the menu all day long (provided you doesn't hit the menu exit button).

This is a temporary solution, I'm analysing the home screen code to find a better way to remove it.

(actualy, this program will just kill the HomeScreen process, nothing too complex).

Also, killing this homescreen stuff will free around 1000kb of memory (yuk !).

Enjoy

PS: this is not a SIS file, you'll have to start it from a browser of some kind...

[jonstatt]

Thank you for your efforts.....I am optimistic that you will find a way to remove this 'orrible homescreen soon. But you do realise that the next request will be to find a way to activate the original Nokia active homescreen instead! I wonder if its still lurking in the firmware or not.

Jonathan

[BipolarChucker]

Thanks yaz0r. I look forward to your homescreenkiller soon :)

I've spoken with an authorised Nokia Service Centre near where I live and they've told me that they could theoretically reflash the phone with Nokia's original firmware code but a side-effect might be that it loses some services like caller ID, answer phone etc.

Obviously I don't want to lose these services, just wondering if anyone knows if this might happen or if anyone has actually tried to reflash an Orange branded to death 6680 yet?

I don't really want to spend my hard earned on something that will visually make me a happier person but will ultimately affect resale value of the phone in the future.

[BipolarChucker]

Turns out that this memory swallowing restrictive bag of crap has a major bug... surprise surprise!

I recently received my first answer phone message, it came through on my phone and it sits there flashing "New voice message on line 1". The phone light remains on because the home screen is trying to take over but then the phone software wants to tell me that I've got a voice mail message... etc etc.

If I receive an answer phone message the phone will eventually either:
a) Flatten the battery
b) Knacker the screen

Sooooooo.... if they're going to go to the trouble of sorting out the bug they might aswell give their customers the chance to REMOVE this bug infested bag of poo too! :-D

3GP video of the fault here: https://www.delta-hf.co.uk/homes-bug.rar

[yaz0r]

Thank you for your efforts.....I am optimistic that you will find a way to remove this 'orrible homescreen soon. But you do realise that the next request will be to find a way to activate the original Nokia active homescreen instead! I wonder if its still lurking in the firmware or not.
Jonathan

From what I've seen, it's not there anymore. I would have to find someone with a unbranded firmware to extract Nokia's homescreen for the firmware. It should be possible to have it run from MMC or whatever...

[jonstatt]

From what I've seen, it's not there anymore. I would have to find someone with a unbranded firmware to extract Nokia's homescreen for the firmware. It should be possible to have it run from MMC or whatever...

Yes indeed..I wondered about that option too.

In the meantime I have been killing the HomeScreen process. As you indentified, as long as you do not exit from the menu screen, it stays gone for good. :)

Jonathan

[deniser]

Turns out that this memory swallowing restrictive bag of crap has a major bug... surprise surprise!

I recently received my first answer phone message, it came through on my phone and it sits there flashing "New voice message on line 1". The phone light remains on because the home screen is trying to take over but then the phone software wants to tell me that I've got a voice mail message... etc etc.

If I receive an answer phone message the phone will eventually either:
a) Flatten the battery
b) Knacker the screen

Sooooooo.... if they're going to go to the trouble of sorting out the bug they might aswell give their customers the chance to REMOVE this bug infested bag of poo too! :-D

3GP video of the fault here: https://www.delta-hf.co.uk/homes-bug.rar

I don't get anything like that when I receive a voicemail, i receive a text then I have the tape symbol (not flashing) on my home screen

[mark4130]

Fully agree its a nightmare!!
I have come to the 3230 from and SPV C500 and that also had the godawful Orange homescreen - the difference being that you could replace it with different homescreens. I could just about live with it if it didnt stretch your wallpapers out really badly and make them all blurry.

[Aquinas]

Has anyone recieved any useful information from Orange about this?
I called them but the only information I could get was that they'd had loads of calls about the Orange customisation to the point that they had to keep a tick sheet to log the number of complaints over the first few days of the phones release.

I asked if it was likely that Orange would do anything about it and was told that they've only had one case where customer complaints have resulted in a fix and that was with a diffenent brand of phone (cant remember which) where bluetooth support was totally broken.

I dont think I'll hold my breath.

Mine also refuses to connect to the Nokia PC suite software via bluetooth or USB on a pc which previously connected fine with a 6230. So overall im really impressed ;)

[mark4130]

I emailed Orange to ask if there was anything that could be done.. the reply I got was that it cant be removed as it is part of the phone. I replied that its not part of the phone, its part of the software Orange load onto the phone. I pointed out that it removes the functionality of the joystick shortcuts as well as ruining any wallpaper you add as it blurs it when it stretches it to fit the Orange homescreen, as well as using up a Meg of memory to sit there looking ugly.... havent had a reply back yet..

If I was to take it to a Nokia service centre and had the firmware flashed, would it remove this abomination? Are there any apps that would disappear as well?

[jonstatt]

Is the PVplayer part of the generic firmware. If not, you will have problems with Orange World and playing film clips etc.

Jonathan

[mark4130]

Not sure but I would rather lose PV player than keep the abomination that is the Orange homescreen.

[Aquinas]

If I was to take it to a Nokia service centre and had the firmware flashed, would it remove this abomination? Are there any apps that would disappear as well?

From what I've read from other forum threads on this although flashing the phone to standard Nokia firmware would get rid of the Orange rubbish you'd also lose your phones compatibility with things like voicemail. Obviously you'll also lose the Orange specific apps too like FirePlayer.

Spoke to Orange again today as it looks like I'll have to swap the phone for something else. Nokia don't seem to be able to find a solution for the sync problems and the Orange home screen just makes me laugh. It's actually more button presses to view a newly recieved text message via the home screen than it is to go via the app. menu. Going through the home screen it's 6 presses not counting unlocking the keypad vs. 3 going through the app. menu. n1 Orange :)

[mark4130]

You end up having to repeat actions as well. For example, I have had 3 voicemails today - each time I get one the Orange screen tells me and then the Nokia screen tells me as well. Its the same with missed calls.
Surely the voicemail option is just a case of setting your voicemail numbver in the phone the same way you would if you had bought a sim free handset and decided to use an Orange simcard in there?

[no2much]

Dont know if this will help too much, but here are the personal email address' of 2 members of the orange trials team who organise and distribute handsets and collect feedback, i think if we blast them with emails, something might get done?

id give it a try

[email protected]
[email protected] :grin:

[mark4130]

Just found another problem with the Orange homescreen.. if you use the power button to select profile (as I do regularly in the office / at home / outside etc), you have to select it from the Nokia homescreen - if you do it from the Orange screen it lets you select it but doesnt change the profile!!!
Didnt Orange learn to beta test stuff before releasing it after the issues they had (still have) with the SPV series?!?!!?
So thats wallpapers not working properly, joystick shortcuts not working, power button profile selection not working and 1Meg of memory being sucked up for something that is hideous, unnecessary and generally unwanted.

[deniser]

Dont know if this will help too much, but here are the personal email address' of 2 members of the orange trials team who organise and distribute handsets and collect feedback, i think if we blast them with emails, something might get done?

id give it a try

[email protected]
[email protected] :grin:

I have done just that. i am thinking of sending mine back

[Resonate1]

Well i got fed up of all these temp fixes etc. So i took it down to the friendly nokia service centre and persuaded the guy to flash it with generic firmware. He went off to do it and cam e back about 20 mins later saying he couldnt do it as the version he had was the same as the one on the phone. Is it true that you cant reflash nokia phone with same firmware revision????

He said he tried it 4 times and it wouldnt do it.

Im running.
v 3.04.11
14-04-05
RM-36

Is there any newer version yet?

[BipolarChucker]

Now that is really going to put a dampener on my day... I would literally love to strangle the person responsible for this abomination.

I heard that a new firmware had been released though: 3.04.15 but I can't confirm if it's true or not.

[jonstatt]

I don't seem to have any problem selecting a profile from the Orange Homescreen! I switched to silent and back while on the Orange homescreen and it acknowledged the profile change and displayed the appropriate symbols.


Just found another problem with the Orange homescreen.. if you use the power button to select profile (as I do regularly in the office / at home / outside etc), you have to select it from the Nokia homescreen - if you do it from the Orange screen it lets you select it but doesnt change the profile!!!
Didnt Orange learn to beta test stuff before releasing it after the issues they had (still have) with the SPV series?!?!!?
So thats wallpapers not working properly, joystick shortcuts not working, power button profile selection not working and 1Meg of memory being sucked up for something that is hideous, unnecessary and generally unwanted.

[mark4130]

My phone wont let me switch out of silent via the power switch. It will let me go to Silent from General, but will not let me change back from Silent. It lets you choose an option but doees not then change the profile. Tried it on a friends and his performs exactly the same as mine... you must have the one working 3230 on Orange!!! Care to swap it with mine? ;-)

[sporkguy]

hey guys, I'm a phone trainer at an orange shop in the midlands.
I've been using the 6680 in store recently, and I agree, the homescreen is diabolical. I had the same problem when I owned the K700i - except I got mine debranded and that sorted it.

On a weekly basis we get to send Orange our store feedback, of which I'm responsible for - I will put in that a lot of our customers are opposing the orange-software and that its bringing in a lot of returned handsets - with any luck they'll listen to us and establish a fix (you'd expect at least *some* response seeing how big the demand is for the phone)

hope you're all enjoying your otherwise-great 6680s :)

[gchanning]

Ok, here is a very very early and partial fix to the homescreen problem.
This fix will prevent the home screen to reapear when using the dial key. The only way to have it apear again will be to use the exit buton in the menu.
So, if you want to exit the menu, hold the blue key and select the phone entry in the menu.

This way, you can avoid seeing the menu all day long (provided you doesn't hit the menu exit button).

This is a temporary solution, I'm analysing the home screen code to find a better way to remove it.

(actualy, this program will just kill the HomeScreen process, nothing too complex).

Also, killing this homescreen stuff will free around 1000kb of memory (yuk !).

Enjoy

PS: this is not a SIS file, you'll have to start it from a browser of some kind...


I need some help here!
I have transferred this file, ORANGEKILLER.EXE to my Nokia 6680. However when you try and open the file from file manager it doesnt allow you because of 'security reasons'. You mentioned about opening in in a 'browser' - well I tried opening the file using my Opera browser but that doesn't work either..... maybe I'm being slightly thick, but am I doing the right thing to open the file?

[gchanning]

I need some help here!
I have transferred this file, ORANGEKILLER.EXE to my Nokia 6680. However when you try and open the file from file manager it doesnt allow you because of 'security reasons'. You mentioned about opening in in a 'browser' - well I tried opening the file using my Opera browser but that doesn't work either..... maybe I'm being slightly thick, but am I doing the right thing to open the file?

...... OK, have managed to execute this file now using a third party file manager program. I get the following message when you execute the file:

'Hello, world'
'Command line args: " "
Failed
Found something: 24
[ press any key ]

If you then press any key its just takes you back to the file manager program. If you then try and go back to the home screen it seems to do a sort of 'soft re-boot' and then the Orange branded home screen comes back....

[deniser]

hey guys, I'm a phone trainer at an orange shop in the midlands.
I've been using the 6680 in store recently, and I agree, the homescreen is diabolical. I had the same problem when I owned the K700i - except I got mine debranded and that sorted it.

On a weekly basis we get to send Orange our store feedback, of which I'm responsible for - I will put in that a lot of our customers are opposing the orange-software and that its bringing in a lot of returned handsets - with any luck they'll listen to us and establish a fix (you'd expect at least *some* response seeing how big the demand is for the phone)

hope you're all enjoying your otherwise-great 6680s :)

That is exactly why I sent back my 6680, tried another phone, homescreen just as bad. I have changed networks now as a result of Orange over branding their phones

[simonjamesbird]

Ok Guys & Girls,

I got the nokia 6680 great phone apart from that crap operator logo :x
[SIZE=3]
The when you put in a new theme it still shows up in white messing up the theme :o

Well if you do this you can get rid of it so here we go :grin:

Download & install FExplorer

Then open FExplorer go C:\System\apps\oplogo then delete it :D

Reboot the phone and alls gone you will be left with just the normal operator logo in black and it wont mess up your themes :eek: :P ;-) :D ;)

This works with all network opertators.

Enjoy All

Super Sonic Si

[FOOOD]

I had a go with FExplorer on my 6680 but couldn't see oplogo in C:\System\Apps.
I did see it in C:\System\Apps\Phone but the folder was empty.

Has anyone tried this? Can you confirm whether or not it works?

[mark4130]

The Operator logo is not the issue, its the operators (ie Orange) home screen. You can replace the operator logo with anything you want - the issue is how the hell do we get the Orange homescreen off!!!!
Im off to the Nokia Service Centre tomorrow to get my 3230 flashed to see if - as the person in there promised - it will remove all the branding and the awful homescreen.

[simonjamesbird]

Ok Guys & Girls,

I got the nokia 6680 great phone apart from that crap operator logo

The when you put in a new theme it still shows up in white messing up the theme

Well if you do this you can get rid of it so here we go

Download & install FExplorer

Then open FExplorer go C:\System\apps\oplogo you will then see the operator logo as a .bmp file

Now select options then file then delete to it

Reboot the phone and alls gone you will be left with just the normal operator logo in black and it wont mess up your themes

This works with all network opertators.

Enjoy All

Super Sonic Si

[mark4130]

Do you want to go back to the top and re-read the thread - it is about the Orange HOMESCREEN, not the operatos logo. Posting irrelevant information twice does not make it relevant all of a sudden :evil:

[inselaffe]

...... OK, have managed to execute this file now using a third party file manager program. I get the following message when you execute the file:

'Hello, world'
'Command line args: " "
Failed
Found something: 24
[ press any key ]

If you then press any key its just takes you back to the file manager program. If you then try and go back to the home screen it seems to do a sort of 'soft re-boot' and then the Orange branded home screen comes back....

It's great that someone's gone to the trouble to make this, but I also can't get this to work.

Looks like I'll have to get the phone flashed.

[simonjamesbird]

Sorry Guys

Sent the same thing twice pc playing up :-o

Right check this out to solve your operator logo issue but please read all three pages first :eek:

Follow this link

http://www.symbian-freak.com/tunning/oplogo.htm

Let me know if this is what you want

Enjoy

Regards Si

[inselaffe]

Sorry Guys

Sent the same thing twice pc playing up :-o

Right check this out to solve your operator logo issue but please read all three pages first :eek:

Follow this link

http://www.symbian-freak.com/tunning/oplogo.htm

Let me know if this is what you want

Enjoy

Regards Si

The Orange homescreen is not an operator logo. It is an application that runs whenever the menu is exited, and sits on top of the OS, interfering with its functionality.

[leespud]

hahahahaha

cant help but laugh at simonjamesbird, only 6 post here half of them in this thread repeatig him self and have NOTHING to do with the thread.

this thing is obviously screwing your phones up rather than just being annoying, you should be easily able to get a NSC to flash it with generic software, should take about 10-15mins and you will havea loverly fresh 6680/3230!!!

[mark4130]

Thats my plan. Just waiting for my local one to get the correct jig in and Im going to be flashing my way to freedom!!!!

[Resonate1]

Thats my plan. Just waiting for my local one to get the correct jig in and Im going to be flashing my way to freedom!!!!

As I stated in a previous post I have attended a nokia service point and they were unable to flash it as the current nokia revision is still the same as the orange version.

Can anyone confirm or de confirm that they were telling me crap? He did try it three times for me.

There appears to be alot of chat and moaning about the homescreen yet I am the only one that appears to have made the effort to get it flashed.

[mark4130]

I have tried to have it flashed - it wasnt until he took the handset apart that the guy realised that he would need a 3230 specific jig to flash the phone. He ordered one and (hopefully) it will be there this week.

[leespud]

As I stated in a previous post I have attended a nokia service point and they were unable to flash it as the current nokia revision is still the same as the orange version.

Can anyone confirm or de confirm that they were telling me crap? He did try it three times for me.

There appears to be alot of chat and moaning about the homescreen yet I am the only one that appears to have made the effort to get it flashed.


sense confusion here

i guess the firmware they have is the same version as the one on your orange handset. BUT the firmware on your handset is "branded", the firmware they have is generic.

if this is not the case then i would be pissed off if i took my t-mobile handset in and came out with all orange shite over it!!!

tell them to flash it any way

even though it is the same firmware it will still cure the problem

hope im clear

[bullerd]

What a bunch of useless t***ts Orange are. :x

After waiting 4 months!! to get the 'coming soon' 6680 it finally arrived today.

The main reason I got the phone was for the the Active Standby screen - I have had 4 series 60 phones inc 6630 and this was always something I needed. So how pleased was I when surfing through the menus of the new phone I found no Active Standby Screen! Straight on the net and lo and behold - this thread - any many others!!

Phoned Orange - what a joke, had to hang up on the guy in the end! Looks like we're on our own!

And so to my temp and partial solution - which is actually a result of my orginal problem! Given the lack of desktop/active standby screen on previous Series 60 phones, I have been using Cibenix Active Today. This is good desktop solution which shows all your calendar items, tasks, message info and has a customizable quick launch for 5 apps - very similar to the Active Standby we should have on the 6680!!

Generally it works fine although there are a couple of minor niggles with how it integrated with the main phone app and when installed on the 6630 the icons for the quick launch were corrupt - but still usable.

So I installed on my 6680 and away we go - no more crappy Orange Home Screen! Well its still lurking in the background but you avoid it most of the time and despite its presence, the Active Today seems to take over well and you get a combination of Active Standby functionality and also the proper Nokia telephone app. - so when you have a missed call it actually says 'Missed Call - View Exit' and 'Answerphone Msg - Listen?' (most of the time!!)

With Active today installed the menu key loops through the Actvie Today Screen then The Nokia Standby Screen and then the Menu. So for those of you that want the standard Nokia Standby Screen with up, down,left right + soft key shortcuts then its only a MENU button click away.

And if that Orange crap ever rears its ugly head (which it will cos its still running) then you only have to hit the menu key and its gone!

Its not perfect but its better than the shite Orange have come up with. (oh and the icons are still corrupt so dont expect it to look good!)

Oh, and you have to pay for it! But you can get a 28 day trial for free - hopefully you can get a new Nokia flash before it runs out!

http://www.cibenix.com/consumer/try-nokia60.html

[dgilbert2]

"Cibenix Active Today" does sound good apart from "corrupt icons".

Can you explain the issue, ie is it just that the icons are graphically wrong?

Also, if you uninstall, are the icons then correct?

thanks

[bullerd]

"Cibenix Active Today" does sound good apart from "corrupt icons".

Can you explain the issue, ie is it just that the icons are graphically wrong?

Also, if you uninstall, are the icons then correct?

thanks

Yes - just graphically wrong. I cant work out if Active Today has done this or if it is the phone.

Some apps like fireplayer and image manager icons are fine - almost all others are messed up tho.

However, icons are fine for every new app that I have installed.

Just uninstalled Active Today from my 6630 and icons still corrupt - so uninstall does not fix.

Just reinstalled on 6630 and all icons that were Ok still are - suggesting install does not mess any up.

When I look in FExplorer I can see that many other icons are messed up all over the place.

I have not tested to see if icons were corrupt before first installing AT - forget to check before I put it on 6680! Would be good to see if anyone has corrupt icons on 6630 or 6680 - just have a little surf around FExploer and see - I have many on both phones, particularly under C & E \system \apps but all over really.
Prob good to get to bottom of this in case installation of AT screws ya icons up!! :-?

Oh and just for clarity, none of the icons in the menu are screwed up - if AT or FEx show corrupt icons - for say 'Bluetooth' or 'Log' they still show fine in the menu. It is only in AT or FEx that you see corrupt icons??

[Resonate1]

Well guys i finally got it flashed today with generic firmware and WOW what a difference. The phone is now useable and i dont mean just the crappy orange bar I mean everything. Apps and menus work quickly, apps actually load without rebooting the phone WOWOWOWOW!

That damn bar was such a memory hog the phone became unusable.

So now my 6680 is the way Nokia designed it and what a great phone it is.

Get down to your local Nokia point and beg, bribe and do whatever is necessary to get it flashed, you wont regret it :)

Oh and the guy that said it will screw up the way the answerphone works.... i can confirm the answerphone works perfectly and shows the new message in the normal way a orange handset does :) Simply define the mailbox number +447973100123

Cheers

[mark4130]

That is BRILLIANT news!!!
as soon as mine has the jig, its getting flashed.
There is a god after all - and he most certainly isnt Orange!!!
Cheers

[BipolarChucker]

Well guys i finally got it flashed today with generic firmware and WOW what a difference. The phone is now useable and i dont mean just the crappy orange bar I mean everything. Apps and menus work quickly, apps actually load without rebooting the phone WOWOWOWOW!

That damn bar was such a memory hog the phone became unusable.

So now my 6680 is the way Nokia designed it and what a great phone it is.

Get down to your local Nokia point and beg, bribe and do whatever is necessary to get it flashed, you wont regret it :)

Oh and the guy that said it will screw up the way the answerphone works.... i can confirm the answerphone works perfectly and shows the new message in the normal way a orange handset does :) Simply define the mailbox number +447973100123

Cheers

That really is good news. I'll be heading for my local service centre as soon as possible!

If you suffer any issues such as with 3G or text messaging could you please let us all know as soon as possible. Thanks!

[Resonate1]

That really is good news. I'll be heading for my local service centre as soon as possible!

If you suffer any issues such as with 3G or text messaging could you please let us all know as soon as possible. Thanks!

Its been a couple of weeks now. What kind of issues with texts are you talking about? Ive seen no issues whatsoever.

Im typing this now via 3G with bluetooth from my laptop to phone. (internet at work is crap) I can confirm 3G is working perfectly lol.

[bullerd]

I got mine done and all seems well although I have no Line 2 or PVPlayer. I have put these issues on other threads but has anyone here sorted Line 2 on a reflashed phone and can you get Orange World Video Clips to work on your reflashed phones without PVPlayer?

[geegee]

...... OK, have managed to execute this file now using a third party file manager program. I get the following message when you execute the file:

'Hello, world'
'Command line args: " "
Failed
Found something: 24
[ press any key ]

If you then press any key its just takes you back to the file manager program. If you then try and go back to the home screen it seems to do a sort of 'soft re-boot' and then the Orange branded home screen comes back....
I get the same thing when I run it on my 6680. Has anyone got this to work properly? The Orange homescreen is driving me nuts!! :-x

[FOOOD]

I founds this post on another forum from lunatique.

Basically with this you can replace the default orange wallpaper on the Orange homescreen with the default Nokia wallpaper that you see when you go into the menu screens. (When you change the wallpaper normally it will work in the menus, but not on the crappy Orange homescreen).

Download this file:

http://www.iconaholic.com/downloads/Nokia_theme.zip

Then send mbm file to phone like a normal image.
6680 can open mbm files as long as they are 65,536 colour. Save this image in phones gallery

Open FExplorer and find this image. select Options>Edit>copy
Still in FExploerer go to C:\System\Apps\HomeScreen
You will now see another mbm file with same name. This is the blurred one the phone shows on activescreen.
Select Options>Edit>paste

The new mbm will now replace the blurred mbm.

Restart Phone.

Now when Active screen comes on it will look like standard standby screen although you will still have to contend with the annoying menu.

You can use any 176 x 188 bmp image to convert into the orange wallpaper but this way the phone looks more like a standard 6680


Big thanks to lunatique for this :D

[BipolarChucker]

Its been a couple of weeks now. What kind of issues with texts are you talking about? Ive seen no issues whatsoever.

Im typing this now via 3G with bluetooth from my laptop to phone. (internet at work is crap) I can confirm 3G is working perfectly lol.
I wasn't necessarily talking about text messages, moreover any general issues such as bullerd's now missing Line 2.
I'm not fussed for PVPlayer as it's just an app. I'm heading for my NSC this weekend to get it done. Bye bye Orange branding, bag of toss that it is.

[georgewkenny]

Congratulations Resonate1 for persisting at your Nokia Service centre and finally getting your 6680 fixed! I shall be heading to my nearest Centre to get my phone flashed.

It still infuriates me that Orange have done this - I cannot see any logic behind their actions for loading this menu onto the 6680.

I met up with someone yesterday who has a 6680 on the THREE network - obviously without the god forsaken ORANGE menu screen. The first thing I noticed was that the navigation button worked fine, but also, the whole operation of the phone was alot quicker and smoother. I have always stuck with Nokia phones for their quick and user friendly menu's, and it is clear that this Orange menu slows the whole operation of the phone down - Well done Orange, please give yourself some well deserved looser brownie points.

I called Orange just a few weeks ago, and when I was told this menu could not be removed, the operator on the 3G department laughed to himself and said that they have been Inundated with calls regarding this matter.

I really hope word has come round to the GURU at Orange who decided to grace this beautifully crafted phone and destroy it with this abhorrent software - he really must tortured, very slowly!

[pscs]

Well, I'm returning my 6680 phone that I just upgraded to today...

I phoned their helpdesk claiming it was a fault as the navigation buttons don't do what they're set to do. After 10-15 minutes of the person at the other end trying to get it to work as well, she was told that it's a known 'feature' due to the orange software, and it wasn't a 'fault' even though the manual said it should work, and the settings pages said it should work.

Anyway, because I'd only just upgraded, she put me through to the upgrades department to get the upgraded phone sent back. I chatted to the upgrade guy as he was putting the request through, and he said it wasn't the first time he'd heard this (about other Orange phones), and his comment was 'I don't know why we put our own software on, not only does it make us release the phones later than everyone else, but it cripples them as well' ('cripples' was his exact word..)

So, I think I'll be switching to '3' now... They've got a good deal on the 6680 at the moment...

[dgilbert2]

Ummm, personally I'm learning to live with the Orange home screen rather than go to 3 :-o

It does actually have its good points, I like it that you can see on one screen without pressing any buttons how many missed calls, messages and calender appointments are waiting for you.

Love the phone, learning to live with it! I'm happy.

[BipolarChucker]

Having attended Fonefix in York to have my 6680 flashed to a generic version of the firmware I left with it upgraded to version 3.04.35 of the Orange firmware and the guy scratching his head.

He explained that the flashing software only offered him the Orange version of the firmware and not the generic one and he couldn't force it to do a generic one. He explained that he would be making contact with Nokia this week to find out the way round the problem.

He said "There's definitely a way round it, I've just got to speak with Nokia first and can't do that 'til Monday."

Once I find out what has to be done I'll re-post here to let you all know.

[smithjn]

I took my 6630 in to be re-flashed on Saturday, the chap said he had tried putting the generic Nokia firmware on an Orange 6630 and it failed to boot-up.. he had tried a couple of times and had to give up..

I left with V4.03.40 and still have the rotten Homescreen..

I can't change my ringtones or access the Internet since getting this version though..

[BipolarChucker]

There is a god.... and it's my local NSP!

Orange homescreen is GONE! Huzzah

Blogged here: Orange homescreen freedom... at last! (http://www.delta-hf.co.uk/blog/?p=18)

[plopbob]

Orange are utter idiots. The whole 6680 system is crap. I recently got the 6680 on the '3' network tried it for 14days and then cancelled and sent the phone back as the Internet is firewalled and customer service Mumbia is diabolical.

After paying the extortionate upgrade fee to stay with Orange I was sent the B%^rstardised version of the 6680. It is utter utter crap. It is almost like a different phone the whole thing is so damn slow.

PLease please! can someone give me the no/address of a Nokia Service Point near/in London so I can get it flashed with the generic Firmware.

[leespud]

PLease please! can someone give me the no/address of a Nokia Service Point near/in London so I can get it flashed with the generic Firmware.


go on www.nokia.com and enter your postcode should tell you the nearest one

[plopbob]

Yes, thanks but it gives me a load of Carphone Warehouse shop addresses. Can they do flashing there?

[leespud]

Yes, thanks but it gives me a load of Carphone Warehouse shop addresses. Can they do flashing there?


if the carphone warehouse is on the list then yes it will, these specific stores has engineers on site usually very high level trained ones with lots of epuipment. the only thing with carphone warehouse is they have deals with other networks so refuse to unlock handsets, but that is not an issue in this case.

[plopbob]

thanks, I will report here how i get on.

[plopbob]

I have been to the main Carephone Warehouse NSP (Marlyebone Road) in London and they tell me the Orange branded 6680 can not be flashed to generic nokia status.

The software that Nokia provide prohibits any upgrade apart from Orange firmware upgrade. The engineers would have liked to find a way around it but couldnt.

At a seperate NSP in East London, they said they had halted all Nokia 6680 reflashing after a high % of phones were being killed (unable to power on) after flashing.

Anyone have any info on this?

I am resigned to the fact that my 6680 will be a heap of Orange customised sh!te for ever more.

P.s. My firmware verison is:

V 3.04.35
12-05-05
RM-36

[jdub765]

I'm from the US and I just bought a 3230 from the UK... Unfortunately, it's branded to hell by Orange, so, of course, it has the dreaded Orange homescreen. What sort of solutions do I have? This phone hasn't ven been released here, let alone the 6680. I think the 6670 has been released here though.

Man, the other problem I have is that I can't seem to locate a Nokia location here. The only places that we have in the US are Cingular, Verizon, etc locations.

Is it possible to flash the phone yourself?

[leespud]

I'm from the US and I just bought a 3230 from the UK... Unfortunately, it's branded to hell by Orange, so, of course, it has the dreaded Orange homescreen. What sort of solutions do I have? This phone hasn't ven been released here, let alone the 6680. I think the 6670 has been released here though.

Man, the other problem I have is that I can't seem to locate a Nokia location here. The only places that we have in the US are Cingular, Verizon, etc locations.

Is it possible to flash the phone yourself?

i think the cheapest way to do it your self is with a jaf box, which the cheapest ive seen is about $300 USD

[jdub765]

i think the cheapest way to do it your self is with a jaf box, which the cheapest ive seen is about $300 USD
oh lawd.

well, that sucks... :(

[jdub765]

does anyone know where I can download the generic Nokia software for my 3230? I don't know if anyone in the states has the software yet so I was thinking that maybe I could burn it to a CD and bring it in with me to the store to get the phone flashed.

[jdub765]

Today, somehow, the orange homescreen app crashed or something, so I was left w/ an unbranded OS for about 3 hours. Nicest 3 hours my phone has given me... And then it somehow came back :(

[Resonate1]

Guys, as previously posted dont let the NSP's tell you crap. It is possible to flash it generic cos mine has been done, i wont post the name of the service point here as they asked me not to but if anyone wants to know please PM me.

With regards the guys comments re Line 2, im not sure cos I dont have line 2, however, when i get an answer phone message it tells me that the message is on line 1 and in Tools, Settings, Call i have the options Line in Use (Line 1, Line 2) and line Change (Enable, Disable) so i presume all is fine with that also. Whilst Line 2 is specific in the Uk to Orange it does not require special software else the Default Generic firmware would not have reference to it in its menus.

[Resonate1]

Guys, as previously posted dont let the NSP's tell you crap. It is possible to flash it generic cos mine has been done, i wont post the name of the service point here as they asked me not to but if anyone wants to know please PM me.

With regards the guys comments re Line 2, im not sure cos I dont have line 2, however, when i get an answer phone message it tells me that the message is on line 1 and in Tools, Settings, Call i have the options Line in Use (Line 1, Line 2) and line Change (Enable, Disable) so i presume all is fine with that also. Whilst Line 2 is specific in the Uk to Orange it does not require special software else the Default Generic firmware would not have reference to it in its menus.

[tonofun]

DON'T DESPAIR PEOPLE, IT IS POSSIBLE!


I have a story to tell about this issue, so bear with me yea...

About 3 weeks ago, I ordered a 6680 from Three, got it, loved it, until I tried to get on the Internet. Phoned them up, at which point I learned that it was IMPOSSIBLE to get on the internet with the phone while it was on Three's network... :mad: I was pretty pissed at this!

So, cancelled the contract straight away, sent the phone back, decided to go back with Orange, and I loved that phone so much (had a 6600 before, and that was ace too!) I had to have it again. Got the new phone from Orange, powered it up... WTF? :???:

"The F**k is this?" I thought to myself, when I was greeted with the abomination that is the "Orange Homescreen" Totally different to the one I just sent back.

Meh, I just took it to be the "Active Standby" feature I saw on the other one, just modified a bit, so I went into the options to try to turn it off... "Where's the option to turn it off gone to?" :???:

So, I seemed to be stuck with it! Not happy :mad: Did a bit of research, found this site, and this thread in particular, found others who were just as pissed as I was at Orange for ruining Nokia's easy-to-use interface with this steaming pile o' crap! Reading through this thread, I learnt I needed to have the phone re-flashed to get rid of the Orange software and branding pre-loaded onto my lovely new 6680... Phoned Orange, moaned at them profusely, they told me to phone Nokia, phoned Nokia, moaned again even more profusley, they told me the same thing, needed to be flashed if I wanted rid of it.

"Ok. So where do I gotta go to get this done then, and how much is it gonna cost me?"

"Your nearest Nokia Service Centre is at *blah blah blah* (Cardiff if you're interested), and the phone is under warranty (brand new, better be!), so no charges."

"W00t" thought me, at least this ain't gonna cost me money...

Phoned the place in Cardiff, "Yea, sure, bring it down, we'll sort it out for you no problem sir." "Great!" I thought. Went down, "Oh no, we can't do it here I'm afraid, it has to be sent back to Nokia to be done."

"The F**K!??? You just told me on the phone an hour ago I could bring it down and you could do it while I wait!" Muppets!

So, the phone gets sent back to Nokia to be "repaired", and they said it'll take 5 - 10 working days! :( Get the call, "Sir, your phone is back (9 days later)"

"Great, I'll be right down"

So, go down there, turn it on, and lo and behold, it still EXACTLY THE F***ING SAME, THERE'S THE ORANGE HOMESCREEN CRAP AGAIN! :mad: This wasn't supposed to happen. Moaned some more at the muppets in Cardiff, they said they would try and do it for me themselves :???: Huh? Didn't you just tell me last week you couldn't do it and it had to be sent back to Nokia??? AAARGH! So, I left it with them, praying to the gods of mobile phone bliss that they could sort it for me.

Phoned them the next day to ask what was going on, "Ummm, we're waiting to hear back from the Tech guys at Nokia for some advice on how to do this." SO, not only are they not sure what they're doing (even tho I told it just needed the generic nokia firmware put on it), they're phoning the people they sent it to in the first place who returned it in exactly the same condition, with the rubbish I wanted to be rid of! "Oh great!"

4 days later I phone them up again, telling them that I found some info on the internet about a guy who successfully had this issue resolved and blogged some info about his story (in this thread actually, cheers m8), and I gave them the name and number of the company he used (FoneFix in York) so that maybe they could phone up their tech guys for some advice perhaps. So they did. I phone them up again, and they tell me it's still the same. Deflated and losing hope, I give in and say I'll be down soon to pick it up, with the intention of posting it on up to FoneFix in York to get them to sort it out for me.

So, I go down to Cardiff to pick it up, turn it on, and "The F**K????" No more home screen! YAY!!! I say to them that it's done, and they're like "Huh?" They say to me

"But it's still got those icons on the screen, we've been trying to get rid of them for the last few days..."

Looking at the screen, I realise that these guys deserve a title even more prestigious than "Muppets". The icons they were referring to were the BOG STANDARD ACTIVE STANDBY ICONS!!! The active standby feature is on by default on this firmware apparently, and they've been thinking that they were the Orange homescreen icons. It's been working perfectly since they first flashed it themselves! I made sure I explicitly showed them the wanky Orange Homescreen and it's awfulness too, and the fact the you couldn't turn it off. Some people eh?

But, the story has a happy ending, cause I know have a beautifully clean brand new Nokia 6680, devoid of the foul bunk that Orange decided to disease it with to begin with. :-D

[plopbob]

If anyone knows anywhere in London that does the correct flashing pls tell me. I have had it flashed twice now but no cigar.

[georgewkenny]

Nice story TonoFun - can just imagine the pain you've been going through as with everybody else on here! Why is it that Orange manage to employ retards that think they know better than Nokia?

Nokia pay there developers $$$$$$$'s of bucks to be the best at making INTUIATIVE, INNOVATIVE, QUICK, EASY menu systems that have been the envy of all the other mobile phone manufacturers - and what do Orange do I ask.... ? GO AND SCREW THE WHOLE THING OVER WITH THEIR CR@P "Orange Homescreen" IDEA!!!

Arrrggghhh!

Looks like the guys in Cardiff managed to fix the problem for you TonoFun, and Resonate1 has also found a store to destroy the Curse of Orange - however, I have called all of the Nokia stores listed on the Nokia site that are within reasonable distance to myself in London of which ALL tell me that removing the Orange quicklaunch homescreen is impossible!

http://www.nokia.co.uk/nokia/0,8764,33684,00.html

I spend around £200 per month on International calls with my phone, and also have 3 member of staff with phones under the same Business Plus scheme. I will be making sure that I change from Orange next year as I cannot trust an operator who makes such rash decisions without consulting their loyal customer base first! B@STARDS!

[An@L-R@Pi5T]

I only got my beloved 6680 yesterday in order to load TomTom GPS software onto the phone - 1 of few phones that this can be done on.

After unpacking the phone from its brand new box, charging it for a good few hours and finally getting to use it, I was quite interested by this new menu system on the main screen which is not typical of the standard Nokia interface.

Being open minded, and willing to try new things I was happy to play around with this system and see if it was an improvement to the original Nokia interface. After just a couple of hours, I had decided for a plethora of reasons that I wasn’t too favorable to the new and "Improved" interface. Assured that Nokia wouldn’t go willy nilly sticking new software onto phones that was either customisable by the user - or removable, I tried to uninstall the damn thing.....

.... "Oh, wait a sec, what’s this?" I can’t remove the software??? No option within the phone to remove it and return to the standard Nokia options with which I am so used to???? (By this stage, the vein in my temple was just beginning to throb and beat, but only very slightly.

I gave Orange a call and GUESS WHAT....... I bet you can guess what I'm going to say next cant you?????..... - YOU GUESSED IT - Nokia Didn’t put this software on the phone - It was bloody ORANGE!!!!! :(

The chirpy voice of the customer service agent in the 3g department completely changed its tone when I began to explain my plight - He told me that all agents are being advised to just tell customers to "get used to the new system" and that this god forsaken software ('god forsaken' - my words, not his!) was causing more call logs than any other problem he had experienced during his time at Orange.

I jumped on the web and had a browse for options to take this software off in the defiance that this service agent at Orange had it wrong and that Orange would surely provide a removal option. Low and behold, I came across this article, and by the end of reading all this literature from equally frustrated customers, the vein on the side of both my temples was beating like Linford Christie on a hot summer’s day 100m sprint!!!

I cannot believe the audacity of Orange to do something like this! I completely sympathise with all of you guys on here - apart of course from DGilbert2: Are you sure you don’t work for Orange? This menu system is utter sh1te! Slow, un-responsive, too many button presses - the list goes on!

Thankfully I get a 14 day grace period and have nipped this in the bud early enough, so will be returning the phone tomorrow and changing tariff to THREE or VFone - hopefully - he says!

Such a shame, really don’t want to leave Orange, but if this is the result, then I'll have sacrifice their excellent customer service for a phone that actually does what it is designed to do!

[cprafferty]

The more I read this thread the more I am glad I have my own JAF box.

Its the same with 3, I better they will "Junk Up" the newer nokias next.

[tonofun]

Looks like the guys in Cardiff managed to fix the problem for you TonoFun, and Resonate1 has also found a store to destroy the Curse of Orange - however, I have called all of the Nokia stores listed on the Nokia site that are within reasonable distance to myself in London of which ALL tell me that removing the Orange quicklaunch homescreen is impossible!



Trust me man, thats what I feared too, but you can have your 6680 with Orange without the wanky homescreen, just like me, persistence is all thats required. The store that Resonate1 found in York, FoneFix (http://www.fonefix.com/) can do it for you via post, 2 -3 day turn-a-round, just give them a call man. :)

[plopbob]

I have phoned FoneFix in York and unfortunately if you have the same firmware as me:

V 3.04.35
12-05-05
RM-36

(just enter *#0000#)

Thern you are screwed. The problem is that all the NSP's have the same software, the only time you can change to default Nokia firmware is when the latest firmware direct from nokia is NEWER than the latest firmware by Orange. So I'm screwed.

I have been told by the guys at Fonefix in York to wait a few weeks and hope that Nokia release a new firmware soon.

As soon as Nokia does, I need to get it flashed and it should be ok.

bugg*r

[vigilante_xix]

So not what I wanted to hear PLOPBOP... I'm on the same god damn version!!! arrrggghhh :mad:

I got my nice new phone delivered last Friday but didn't get a chance to actually go through the upgrade process until Sunday night. Since then, I've tried to like the interface but I can't. I HATE it and not the only one by the sounds of things :roll:

Reading this whole thread was a great relief that I'm not the only one with this problem but on the other end of the scale, extremely frustrated that Orange are not listening to their customers.

I have had to reboot the phone countless occasions because applications seem to stop responding. I'm a heavy phone user and very quick with menu selections but this is so dog slow. As with my previous Nokia 6230, I used the rocker switch in the middle which now is non existant. The Symbian OS is a little different to get used too but the benefits of 3G far outweigh the slight negatives - but this Orange 'Homescreen' is awfull.
(One negative being only one time left for any logged calls! My 6230 and even my 7210 used to show the last 5 call times for each caller - not a major issue but it was nice to have. I guess it's a Symbian OS thing... unless of course this 'Homescreen' has something to do with it???)

So, tommorow I was going to go to my local NSC to get the phone re-flashed as per the numerous posts in this thread but as PLOPBOB has pointed out, I may be wasting my time.

I have only 7 days to send it back from time of delivery so only a day or two left. Don't really know what to do?? Really want 3G and Nokia... Should I be looking at another network? Don't want to as been very happy with Orange cust service and network coverage.

If the same version can't be applied, surely an older version could be flashed and then re-flash to the latest version? :confused:

Anyway, still gonna give it a go and I'll post the outcome tomorrow.

[tonofun]

I have phoned FoneFix in York and unfortunately if you have the same firmware as me:

V 3.04.35
12-05-05
RM-36

(just enter *#0000#)

Thern you are screwed. The problem is that all the NSP's have the same software, the only time you can change to default Nokia firmware is when the latest firmware direct from nokia is NEWER than the latest firmware by Orange. So I'm screwed.

I have been told by the guys at Fonefix in York to wait a few weeks and hope that Nokia release a new firmware soon.

As soon as Nokia does, I need to get it flashed and it should be ok.

bugg*r

The firmware version on mine is 3.04.37 01-06-05 rm-36, which is obviously newer than the one you've got now eh?

[vigilante_xix]

The firmware version on mine is 3.04.37 01-06-05 rm-36, which is obviously newer than the one you've got now eh?

That's fantastic news... :-D I've now got that little more hope when I turn up tomorrow.

Can you let me know which of the two NSC's in Cardiff you went to please.

[plopbob]

Right I'm going back to the main Carphone Warehouse flashing point, which is on Marleybone Road.

Tonofun - thx for that info. I will try again.

After experiencing 3 and O2, I think Orange is the best network, although the tw*t that designed the orange homescreen needs throttling.

[tonofun]

That's fantastic news... :-D I've now got that little more hope when I turn up tomorrow.

Can you let me know which of the two NSC's in Cardiff you went to please.

I went to Zone Cellular, on Dumballs Road, near Penarth Road...

[vigilante_xix]

Right then, just to update you all... I went down to my local NSC to get my 6680 firmware flashed to a non Orange version.

At first the lady on the desk told me 'No'. This was due to the phone being locked down to the Orange network! I thought this was bo**ocks so I persisted. She was typing in the question on a PC and the actual engineer was downstairs. Again the lady replied with a firm 'No' as doing this upgrade with non Orange firmware will render the phone unusable! Again, I thought Bo**ocks so I persisted again. Eventually the engineer actually came out of his little cupboard under the stairs and we had a quick chat. I explained the problem to both of them again and was greeted with confusion and 'Does it really bother you that much?'.

Anyway, the engineer finally agreed to do the upgrade for a charge of £10 but made sure that I understood that the phone will NOT work afterwards.

So half an hour later, I turn up with my £10 and the temp phone they gave me in the mean time. We swapped, I switched it on and behold... no Orange Homescreen!

The lady behind the counter asked if it was it alright and I smiled and said 'yup'. The engineer then asked 'So you prefer the menu items in the middle rather than the side?' Don't really think he knew what the difference was. They also both seemed to think I was wierd asking for this but I don't care. I've now got a normal Nokia phone where I can turn off the Active Screen.

So now that I've had some time to restore all my contacts etc and play a bit, it seems the video player does dissappear. However, all the applications that I installed previously on my 64MB card including FExplorer, Call Recorder, PhoneLock & London Underground Map reappeard once I slotted it back in. Had to reinstall the London Underground Map for some reason though!?!

However, the 'Installer' which Orange supplies on the card to install 'Guide', 'Back Up' & 'Downloads' does not allow you to re-install them. Comes up with 'Installation Security Error. Unable to install'. I don't think this is a major issue as there is a Nokia Backup application under Tools > Memory > Options. As for the downloads, I'm not too sure. Can't remember what this was for to be honest.

Internet Access from the handset it perfect. I get full glorious 3G speed. I expect Internet from my notebook, through my phone, will also work fine with the cable and Bluetooth but will post if I have any issues.

I have been testing the Internet a fair bit since I've had the phone upgraded this morning and everything seems to be working fine. I've just installed Orange TV which is pretty cool. Who ever upgrades to 3G gets a 3 month trial of data downloads which includes 1Gb of data a month. Orange TV is also free to subscribe to for the first 3 months so together... It's all free. Only for 3 months mind you!

All in all, I am very happy with this phone now. I have it personalised how I want it and it runs so much smoother than previously. I would highly recommend the flash upgrade to remove that crap orange put on there.

I am now on the following version
V 3.04.37
01-06-05
RM-36

Hope this helps people.

[lsr1981]

Hello all,

Interesting post and after looking a non-Orange version of the 6680 I am even more annoyed than ever.

I have had my phone for about 2 months now and after reading this thread a lot of the problems I seem to be having are related to the Orange Home screen.

I am just looking for some opinions on whether my problems could be caused by the Orange Home screen as I am seriously considering getting out of my contract and going else where.

I know I can get my phone reflashed, well I could but my local NSC said they couldn't do Orange and I have had several gripes with Orange over the past year so I have about had it with them. I am a high usage business user so use my phone as more of a tool and the Active Standby is a feature that really made my mind up to get the phone and since having my 6680 I have done away with my iPAQ. I don't want another phone, I love the 6680 but I hate the Orange branding.

Anyway back to my problems, firstly the ones I am sure are the Orange Home screen:

1. If the Keypad is locked and I receive a SMS/MMS/E-Mail, or have a missed call then the screen will not always update itself so I have no idea, unless it just happens to be in the sleep mode with the clock in the bar. This can cause problems.

2. There is know way of knowing what profile I am in unless it is 'Silent' as the Orange Home screen doesn't tell you, I often use 'Meeting' with a single beep if I am busy so I can take a call if needs be.

3. The Bluetooth icon does not always display the correct status, sometime it will tell me I am connected when I am not and vice versa.

4. The missed calls display will not always clear when I got into the Call Log and have to do it about three times (I think this is mentioned else where)


Now the problems that I think might be Orange Home related:

1. Bluetooth can be very iffy, sometimes if I have had a connection to say my car kit then got out to go to a shop upon returning to my car the car kit will not find the phone, this also happens with a Bluetooth data card on my PC and iPAQ. The only way to solve this is to reboot the phone and all is fine.

2. The phone is VERY slow and sometimes restarts in the middle of something.

3. I can not use the multi-shot feature of the camera in high resolution mode, only low as I get told I need more memory and to exit applications.

4. Sometimes I get told I have no memory and need to close applications, and all I had running was the Telephone.

5. USB data connections do not always work, much like the Bluetooth problem and will require a phone reboot.


I really dislike what they have done with the phone and the support is terrible. You get told that it is a feature, ok that is fine but you have disabled what I actually want. And as far as the problems such as icons not displaying correctly and the phone being slow, which are problems they tell me that they will make a note of it and put it into feedback. Upon asking when you have a revised version of the software do I send my phone to you to have it reflashed I get told it will not be available to existing customers.

I am looking to get out of the contract without paying by some form of trading standards 'Phone not being fit for the purpose I bought it for' clause so any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

Regards,

Lee

[vigilante_xix]

Well lsr1981, I would suggest you get back to your NSC and insist that they flash it with the generic Nokia firmware.

Many of the issues that you have stated could have been buggy software as you have had the phone for while now. So even upgrading to the latest version of the Orange firmware will probably fix some of them.

However, if your gonna do that, then you might as well just get the Generic Nokia firmware.

I only had my phone for a week and it had crashed on me so many times either simply not responding so I have to switch it off or it rebooted itself. Now the phone runs as smooth as you'd expect a Nokia to run. I don't think I'm missing any Orange specific services either so really no reason not to upgrade.

Just insist and insist again that the service centre upgrade it for you. If they still won't then perhaps try the next local one. It seems they do need a slight kick up the backside to agree. I paid for my upgrade but not sure about the others that have managed it.

Also, just to note, you can put your 3G sim card into a 2G phone. Therefore, if you've still got your old phone along with all your contacts etc, you can still have a phone if the nokia upgrade fails. Just send the phone back to orange for a replacement (if you have insurance). I specifically asked the Orange 3G support helpdesk if doing this upgrade would invalidate the insurance and was told it would be fine. They were sceptical it would work, just as the people in the Carphone Warehouse were but I'm more than happy with the result.

Oh, and one more thing... Since you've had your phone for two months you might want to run a full backup of your phone to the memory card, using the backup tool under 'Menu' > 'Tools' > 'Memory' > 'Options' > 'Backup phone mem.' and select 'Yes'. You can use this same menu to restore the backup once you've had the phone reflashed. You should get all the settings your phone has now like shortcut locations and bluetooth settings along with all your contacts etc. This is what I did and mine restored all settings and contacts back to normal.

Hope this all helps... goodluck!

[lsr1981]

Thanks for the quick reply vigilante_xix.

I forgot to mention that it wasn't that my NSC wouldn't reflash, they couldn't as they didn't have the software.

I do have a 2G phone which I tried to use but I get told that it is restricted and I need a code to unlock. Orange say I need to contact Nokia so I am doing that today.

Just to update on the Nokia query, spoke to the lovely people at Nokia support about the phone code Orange said they could give me...they can't it is Orange that need to do that. Spoke to them and they have now sent it to tech support. I also explained why I was trying to use my old 2G phone and when I said I had a 6680 she understood my plight. THey have had lots of calls with people rining about the Orange 6680 and can;t understand why Orange have made such a mess of it all.

With regards to "Many of the issues that you have stated could have been buggy software as you have had the phone for while now", surely a phone should last more than 2 months before going wrong?

Lee

[zeuice]

Just some ideas to get people thinking.

I've noticed from some of the posts about this subject (the orange custom menu), that one solution to the problem was to install a program called "active today" by a company called cibenix.

What this program does is replace the orange menu (WooHoo!!!), but unfortunately it's not a very erm.. "eye candy" filled application (Boo!!!).

But... There are a couple of possible solutions to this along these lines.

If a program can install over the orange menu, perhaps someone can work out how to install the default "nokia active desktop" back over the orange menu by changing a configuration file. It's even conceivable that nokia could bring out the active desktop as a stand alone application (Sony Ericsson did and it got rid of the problem).

The other solution is that someone writes an application to exceed that of "active today" just for the purpose of removing the orange app.

In the meantime we really all need to complain to orange, when I called they told me they were rethinking their policy on the orange menu, so the more people that complain mean the more chance we have of changing things.

you can email customer services to raise the issue too:

[email protected]

[plopbob]

FYI None of the Carephone Warehouse NSP's will flash your phone to generic Nokia -it is a new policy that has been rolled out after chatting at length to the engineers.

The best bet is to find an independent phone NSP. So if anyone knows of one in London please tell me!

Spoke to Orange last night and the chap told me that this problem with the 6680 is getting thousands of calls. He told me "to try and send the phone to Nokia to get it flashed. "

Keep up the pressure, eventually Orange will have to provide a reflashing service or something. You cant sell people buggy sh*te when they have paid for quality.

[lsr1981]

Well I thought I had away out, spoke to trading standards to see what my rights were as without the Active Standby and all the bugs in the Orange software the phone is not what I wanted.

They said that if the manufacture lists the Active Standby as a feature and Orange has disabled it without any information displayed about it then the phone is not as described, also with the bugs it is not fit for the purpouse intended. Great I thought, until I phone Orange only to be told that if I had asked in the shop when getting the phone, "Does this phone have the Active Standy feature disabled?" then they would have told me that it had been replaced by the Orange Home screen.

Seriously though, who honestly thought to ask that question? I assumed that being that it was a key feature of the phone, something that Nokia was so pleased with there was a section about it in the interactive section of the phone demo. It is like buying a car and having to ask the question "Could you tell me if this car is supplied with a steering wheel?".

So far it is not looking good, I can't use my old 6230 as it is network locked and Orange can't tell me how to unlock it, even though it is an Orange phone.

And now being told that my Orange Care will not cover my phone if I have the reflash done then I am stumped on what to do other than live with the Orange Home screen :cry:

Any ideas?

[vigilante_xix]

Hey lsr1981,

If your looking to unlock your 6230, I unlocked mine using the free software available from www.unlockme.co.uk. Just follow the instructions on the site on what to do.

As for your 6680, I spoke to Orange regarding my insurance and they told me that the insurance wouldn't be affected.

The best thing you can do is unlock your 6230 so you have a working phone. Then chance it and take your 6680 into a NSC to get it flashed with Nokia generic firmware. If worst comes to worst and it fails to work, just tell orange it doesn't work for some unknown reason and they will send you a new one. If your that worried about it... conveniently loose it. You will have to raise a log ref with the police but it's not that much hassle.

I have done all the above and now have a fully operational 6680. I can't recommend it enough.

If what plopbob has stated is true and the all Carphone Warehouse NSC's have stopped upgrading I guess you might be a little stuck. FoneFix in York may have been sent the latest software by now and even if they haven't, your phone is more than 2 months old so would probably be alright to be upgraded with the software version they have. Check out a previous post by plopbob for version info etc.

[lsr1981]

Hi vigilante_xix,

With regards to Orange Insurance one person has told me that it would be covered and the other person told me that it would void everything. I don't know.

Since Carphone Warehouses are my only NSC I am a bit stuck, though I only live about an hour away from York so I might have to take a trip up there.

I think when it is time to upgrade my phone again I might be moving networks after this, I hae never had so much trouble with a phone.

Lee

[Sharpharp]

I've had enuff of the Orange Homescreen, its ruined the phone. Bugs aplenty, from not seeing receiving text messages when the phone keypad is locked, to it running slower than a fat bird on big mac tip.

I'm on version 3.04.35, gonna drop of at Fonefix to get sorted. What did they charge, for those that got it done?

Cheers
Sharpy

[plopbob]

I have faith that I can reflash my phone. Just not managed it yet.

On a random note, those new on Orange 3G with the 6680 (got the 3 months free 1GB download data offer they have running atthe moment). Download this file sharing app for the 6680 it is awesome for Mp3's. It does not upload, only download so no legal issues at all.

http://symella.aut.bme.hu/download.html

[Sharpharp]

Went n got it flashed today to Generic Nokia Software, all i can say is "there is a god", orange should be shot for phucking up a perfectly good phone.

The Generic version is much better. menu's notably faster, the memory free is consistantly more, and best of all you get a proper message received notice on screen, and most of all, the "choice" of using Active Standby, so i couldn't recommend it enough if your on Orange.

Sharpy

[ianyoung82]

....... it seems the video player does dissappear........

Just got my Orange 6680 and want to do the reflash thingy. My nearest nokia place is a "FoneBox" so hopefully they can do it. But one question 1st:-

How do you now play recorded videos or download videos?

Cheers mate


....Symella.....

Don't want to talk here as it's off topic (breaking rules :eek: ) but could you please visit my newly created thread (http://nokiafree.org/forums/t76865/h/s.html) and answer some questions.

Thank you

[plopbob]

Recorded videos will play in Gallery/Realplyer which would work fine. Downloaded videos should work fine too.

[plopbob]

After numerous calls to NSP's/Nokia/Carphone warehouse/Orange etc. and 4 attempts at reflashing I have suceeded.

The engineer at the Canary Wharf, London NSP has worked out how to do it. He charges £20 and does it in a few minutes - and unsuprisingly he has been very busy recently on this particular task.

Everything works fine and the phone is awesome - runs quicker and has all features working perfectly as you would expect from Nokia. I am now version 3.04.37 (01-06-05) RM-36.

[thetinster]

My mate has just got a new 6630 from orange and I was appalled to see the homescreen and my initial feelings were substantiated when I had a mess around with the phone. I have a 6630 without the homescreen and i've gotta say it is terrible. I quickly installed taskspy on my mates phone and killed the app. I then installed a new theme on his phone and informed him to hold down the menu button to switch between applications at all times. Hey presto no more homescreen!

[ianyoung82]

As you know, I'm very interested in getting my Orange 6680 reflashed by Nokia. But first I need insurance and secondly I need to know:-

After the reflash, what do you have to do to setup the phone again and access the Orange network, SMS server and WAP etc.... Do I need to make note of all the settings and set the phone up manually when I get it back, or will it all be setup automatically and ready to use as it is now, just without the annoying homescreen?

Cheers everyone

[plopbob]

If you are with Orange you are already insured for 1 yr (including theft and liquid damage). So rather than worry about whether the insurance will cover your reflash you can 'accidentally drop it in the bath' if it all goes pear shaped (which i very much doubt).

Reflashing literally took 5minutes.The phone content is not affected at all. All messages/installed applications/themes/ringtone settings/message centre settings arer all kept. Nothing needs changing, the orange homescreen just disappears by magic -and you have more free memory.

[redy01]

Hi,
Does the phone work(unlocked) with any network sim card after it gets flashed?.

redy01

[yammy]

I went to Zone Cellular, on Dumballs Road, near Penarth Road...
Are these the guys that flashed yours to the "version on mine is 3.04.37 01-06-05 rm-36" ?

How much did they charge, and did they do it there & then?
Its a 100 mile round trip for me and I only want to do it the once :roll:

Cheers m8

[bigbadbob]

As I understand it from Orange, there is nothing dodgy (illegal) about reflashing the phones with an updated, but pure Nokia version of firmware on 6680s. I'm still struggling to find an independent in the [Bristol] area who can reflash a 6680 (the jig seems to be essential).

I'm sure it would be helpful if other users could list success stories on this forum/thread - detailers of dealers who can reflash the firmware. I could even post a compiled list on some webspace with search hooks for Google so that others can sort their phones out too.

Meanwhile, I have been bombarding senior managers in Orange with complaints about this phone, as I'm now stuck with this awful user interface for another 11 months. Unless I sort the firmware out...

[leespud]

As I understand it from Orange, there is nothing dodgy (illegal) about reflashing the phones with an updated, but pure Nokia version of firmware on 6680s. I'm still struggling to find an independent in the [Bristol] area who can reflash a 6680 (the jig seems to be essential).

I'm sure it would be helpful if other users could list success stories on this forum/thread - detailers of dealers who can reflash the firmware. I could even post a compiled list on some webspace with search hooks for Google so that others can sort their phones out too.

Meanwhile, I have been bombarding senior managers in Orange with complaints about this phone, as I'm now stuck with this awful user interface for another 11 months. Unless I sort the firmware out...


why not go to the place in cardiff previously mentioned in this thread, it is only over the bridge if you live in bristol

[yammy]

Just got back from Zone cellular in cardiff (200 mile drive, there and back!!) with my 6680 in the same state as when i went it :-x
They tried loads of diff firmware, euro versions, the 3.04.37 01-06-05 rm-36 one, but no luck. The guy said that some phones just wont accept the connection. When asked about previous ones they had done, he said they went through no problem. Seems Im stuck with the orange crap for a bit longer...

[bigbadbob]

why not go to the place in cardiff previously mentioned in this thread, it is only over the bridge if you live in bristol

Been there... (T shirt etc). Zone Cellular don't have the jig and couldn't flash my Orange 6680. Need to keep looking, although I have a mate in Orange and I'm going to see if I can petition some of their senior technical directors/managers.

[gwilli]

Have you considred ringing up Club Nokia? I rang them up and they were EXTREMELY helpful. They gave me the location of my closest Club Nokia Service center that would do it for me. They told me it'd invalidate my warrenty but that's what insurance is for ;). It's well worth it. I got mine removed and it works like 10 times better than orange's shitty modded firmware.

G.Willi

[bigbadbob]

Have you considred ringing up Club Nokia? I rang them up and they were EXTREMELY helpful. They gave me the location of my closest Club Nokia Service center that would do it for me. They told me it'd invalidate my warrenty but that's what insurance is for ;). It's well worth it. I got mine removed and it works like 10 times better than orange's shitty modded firmware.

G.Willi

Thanks - have signed up tonight and will give them a bell tomorrow. Is the end in sight????

[yammy]

I have just been on the phone to fonefix, and am sending mine off to then today for flashing. They knew exactly why I wanted it flashing and said it will most definately come back orange free :)
£19:95 + £5:50 return p+p

[bigbadbob]

Thanks - have signed up tonight and will give them a bell tomorrow. Is the end in sight????
Tried Club Nokia... 'Chocolate Fireguard' comes to mind. Email reply (which backs up the phone conversation I had):

With regard to your email query concerning your 6680, please note that
is not possible to reset the handset to disable the Orange variant
software since this is loaded on the phone during manufacture. It may be
possible to use a SIM free 6680 without Orange software with an Orange
SIM card, however you should confirm this with Orange.

If you should have further questions or suggestions please feel free to
contact us anytime.

With best regards,
Your Nokia Helpline


So it looks like fonefix is the only solution. I think they're going to be very busy in the next few months.

[yammy]

Just had a call from fonefix to say the phone is ready and they will be sending it in the post this afternoon :D

[dani2xll]

What an interesting read. If i had known this thread existed i would have popped in earlier. Anyways, its old news now. Bought my phone on 7 Aug and got it flashed on 10 aug to remove all oranges generic crap and received the unlock code a week ago. So i'm totally free of orange, although i'll use it for a couple months to check out symella. And it was done by a nokia service provider and yes, they can do it, despite some of them saying that they cant. It was a special favor and no fees were involved.

[bigbadbob]

Just been into Servus in Broad St, Bath. They say they can do a full reflash :) - but not until next week sometime :( , as they currently have a defect on their hardware and cannot guarantee success until the repair has been effected. Fallback is fonefix - they say they'll turn a phone around in under 48 hours.

Will post reply if Servus is successful next week.

Meanwhile, all quiet on the Orange front.

[yammy]

At last it's gone! :lol:

Well impressed with fonefix. They got my phone, flashed it and posted it back all on the same day. Wish Id done that in the first place instead of driving to Cardiff and back for nothing...

[sutt359]

Hi guys

Im having the same problems with the orange rubbish on my 6630.

Ive called round local NCS in southampton and they all say they can only flash the phone with the origonal orange firmware. I even rang Club Nokia and got the same crap from them.

Could someone give me a name and address of somewhere that will reflash my phone?

Thanks Kev

[bigbadbob]

Hi guys

Im having the same problems with the orange rubbish on my 6630.

Ive called round local NCS in southampton and they all say they can only flash the phone with the origonal orange firmware. I even rang Club Nokia and got the same crap from them.

Could someone give me a name and address of somewhere that will reflash my phone ('cos I can't be bothered to read the rest of this thread)?

Thanks Kev

There's a bit of a http://www.fonefix.com/ vibe on this page. Or is it just me?

[bigbadbob]

Got my 6680 re-flashed today at Servus in Bath (they're currently in Broad Street, but I think about to relocate within the city). Really friendly and helpful. Charged £20 but sorted within 2 hours - probably could have done "While U Wait" if I'd had 15 mins spare to hang around.
And the phone is as good as everyone else says - Active Standby is particularly fab.
Will still keep hassling Orange. You never know, we may the £20 charge back in the future.

[zeuice]

had this nokia firmware (with the god awful orange homescreen):

V 3.04.35
12-05-05
rm-36

As others have posted, you can't update the firmware unless there's a newer version.

Got it flashed today at fonefix (york) and I can confirm that the crappy orange homescreen is gone, and I've got the default nokia active standby menu instead which is much better. You can get to text's, missed calls etc.. in just a single click.

I'm so glad that this worked.

[Killer_kayani]

guys!

i havent read this full thread, but after reading the 1st few posts, it seems u dont know

go to themes, edit, screen saver and change to date and time

[yammy]

Maybe you should read the whole thread??

[bullerd]

Whilst surfing around for solutions to the shite 6680 Orange Homescreen I found this:

http://www.symbian.com/operators/services.html

so these are the people that actually made it:

http://www.abaxia.com/4-contact/contact.php

Why not fire some well deserved complaints and abuse their way!

[bullerd]

Whilst surfing around for solutions to the shite 6680 Orange Homescreen I found this:

http://www.symbian.com/operators/services.html

so these are the people that actually made it:

http://www.abaxia.com/4-contact/contact.php

Why not fire some well deserved complaints and abuse their way!

Well I sent an email to Abaxia and they couldn't have been more helpful! They called me back from France almost by return - imagine Orange doing that! The bottom line is that Orange, in their ridiculous quest for a standard interface across their range, have controlled the design brief so I guess Abaxia can be vindicated (to some degree!).

I was told that the reason for Orange implementing their HomeScreens was due to industry research showing that 'standard' users require simplified access to the phone's key functions – perhaps a fair enough point – for 3% of the population! Given that my mother and 12 year son have mastered web access, taking photos and sending MMS both home and abroad I don’t see that this is as big an issue as they make out. Anyway, isn’t simplified access to the phone’s key functions exactly what Nokia have done?

When asking about why it was not possible to turn the Orange HomeScreen off I was told that this was not possible due the way the HomeScreen app sits in the phone’s firmware (or something like that) and that having it as an installed app would not have met Orange’s design brief! So why can you turn off the Nokia Active Standby on a generic we ask!

I was informed that Orange have no intention of removing the HomeScreen from future models and it looks like they are well down the road of raping and pillaging the N Series.

In Abaxia’s defence they are aware of the issues and are working on some user customisable options for new versions. However Orange are controlling the show so don’t expect too much and don’t expect a Nokia Active Standby Screen or other Nokia shortcut keys!

My advice – change network!

[bullerd]

Can someone tell me if they can still get 'Line 2' to work on their 6680 that has been reflashed from Orange firmware to Nokia generic firmare
Thanks

[TheFella]

Can someone one email me ([email protected]) with the address and or phone number of a place in London that will do the re-flashing and get rid of this stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid, Orange Homescreen?

It would be much appreciated, as I am in physical and mental pain at the thought of this menu being on my lovely phone.

[impy78]

Fully agree its a nightmare!!
I have come to the 3230 from and SPV C500 and that also had the godawful Orange homescreen - the difference being that you could replace it with different homescreens. I could just about live with it if it didnt stretch your wallpapers out really badly and make them all blurry.

I know it's small consolation, but I have found out how to stop the wallpapers from being blurry....


They need to be the same resolution as the photos taken by the phone's camera, so they have to be 1280 x 960, or a proportional resize (ie 668 x 501, 200 x 150 etc etc).

Did by accident by sending desktop picture to phone.

Btw, you need to use the option on the homescreen under the camera option.. it has take pic, gallery and background. At leat it doesn't look like I have glaucoma every time I look at it though!

I would like to know what effing "design brief" orange had. Maybe the guy who came up with it was the same guy who decided all operators on the 3g helpline should know less about mobile phones than my 83 year old grandma.
"Firmware - what's that?".

[Rich_Enduro]

hi guys
i have just read in another message board a message from someone thats working in the orange Correspondence Department for nearly 3 years that they have only ever had one complaint about the orange homescreen! does this make anyone else want to pull there own hair out!!! :evil:
i think the only way to get the message through to orange that we want the option to switch off this pointless piece of software is to write to them.
clearly telling the customer service staff over the phone makes no difference at all and the complaints don't get logged.
the address to write to is:
Orange Correspondence dept
PO Box 10
Patch Way
Bristol
BS32 4BQ

By the way, there's a poll on the 3g forums regarding this problem. if you want to cast your vote,click here (http://www.3g.co.uk/3GForum/showthread.php?t=27897)

[Guinness2702]

When asking about why it was not possible to turn the Orange HomeScreen off I was told that this was not possible due the way the HomeScreen app sits in the phone’s firmware...

I've been told, that I could buy an unbranded phone and use it on Orange's network, although it would not be 'officially' supported (e.g. line2 and whetever else wouldn't work). If that's the case, why don't Orange give us the choice of having a branded phone or an unbranded one.

[Rich_Enduro]

I've been told, that I could buy an unbranded phone and use it on Orange's network, although it would not be 'officially' supported (e.g. line2 and whetever else wouldn't work). If that's the case, why don't Orange give us the choice of having a branded phone or an unbranded one.
yer i was told i had the choice of buying the phone Sim free or getting it for free with orange. that is how orange see the choice, but in fact the choice is between the orange branded handset and the free phones the other networks offer. i know what I'll be choosing next time and it won't be the Sim free option

[impy78]

I wanted to get my firmware flashed to non orange firmware. (Yes, to get rid of that bloody homescreen).

I phoned the local nokia service centre, and was told that if I did this the phone would basically hit meltdown and cease to work ever again. I asked him why, as the phone is available on other networks, without the stupid firmware, and he said "it just will".


I really love being spoken to like I'm five!

But how can this be true, what kind of bs is this? my phone is unlocked, I know that I won't be able to use pv player, but it's crap anyway.

Could someone advise me on this, please?

And the other thing is, has anyone thrught of goig to watchdog about htis...just a thought as I am getting sick and tired of having to reboot my phone every couple of hours due to the memory getting full.

[Rich_Enduro]

I wanted to get my firmware flashed to non orange firmware. (Yes, to get rid of that bloody homescreen).

I phoned the local nokia service centre, and was told that if I did this the phone would basically hit meltdown and cease to work ever again. I asked him why, as the phone is available on other networks, without the stupid firmware, and he said "it just will".
.
this is much the same as i was told and like you i questioned the logic in his comment! he just said the phone was only designed to work with the orange branded firmware!! yer right, how many networks are there around the world and nokia design each phone specially for each network?? i don't think so!
bloody idiots!
guys on market stalls seem to have the expertise to install the unbranded firmware but the nokia service centres cannot??

[dani2xll]

this is much the same as i was told and like you i questioned the logic in his comment! he just said the phone was only designed to work with the orange branded firmware!! yer right, how many networks are there around the world and nokia design each phone specially for each network?? i don't think so!
bloody idiots!
guys on market stalls seem to have the expertise to install the unbranded firmware but the nokia service centres cannot??

:-o Totally ignore what Orange tell you, they are talking out of there arses. You can have the phone flashed to get rid of the orange home screen and all the orange rubbish. I have had it done on my orange 6680 and was given back a lovely non-messed up orange phone, withe no orange standby screen and due to all the orange junk taking off off this the phone came back with 9mb of usable memory compared to the 6.8mb it arrived with. All you need to do is find a nice friendly nokia service centre and they will do it for you. It cost me nothing for them to do it for me.

[Rich_Enduro]

:-o Totally ignore what Orange tell you, they are talking out of there arses. You can have the phone flashed to get rid of the orange home screen and all the orange rubbish. I have had it done on my orange 6680 and was given back a lovely non-messed up orange phone, withe no orange standby screen and due to all the orange junk taking off off this the phone came back with 9mb of usable memory compared to the 6.8mb it arrived with. All you need to do is find a nice friendly nokia service centre and they will do it for you. It cost me nothing for them to do it for me.
trouble is my nokia service centre refuses point blank to do this. where did you get yours sorted? don't suppose it was in the dorset/hampshire area was it? i have also written to nokia about this, I'm unhappy that my phone is full of bugs but I'm not allowed a fix because its on orange. i know nokia have fixed the faults so as far as I'm concerned i should get the unbranded version to fix my phone. I'll keep you posted on that outcome!!

[fatreg]

Ello folks,

i took my 6680 to 2 service centres today (CPW at Wessex Gate retail park and In Touch Cellular in bournemouth) and both at point blank refused to do it, saying that it wasnt possible.

one told me that if they did it my phone would break, i was like go for it ill sign whatever disclaimers you want! but he wasnt willing :(

any help on NSCs in around dorset would be good!

cheers

fatreg

[Rich_Enduro]

Ello folks,

i took my 6680 to 2 service centres today (CPW at Wessex Gate retail park and In Touch Cellular in bournemouth)
what a coincidence, thats where i took my phone with the same result! i was planning on going the Wessex gate on Saturday and try to persuade them but you've saved me a trip! shame you weren't posting to say they'd done it for you!!

[jellybeanctrl]

Ok, first post for me so go gental.

After reading, and reading all the 6680 Orange posts, i've come to the conclusion no one has a good answer. I found a mention of FoneFix in york who do a 3 day turn arround on your phone and yes it's orange free. But it seems they have up and gone. You can get them in Aus if you like...

enough moaning.......

I would like to buy the soding hardware, i've got the firmware, just need the hardware. Got 3 6680's of my own to flash if i can buy the bloody hardware i'll flash mine then sell the hardware less the price it would of cost me to do 3 phones... say £50 cheeper.. the perhapse the next person can buy the kit from me do thier fone and sell the kit for slightly less. Who cares if someone gets the kit for free...to be without orange would be just......blissssssssssssss.

PS like the network though!

Jelly :???:

[jellybeanctrl]

In danger of talking to my self..i known..

:eek: But I just found this site

http://www.fonefunshop.co.uk/Unlocking/debrand.htm

am giving them a call now.

have a read, they offer a Un-Branding service by recorded delivery...

Everyone happy :smile:

[Rich_Enduro]

good find, my I've emailed them. my main concern in the nokia guarantee?

[jellybeanctrl]

Spoke to Man on Phone,
seemed like he new his stuff.
Am sending one of my phones asap. the insurance from orange will be voided..we think. But Nokia will still warrant the phone for the 12mnths from new.

Your home insurance will cover your phone anyway.... :-)

[Rich_Enduro]

Spoke to Man on Phone,
seemed like he new his stuff.
Am sending one of my phones asap. the insurance from orange will be voided..we think. But Nokia will still warrant the phone for the 12mnths from new.

Your home insurance will cover your phone anyway.... :-)
well let us know how it went when you've got your phone back.

one other thing, has everyone voted in this poll (http://www.3g.co.uk/3GForum/showthread.php?t=27897)? it'd be good to see the results for everyone that hates the homescreen get above 50%

[jellybeanctrl]

Well off went the phone today, special delivery....

;-) Will I see it again???????????

[jellybeanctrl]

Spoke to the shop today,
My phones been done.....will be back tomorrow :-)

:lol: :lol: Stuff Orange :lol: :lol:

I got my phone back at 7am this morning...

It's completely de-oranged..my life is complete.

Put sim card back in, all my orange settings are back no probs.
Much faster, easier to use and themes are great.
Go do it!
then get symbian theme for series 60 from nokia website and customise it as much as you like.

Oh happy days. Not faults found yet have used the phone all day.

:smile: :smile:

[Rich_Enduro]

cheers for the update jellybeanctrl, think I'm going to wait until my phone is a year old before i debrand it. I'm worried that when i had the F/W update the service centre only could offer me the orange version as his software could tell from the phones IMEI number what version F/W the phone should have, as its a bug infested 3230 i want debranding, i don't want to debrand it until nokia have a fault free version of the firmware.
although we know we can debrand our phones, the pressure must still be applied to orange to give future phones the option to switch this crap off! after all, if no one complains, Orange will think everyone is happy with its rubbish

[maNNers_nk6680]

hi guys, I've had my Orange 6680 for nearly two weeks now and decided to see if I could get rid of the Orange home screen so I did a google search and found this ng/post.

tbh i never really noticed just how much it slowed the phone down until i used my mates 6680 on 3 - what a difference!.

I rang up Orange cs and was told that the Orange world software adds functionality and does not slow down nor does it take up any of the phones memory. I was to tired to argue at that point (it was late ;) ) - the monkey at the other end of the phone obviously didnt know what they were talking about

So i emailed cs instead - they said they understood my concerns and that it wasnt possible to remove the software - however they did say


Unfortunately it is not currently possible to remove or disable this function. Although this may be possible to do with future updates.

So I wonder if Orange are starting to hear there customers and maybe thinking about releasing and update to fix it?.....who knows!

Anyway I'm going to ring my local nokia shop up and see if they can flash the phone for me :)

Thanks

[Rich_Enduro]

I rang up Orange cs and was told that the Orange world software adds functionality and does not slow down nor does it take up any of the phones memory. I was to tired to argue at that point (it was late ;) ) - the monkey at the other end of the phone obviously didnt know what they were talking about

So i emailed cs instead - they said they understood my concerns and that it wasnt possible to remove the software
I'm amazed they didn't tell you your phone was faulty, I've had two 3230's even though the problems are firmware related. the last time i phoned up my problems were passed onto a higher level (the tech dept i think) and after a week they came back and said my second phone was also faulty!!! (absolute idiots) i am now waiting on a reply from nokia as to why they allow orange to ruin there phones and why when a customer has problems caused my the orange software, it cannot be removed by a nokia service centre so the phone functions correctly?

[castafiore]

Hello everybody,

I live in South of France and I'm the happy new owner of a nokia 6680 with Orange as operator, including - of course - their marvelous present : THE Orange homescreen !!! :???: :mad: :mad:

:lol: :lol: Hopefully there is a solution to suppress this awful screen: go to :
http://www.forummobiles.com/index.php?showtopic=60450&hl=hskiller

A programmer has invented a little program named "HSKILLER" that works all right. Furthermore it's FREE - Many thanks to this guy. It has most probably already made thousands of happy men and women !!!

The only little problem (that this programmer is trying to fix apparently) is when you restart the phone, the screen is "killed" but the orange picture stills appear in the theme you've chosen so that you have to change it "manually"- but only when you restart the phone.

The way to minimize this faillure that I've chosen - before running "hskiller" - is to install in the orange home screen an image that I like...

Except of this little inconvienent - try this program, you woun't regret it.

[bradkb]

Just had 2 6680s flashed by cprafferty, excellant guy, both phones up to latest version, no more orange homescreen, phones much quicker, highly recommended.

Many thanks

[Rich_Enduro]

thanks castafiore
fantastic, it works on my 3230. I'm very happy
cheers
Rich

[CdRsKuLL]

castafiore .. thankyou

1st post, and the reason I joined was to thank this man and these forums.

Been doing my nut in the orange screen. I went to the link provided a few posts up and learnt french very fast. I grabbed the app, copyed it over to my memory card.. installed it on the phone, and thought then what ? I rebooted the phone and was presented with the orange homescreen again.. thought shit didnt work. So I browsered the contacts, exited and hey no home page just a messed up nokia theme.. so into themes a went changed the default wallpaper in the nokia theme to default rather than user and bingo.. a unbranded 6680 :-)

top man

thanks again

CdRsKuLL

p.s I have attached the app to save u going off the forums :-)

[fatreg]

Oh my!

worked a treat.

i see what it is doing and will still fight to get my 6680 completely debranded. but for the time being this is spot on.

just need the nokia active desktop now!

Cheers all for this program.

fatreg

[Rich_Enduro]

although this app is doing a great job of blocking the homescreen, i have just found out from the orange developer forum that Since version 1.9 of the Orange Signature Homescreen, the On/Off feature has been implemented
so the next question is how do we find out what vesion of the homescreen we have? and what handsets have V1.9?
i wonder if future firmware updates will include V1.9. it'll save me making the guy down the market £20 richer!!!

[vigilante_xix]

I see this problem is still at the top of the HOT list in this forum!!

Well I've had my 6680 reflashed about two months ago and am soooo glad I did.

Much quicker and all etc etc etc...

However, I have found a slight drawback... you cannot download videos from the Orange network. You can still use the Orange TV as this is just an application you download through the WAP pages but when you actually want to view a single news clip or music video etc, the format is not recognised!?!

Does anyone know what format is used on their website and what applications can view them?

[Guinness2702]

A couple of observations on HSKiller.

It seems to take about 10 seconds to kill HS after reboot - you don't have to go into contacts and exit or anything like that, just wait :)

It appears to convert HS into a 'normal' application, which can be accessed via application switching (hold down menu key if you didn't know). Also, the process "HomeScreen" can still be seen via FExplorer process viewer

If you kill the homescreen process (via application switcher, or FExplorer process viewer), or delete the background image (C:/System/Data/HomeScreen_BckGrdimage.??? or something like that), then homescreen appears to restart and will run as before. To kill it again, either reboot, or run C:/System/Apps/HSKiller/hslauncher.exe


so the next question is how do we find out what vesion of the homescreen we have? and what handsets have V1.9?

I found a file Z:/System/Apps/HomeScreen/XML/Full_one.xmd, which contained the string Hs_version = 1.4.12 - HomeScreen version?

[maNNers_nk6680]

Hey guys just got my 6680 flashed at my local Phonebox communications shop, they did it while I waited and didnt cost me a penny. They tried to change my mind as they said "you will loose all the Orange software", and I was like - "erm thats the idea!". Anyway, what a difference it makes!

[dav146]

I have registered just so that I could post this. I have installed HSKiller on my 3 day old 6680 and it seems to work a treat!!! I hated that crappy orange front, especially the fact that it doesn't match any of my themes I have put on.

HSKiller stops the phone from going back to the Home Screen and instead holds it at the 'Phone' screen. You can still see if you have received any text messages, what you can't see however is if you have any missed calls, you have to bring up the call log. - Not difficult by any means and certainly better than that orange crap.

[Guinness2702]

what you can't see however is if you have any missed calls, you have to bring up the call log. - Not difficult by any means and certainly better than that orange crap.

Yeah, I noticed the missed calls thing too. TBH, that could be a pain, and while I agree that overall it's better than OHS, it's still unacceptable. I think the problem is that HSKiller doesn't activate Nokia Active Standby (the menu option to turn it on is missing from my phone).

Since you have only just received your phone, I would suggest that you consider handing it back (which you may still be able to do - especially if you complain that Active Standby is missing/doesn't work), and getting the phone from someone else. That way, you should be able to get full Active Standby functionality on the phone.

[maNNers_nk6680]

Since you have only just received your phone, I would suggest that you consider handing it back (which you may still be able to do - especially if you complain that Active Standby is missing/doesn't work), and getting the phone from someone else. That way, you should be able to get full Active Standby functionality on the phone.

My phone was about 2 weeks old and I took it to the local Nokia shop who kindly flashed it for me for free as it was still under warrenty. The phone is loads better now - I can use the active standby screen which is one of the reasons I bought the phone in the first place!

[fatreg]

Why oh why does there appear to be so much conflict between what one NSC will do and what another will not?

why is it that i was told that its not possible yeah some of you lot have it done?

i just dont get the problem, either Nokia can or cant do it, simple as. end of.

Can we please get a response as to wether or not Nokia will do it?

after all if some NSCs are doing it are they going against their NSc rules?

fatreg

GRRRR the Orange branding is really getting on my wick now!

[dav146]

I took your advice and visited ALL of the UK stores today, O2 have the best 6680, it is almost completly free of branding, from what I can see it only says O2 on the startup graphic. The store itself had run out so I placed an order online - should be delivered this Weds. I then promptly phoned Orange who are going to send me out a returns bag. I have been trying to remove the HS Killer program before I send it back, but cannot seem to be able to uninstall it at the moment - so beware!

[Guinness2702]

I then promptly phoned Orange who are going to send me out a returns bag. I have been trying to remove the HS Killer program before I send it back, but cannot seem to be able to uninstall it at the moment - so beware!

A good day's work, I would suggest.

HS killer appears to have an uninstall entry in manager - go to menu/Tools/Manager and scroll down to HSKiller - if you select that, it will probably uninstall it for you.

PS. thanks for the info on 02 - I will consider them when my contract with Orange is up.

[Lap10]

I bought a N70 from Orange a week or so ago when it became available and I didn’t know about the orange home screen prior to buying it. All the review I'd seen of the phone were of the non-crippled versions. When I fired it up I was presented with the lame glory of the OHS and had no idea what it was or how to turn it off. Needless to say like most of you I was furious when I found out what it was and why it couldn’t be disabled. I went to my local Nokia service centre in Barnet on Friday to see if they could flash it.

Firstly they didn’t have the jig. Secondly they said that they'd have to find out if anyone was trained on it, and thirdly they weren’t able to give me any details of the latest version. I wasnt optimistic as the phone had only just come out. My version was 2.0537.1.7

Called Intec again today and they said they did have a jig and that someone would be able to flash it for me provided I had an older version. They also said that they received a new version of the firmware from Nokia yesterday. Obviously at this point I was optimistic. Until I found out the newest version is 2.0536.02

:mad:

So I'm stuck with this superb phone smeared all over with orange sh*te until such time as a newer version than 2.0537.1.7

What really annoys me is the possibility that orange have upped their version number to ensure it stays put for a given amount of time. Orange slap a ridiculous homescreen on the face of an otherwise fully functional menu and they think that warrants a version jump. I bet the next version out will be something like 2.0537.1.6 - just to take the p*ss

At this stage I'm so desperate that I'm going in again on Friday regardless. I know I'm wasting my time because they will say it wont work. I've even prepared myself for the possibility that even if a newer version of the firmware does come out...somehow something will go wrong and they wont be able to update my firmware. My bullish consumer side to me is temped to send the heap of rubbish back to orange, accompanied by a letter and samples of quotes from various message boards to convey the fact that they don’t just have 'one complaint so far'. Bottom line is I'd rather get it fixed than go through the hassle of sending it back. I hear the O2 N70 is relatively branding-free but its not out on it yet (as one of my colleagues at work told me today).

Errrm.. not much else to say really. I have a N70 sitting in a box, and its too slow to function.

If any of you guys have an N70 on orange and know anything about a new version being out or of a service centre that have managed to get rid of the home screen - drop a post.

Cheers

[Rich_Enduro]

I bought a N70 from Orange a week or so ago when it became available and I didn’t know about the orange home screen prior to buying it.

it really winds me up to keep hearing about new phones still being bastardised by orange. the n70 is a superb phone, whats the matter with orange?
just one question for you, what homescreen version is orange putting on the n70? i have read that version 1.9 can be turned off? to find out, use FExplorer and look at Z:/System/Apps/HomeScreen/XML/Full_one.xmd. think it might say on the first line?

[Lap10]

it really winds me up to keep hearing about new phones still being bastardised by orange. the n70 is a superb phone, whats the matter with orange?
just one question for you, what homescreen version is orange putting on the n70? i have read that version 1.9 can be turned off? to find out, use FExplorer and look at Z:/System/Apps/HomeScreen/XML/Full_one.xmd. think it might say on the first line?

Yeah, I had a look at z:\system\apps\ with FExplorer and the layout of the directories is slightly different to what you described. There are two 'HomeScreen' folders. First is 'HomeScreen_CrtC..' which contains 4 files all with the same name as the folder. The hex/text viewer didnt reveal any sort of version numbers. The other folder was named 'HomeScreenOpt', again with 4 files and with no clear sign of a version number as far as I could see. Even so... how would you turn it off? I'd be interested to know in case I'm sitting with it for another 2 months.

[Rich_Enduro]

cheers lap10.
I'm just hoping a future firmware update will also have the new homescreen in it. i am reluctant to get a back street F/W update as my 3230 still has bugs to be fixed so until a firmware is available to fix the faults, I'm having to put up this the homescreen (although the hskiller program does work most of the time) one way or another the homescreen will be completely removed from this phone in the near future.

[Taraibiza]

The best bet is to find an independent phone NSP. So if anyone knows of one in London please tell me!

Hi, I know this posting is a bit old but I've just taken my N70 to nokia Service Centre on Old St Roundabout and they've agreed to do it for free. The number is 020 7490 7490. I'm going to go back after work to collect it tonight so I'll let you know how I got on.

[Lap10]

The best bet is to find an independent phone NSP. So if anyone knows of one in London please tell me!

Hi, I know this posting is a bit old but I've just taken my N70 to nokia Service Centre on Old St Roundabout and they've agreed to do it for free. The number is 020 7490 7490. I'm going to go back after work to collect it tonight so I'll let you know how I got on.

Cheers for the update. I look forward to hearing how you got on. If it works for you, I'm getting myself to Old St Roundabout.

[Lap10]

I gave them a ring myself. Bad news unfortunately. She mentioned that someone had asked them to flash their N70, that was presumably you. The flashing ended up 'killing' the phone and they are going to have to send it to Nokia for them to flash it. The chances are it will come back with a fresh version of the orange firmware, which isnt good.

I dont know about you, but as I started a new contract with Orange, I'm still within the 14 working day returns period (7 working days for Upgrades). I've given up and Ive decided to move to another network. Its annoying cos I wanted to stay with Orange, and I'm sure one person disconnecting wont make a dent but this is the only way I'll be able to get a functional N70 (moving to Vodafone) and teach Orange a lesson. It will blatently be months before this problem gets resolved and I'm able to safely get my phone flashed, not to mention all the other obstacles and hassles.

The best part is that Orange proudly told me that they are introducing the mighty orange home screen onto ALL future models. How perfect is that?! So the incentive for me to stay with them for another 12 months and face the same crap when I come to upgrading my phone then is minimal. Its going to be beautiful when Orange start noticing that their market share is plummeting. They'll be sitting round their nice board room table scratching thier heads. And after some more expert market research they'll notice that the only people who come onto their network and use their range of shiny orange-homescreenified phones are those people which dont mind it. Not to offend anyone who DOESNT mind it... but I'm sure they'll be in the severe minority. After all, who would want a handset that is gagged with rubbish and only running at half speed? I'll leave that question for Orange to answer in the next annual sales meeting.

:lol:

[WiZBiT]

Hi Guys, im a new member to this site.

I was googling the possibility of finding a way to remove the Awful Orange Home screen :mad: when i came across this thread.

Background:

Got my N70 on upgrade last week. First impressions, nice phone :grin: secondly, What the hell is this tab on my desktop?? :-? At first i thought it was part of Nokias layout, then upon scrolling through the menus, i could see the original desktop lurking in the background, for instance, when your dialling out, you can see the blurred HS background from a third of the way down, and above it, you can see the original nokia background, with an unblurred wallpaper, and the clock/battery level indicator/reception indicator at the top (something that Orange have removed whith thier frankly quite putrid homescreen)

Its obviously an issue otherwise so many people wouldnt be gathering to vent thier anger on the fact that we are having our freedom of choice taken from us by our service provider

Why wont they realise that customising our mobiles to suit OUR tastes is the only way to keep us happy. This is a serious backwards step for orange in my opinion,

Note to orange "GIVE ME BACK MY CHOICE! Release a patch that gives me the option to remove the homescreen!!"

I feel it will fall on deaf ears though :mad:

[Guinness2702]

I feel it will fall on deaf ears though :mad:

That it will. I've called them and emailed them several times, and they're just not having it. To re-iterate my advice, do NOT buy a handset from Orange!

Only another 6 months to go, before my contract expires and I can get it sorted.

[Rich_Enduro]

Hi Guys, im a new member to this site.




we are having our freedom of choice taken from us by our service provider

Note to orange "GIVE ME BACK MY CHOICE! Release a patch that gives me the option to remove the homescreen!!"

I feel it will fall on deaf ears though :mad:

no, you have got this quite wrong, when i phoned orange and complained about the homescreen i was told i had the choice of taking the phone on orange(with there branding), Sim free or another network!!
i still haven't got my head round the idea that providing poor software that cannot be removed and telling customers that don't like it, not to get an orange phone, that this is a good business plan?? if anyone can explain to me how driving away customers is good business, I've love to hear how it works????
maybe orange should take this promotional idea a step farther and state on the website that there phones are compromised versions of the original and then have a link to the O2 website!!

[Lap10]

Hi all,

Just wanted to add some observations from my new N70 on Vodafone. Obviously, I've sent my orange homescreen back and I decided to drop a post to compare some of the key differences.

Every fault I could find with my orange N70, I was tempted to assume wouldnt appear in all the other operator versions. Half true.

I main reason I wanted to get rid of the homescreen was because of the general speed of the phone due to the supposed drain on system resources that the homescreen caused. Firstly let me say that whilst the Vodafone N70 is slightly faster... we are looking at only a 10-20% increase in speed in my opinion. The phone is quite graphic intensive and I'm guessing that navigating from menu to menu is never going to be as fast with the series 60 platform phones as it was with say a 6230 (the phone I had before). I saw a post sometime back that said something along the lines of 'guys, the orange homescreen is not THAT bad' and I have to admit I sort of scoffed at it. Well in terms of speed difference, its not too bad after all. You'll do just as bad with having a highly detailed theme on your N70 as you would having an orange homescreen. Bottom line - N70 isnt the fastest anyway.

Second observation - Wallpapers. Yes, its true. You can now have wallpapers that are not blurry any more. The downside is that it doesnt stretch them to accommodate your whole screen (whole screen=good). You have your date, clock, operator name at the top of your screen, and your standby mode options down the bottom. The wallpaper doesnt stretch to sit behind these, which is a bit of a shame in my opinion. You kind of get that 'letterbox' look. There is sort of a way round it - create your own themes. Theme specific wallpaper DOES appear to sit behind these areas, effectively covering the whole of your screen. And before you ask, no, its not because they have to be a particular pixel size - I tried this with standard set-as-wallpaper and it still doesnt fit it to the whole screen. So, get yourself a copy of Nokia Theme studio or whatever its called and start creating your own themes (or download them free from somewhere like Zedge).

The standby mode is just OK in my opinion. Its a shame it insists on telling you below the icons that you have 'no appointments today' from your calender. Perhaps it would have been better to only display text when it was neccessary.

On reflection... the orange homescreen isnt a complete disaster. Its does slow the phone down a fair bit and you have fuzzy wallpapers, AND you cant use themes the way they are supposed to be, AND you cant remove it, AND its a suicide-inducing dull grey.... but its 'summary' function is ok. Still better without it.

[dani2xll]

Hi all,

Just wanted to add some observations from my new N70 on Vodafone. Obviously, I've sent my orange homescreen back and I decided to drop a post to compare some of the key differences.

Every fault I could find with my orange N70, I was tempted to assume wouldnt appear in all the other operator versions. Half true.

I main reason I wanted to get rid of the homescreen was because of the general speed of the phone due to the supposed drain on system resources that the homescreen caused. Firstly let me say that whilst the Vodafone N70 is slightly faster... we are looking at only a 10-20% increase in speed in my opinion. The phone is quite graphic intensive and I'm guessing that navigating from menu to menu is never going to be as fast with the series 60 platform phones as it was with say a 6230 (the phone I had before).

I find the n70 much faster than my previous 6680.


Second observation - Wallpapers. Yes, its true. You can now have wallpapers that are not blurry any more. The downside is that it doesnt stretch them to accommodate your whole screen (whole screen=good). You have your date, clock, operator name at the top of your screen, and your standby mode options down the bottom. The wallpaper doesnt stretch to sit behind these, which is a bit of a shame in my opinion. You kind of get that 'letterbox' look. There is sort of a way round it - create your own themes.

All my themes sit behind the date, clock, operator theme and they are the same themes i used on my 6680, all easily downloadable from most sites.


The standby mode is just OK in my opinion. Its a shame it insists on telling you below the icons that you have 'no appointments today' from your calender. Perhaps it would have been better to only display text when it was neccessary.

I find the standby mode very useful to check appointments etc and i think if there were no text at all, i may think there were something wrong with the display. :-o

[Rich_Enduro]

just found this on another forum


The BBC website is currently accepting nominations for examples of bad (or good) usability. I have already nominated Orange HomeScreen as an example of bad usability. I would encourage others to do the same, in the hope that negative publicity for HomeScreen will cause Orange to re-consider their position of imposing it upon us. The article/submission form is at:-

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/4393468.stm

think this might of been last week but the site is still alowing you to submit a vote

[Mr-Merlin]

Like most people here, I've been using Symbian phones since the early days of the Nokia 7650. Lately upgraded to a 6680, with the intention of having the phone flashed to the original Nokia firmware. Needless to say, I've had problems and still have the crap Orange Home Screen. I think it's time for action.

As companies have various levels of management, the only way to get results is to start complaining to the top level. That's the CEO. No one else has the power that we need to get this problem sorted. Now and for the future.

All CEOs of companies hate it when customers feel the need to complain to them, because it means something is going very wrong with the company. So, stop wasting time moaning and get e-mailing the CEO of Orange.

Do NOT use insults, as that will get us nowhere. We all need to e-mail him and point out the problems of the Orange Home Screen and why it is such a issue. Politely ask what's going to be done about it.

The more people that do this now, the better.
I guess what you need now is the e-mail address of the CEO. For most companies, that would be <first name>.<surname>@<companyname>.com
So, in this case send your complaints to: -

[email protected]

Keep it polite and let's get this sorted. Don't leave it for others to do. We need to be heard en-masse.
Report back any replies to everyone here.

All the best,
Mr-Merlin.

[Guinness2702]

Report back any replies to everyone here.

Your message has encountered delivery problems
to the following recipient(s):

[email protected]
Delivery failed
553 5.3.0 <[email protected]>... User unknown


No recipients were successfully delivered to.

[Mr-Merlin]

My apologies. That would be .co.uk, not .com
Try this: -

[email protected]

Mr-Merlin
P.S.: For other useful addresses, see here: -
http://www.connectotel.com/marcus/ceoemail.html

[Rich_Enduro]

My apologies. That would be .co.uk, not .com
Try this: -

[email protected]

Mr-Merlin
P.S.: For other useful addresses, see here: -
http://www.connectotel.com/marcus/ceoemail.html
If anyone gets a response from this email address can you let us know and I'll drop them an email too.
is this defiantly the right address as my personal orange email address ends in .net?

[dav146]

It has taken me a while to post back, but I took the advice from the forum, sent my upgrade phone back to orange - my contract will end in 30 days. I have now got a 6680 from o2. Free from most branding.

There is a small logo on the startup, o2 operator logo at the top and an o2 wallpaper (which you can change. The screensaver is a water background with some bubbles that rise - As a diver I love this screensaver, but it can be changed if you dont like it.


All in all I love o2 - And will be getting all my future handsets from them.

[Guinness2702]

If anyone gets a response from this email address can you let us know and I'll drop them an email too.
is this defiantly the right address as my personal orange email address ends in .net?

I got a canned reply from .co.uk. See a copy at
http://www.3g.co.uk/3GForum/showthread.php?t=22577&page=2 (post number 31).

I've decided to leave Orange. I'm just debating whether or not it is worth paying the 150 quid it will cost me to buy out the rest of my contract, + 20 quid unlock code from Orange, + 25 quid for fonefix to unbrand + 10 quid for virgin mobile sim, or waiting 'til my contract expires.

[Jaffa The Cake]

To paraphrase an email I sent Orange...

My sister recently downloaded a malicious program onto her computer which changed the home page of the browser. It wouldn’t let her change the homepage through the normal menu and there was no way provided to uninstall this malicious software. Thankfully, because it was malicious, a virus checker picked it up and removed it.

Why have Orange added this kind of software to my Nokia 6680?
...
The orange software is coded into the firmware of the device so it can not be simply closed down. Who on earth thought this was a good idea? Are you aware that Microsoft got sued because of similar actions with Internet Explorer?

[Rich_Enduro]

i've set up a poll on this subject if anyone wants to cast a vote you can do so here (http://nokiafree.org/forums/t77919/h/s.html)

[Gee]

Thanks yaz0r. I look forward to your homescreenkiller soon :)

I've spoken with an authorised Nokia Service Centre near where I live and they've told me that they could theoretically reflash the phone with Nokia's original firmware code but a side-effect might be that it loses some services like caller ID, answer phone etc.

Obviously I don't want to lose these services, just wondering if anyone knows if this might happen or if anyone has actually tried to reflash an Orange branded to death 6680 yet?

I don't really want to spend my hard earned on something that will visually make me a happier person but will ultimately affect resale value of the phone in the future.

Flashing the phone will get rid of that nasty shite home screen. if you lose caller ID Voicemail etc after flash, ring orange up tell em your Caller ID aint working or voicemail aint working and they will send out those shitty sim updates that corrects caller ID issues and voicemail issues but dont tell them that you had it flashed

[Retro-man]

I got a 6680 from Orange the day they were released and was straight on the phone about the damm home page rubbish to be told thats how it is and you cannot turn it off...

I would like to say thanks to who ever provided the link to the french forum with homepage killer app !! works a treat although you dont get a missed call log when you miss a call (you have to check the log every now and again..) apart from that I am very happy :)

I will get around to my local service centre as soon as I get time and get it flashed :)

Thanks everyone for all the usefull information (took me 2 hours to read the whole thread)

[Rich_Enduro]

think orange might be breaking the trade discription act with this comment on the homescreen.
Signature phones, give Orange customers:

1. one-touch access to key services (such as Internet, email and contacts) (this was found here (http://www.orange.com/English/media/pressarticle.asp?id=116))

I'd love to know how to get to my messages with one touch??
in fact to get to email via the homescreen takes 7 button pushes

[Flakezero]

I can have a new phone, even though I'm not due an upgrade yet?

I'm a band 5 customer, so I can pretty much have whatever I want for free, if I sign a new contract?

I can have an N70?

Cool.

No, I understand that as its an upgrade I'm unable to change my mind, I've been having a look and I definately want an N70.

Thanks very much....





Well you'll know what happened next since I've registered here just to post this on this thread! Haha.

This isn't what a nokia phone should look like? Nokia's are defined by there sleek menu system...blah...blah, everything everyone else had said, I experienced it all and within 36 hours I was back in the Orange shop.

I explained that I wished to cancel my upgrade, even though I understood that they told me at the time I would be unable to.

Aha, I said, but you agreed to give me a Nokia N70.

'But that is an N70 sir' they replied.

Some pantomine 'oh no it isn't...oh yes it is' toing and froing occurred, but they did, eventually agree to cancel my upgrade and return my account to its previous state.

I'm now considering what else to get! and since I have only three months remaining on my (minimum) £100 per month contract I reckon I'll be walking away from Orange.

They really have messed it up. I've never changed service providers since I had my first orange brick in '94.
wonder what they'll offer me to stay, eh?

So there is hope, they know they've messed up, and if like me you're able to stand in their shop for a whole hour saying very loudly that 'it just doesn't work' they'll pretty much do anything to get rid of you.


Hoorah!

[Gee]

:razz: :razz: :razz: ;-) :)
Hopfully when orange realize that they are gonna loose a lot of customers over this they might get rid of that nasty minging home screen :-D

I suggest you switch to O2 yes they peronalize their phones to but they dont have the home screen :lol:

[dani2xll]

:razz: :razz: :razz: ;-) :)
Hopfully when orange realize that they are gonna loose a lot of customers over this they might get rid of that nasty minging home screen :-D

I suggest you switch to O2 yes they peronalize their phones to but they dont have the home screen :lol:

No home screen yet but they seem intent on full blasting their phones with i-mode. I wonder what option, if any, u have, to say no to it. I would rather stick with using opera and being able to access any site i wish to when i wish to, rather than paying for each site on a monthly basis. That is surely going to rack-up the charges per month on top of the basic line rental.

[dragneff]

Hi guys, I bought an Nokia 6680 and found out that it is locked to 3G :-x , could someone help me, please!!!! :-? Hope we'll find a way.

[Jaffa The Cake]

Most contract phones are locked to a particular provider. This thread is about the Orange Homescreen, I can't see the relevance of your 3-locked phone.

[Cwilms]

Got my 6680 yesterday and instantly tried to remove the Orange Home Screen, but found out i can't!

Read this thread and went to my local Nokia Service Centre today, which is carphone warehouse, they said they had to put the Orange version of the firmware on the phone if they upgraded it, not the clean nokia version. He spouted stuff about it removing the network lock on the phone and so they can't do it. He then went away to confirm this with his engineer and came back to say that infact he could do it (although he shouldn't), but he can't do the 6680 cos the software didn't let him???

Very annoyed now, think i will probably just cancel my contract and return to O2.

Regards,
Colin

[mostonblue]

finally had enough of the orange homescreen plus having to power off the phone for it to work.
was told by orange c/s that my only option would be to buy sim free phone.
wrong, signed up with 02 on £35 p/m and now have unbranded N90 :grin:

[Rich_Enduro]

was told by orange c/s that my only option would be to buy sim free phone.
wrong, signed up with 02 on £35 p/m and now have unbranded N90 :grin:
why do orange think they are the only mobile network out there? looks like they'll just have to learn this lesson the hard way!

[vigilante_xix]

I see this problem is still at the top of the HOT list in this forum!!

Well I've had my 6680 reflashed about two months ago and am soooo glad I did.

Much quicker and all etc etc etc...

However, I have found a slight drawback... you cannot download videos from the Orange network. You can still use the Orange TV as this is just an application you download through the WAP pages but when you actually want to view a single news clip or music video etc, the format is not recognised!?!

Does anyone know what format is used on their website and what applications can view them?

bump! ;-)

[crudolf]

Well, I was reading all these threads the other day, and I had been through the nightmare of living with the N70 Orange Home screen for 1 day when I decided to give it back to orange. They said: No you can't take back a phone if you upgrade from an Orange shop. So everyone be warned. However, Someone at Orange told me that if you tell them you can't get 3G reception at your work/home they have to take it back.

If you can't be bothered to get your phone flashed, then use your consumer rights to get it refunded/exchanged quoting the 'The Sale of Goods Act 1979 (as amended)'. I got this bit from the BBC watchdog site:

The Sale of Goods Acts lay down several conditions that all goods sold by a trader must meet. The goods must be:

- of satisfactory quality
- as described

fit for purpose
'Satisfactory quality' covers minor and cosmetic defects as well as substantial problems. It also means that products must last a reasonable time. But it does not give you any rights if a fault was obvious or pointed out to you at point of sale.

'As described' refers to any advertisement or verbal description made by the trader.

'Fit for purpose' covers not only the obvious purpose of an item but any purpose you queried and were given assurances about by the trader.

If something you buy from a trader does not meet these conditions, you are entitled to a full refund if you return the goods soon after purchase. Otherwise you are first and foremost entitled to have the goods repaired or replaced.


These are the issues I found in 1 day:

1. It disables the shortcut key functions of the navigator button – one of the key design features of the Series 60 operating system on the Nokia phones. This results in having to press 5 buttons in order to send a text message, as opposed to pressing 1 button on a Nokia 6630.
2. It does not allow one to install themes correctly on the phone, as the ‘Orange Home Page’ does not update the background wallpaper correctly – this is another feature of the Symbian Series 60 software that is now incorrectly working
3. It does not allow the user to switch on “Active Standby”, as described on page 93 of the User manual that Orange supplies with the phone. “Active Standby” is a Key feature of the Series 60 platform that provides the user with more major customisation of the phone.
4. It creates an occasional problem when receiving notification of a missed call, whereby the screen flashes between the Default Series 60 screens and the “Orange Home Page”, leaving the backlight on bright, thereby running down the battery very quickly.
5. It unnecessarily uses over 1Mb of memory and decreases the responsiveness of the phone in normal operating.
6. The setting in the Clock program to switch the clock on the main screen from Analogue to Digital and back no longer works. It has no effect, as one can no-longer see the clock on the Home Page. This makes it difficult to read the time for anyone short sighted. This is another key function of the phone.

I am waiting for orange to respond. I can say that some of their engineers are aware and sympathetic to users complaints. I am leavig Orange after years, and I spend around £300-400 per month with them. They don't seem to know what to do to keep their customers . . .

I reckon some of you should jot a note to:

Orange Correspondence Department
PO Box 10
Patchware
Bristol
BS32 4BQ

or fax it to them on: 0870374 8129

If I don't get a reply I will contact the ombudsman.

Cheers and good luck.

[Jaffa The Cake]

Excellent post. After a lot of contact with Orange they insisted that their homescreen was an improvement to the Nokia default. In my opinoin, the only people who would not be bothered by this homescreen are those who hadn't used a series 60 phone without Orange's "optimisation".

How can they get away with this? They basically advertise a phone, then send you a worse quality version.

[Rich_Enduro]

Well, I was reading all these threads the other day, and I had been through the nightmare of living with the N70 Orange Home screen for 1 day when I decided to give it back to orange.
I reckon some of you should jot a note to:

Orange Correspondence Department
PO Box 10
Patchware
Bristol
BS32 4BQ

or fax it to them on: 0870374 8129

If I don't get a reply I will contact the ombudsman.

Cheers and good luck.
i already did that and got nowhere, they just say to phone CS but they just say they'll look into it. according to trading standards, all problems should be addressed to the shop in which the product was purchased. so this weekend my local orange store will have a real headache to deal with when i go back for the umpteenth time!!

has anyone contacted
symbian (http://www.symbian.com/about/offices/london.html) about the Homescreen? anyone unfamiliar with a symbian phone will think this screen is part of the smartphone and come to the conclusion that its easier to use a series 40 handset than to use a smartphone. surly it'd be in symbians best interest to put pressure on orange to prevent the platform from getting a bad reputation because of what orange have done?

[moosefarmer]

Crudolf...

I will start off by saying that I am by no means a fan of Orange's Series 60 homescreen and I am in fact searching this forum for a means to remove it but if you would care to refer to the terms and conditions that YOU signed in the Orange Shop (not the ones from direct sales or the internet) it quite clearly states in BOLD ON THE FIRST LINE that there is no 14 day money back with an upgrade.

That is why you need to research the phone you are interested in before purchasing it. If you do not like the Orange branded 6630/6680/3230/N70 then don't purchase one.

Go to your nearest third party supplier (i.e Carphone Warehouse, Phones 4U, The Link) and get a non branded one.

Don't take one and then come back 13 days later and throw the trading standard crap in our faces... YOU SIGNED THE CONTRACT... YOU KNOW THE SOFTWARE ON THE PHONE... THATS WHY WE DEMO THEM... IF YOU WEREN'T DEMOED ONE YOU DIDN'T ASK FOR A DEMO.

Believe it or not we Orange sales representives DO NOT DESIGN the phones, we sell them. Threatening to sue us does not worry us. Shouting at us does not encourage us to help you further.

I garuntee that if you came in and politely said I am not happy with this handset we will be more inclined to help you.

I am refering to an incident that happened just today... Saying you will kick the *@~# out of me because you don't get on with the phone and I sold it to you is not cool.

I am a Phone Trainer and I take pride in my Job... we get paid pretty much the same commission on all our sales no matter what handset or tariff... unlike certain other phone shops... so I endevour to find the correct phone and tariff for my customers.
I am also very good at my Job. I have very good prodect and service knowledge, plus I have a general interest in phones which helps.

It is people like you who feel the need to abuse the first person they see about something that is totally out of our control that make my job hard. When we say there's nothing we can do, it's not some hilarious in-joke with us Phone Trainers that we go have a giggle about in the back office... it's the truth.



THERE IS NO 14 DAY MONEY BACK WITH AN UPGRADE WITH OUT DUE COURSE

The fact that you do not like the product is not a valid excuse.

Lying about the reason you are returning the handset is AGAINST THE LAW.


Please be nice to your Phone Trainers!!

Nb

When customers say "Chuck in a free car charger" or "Carphone Warehouse has it for ten pound cheaper". It's not big and it's not clever. We really do try hard to please the customers but we ARE bound by price tags just like other normal shops. You wouldn't go into Clarkes and say "Chuck in that pair of slippers and you got a deal" now would you. It's not a market stall for God's sake!!!

[Jaffa The Cake]

Good post, but a couple of points...

Do you inform customers that features have been removed from the phone at point of sale? Just wanting to know what Orange's position is on this in terms of how they inform their sales people.

About the haggling:

I used to work in a computer GAME shop while I was a student, I'll leave the company nameless but we sold GAMEs. People used to try and haggle there and I found it really annoying. Having said that, if someone was buying multiple consoles, some of the managers I've worked for would bend the rules to get a better sale.

Also, when it comes to haggling with mobile phones, I'm afraid the industry only has itself to blame (perhaps not you yourself). When I was looking for a new contract, I made the mistake of going into phones4u, which was one big haggle, every time I showed disinterest I was offered money off and cash-in-hand (£50 in the end). When I left T-Mobile they asked me to stay and would let me continue my current contract (which was £20 a month) for £4 a month.

If the mobile phone companies haggle this much with they customers, you can't blame them for thinking they can "try it on" and get more for their money.

[moosefarmer]

I can have a new phone, even though I'm not due an upgrade yet?

I'm a band 5 customer, so I can pretty much have whatever I want for free, if I sign a new contract?

I can have an N70?

Cool.

No, I understand that as its an upgrade I'm unable to change my mind, I've been having a look and I definately want an N70.

Thanks very much....





Well you'll know what happened next since I've registered here just to post this on this thread! Haha.

This isn't what a nokia phone should look like? Nokia's are defined by there sleek menu system...blah...blah, everything everyone else had said, I experienced it all and within 36 hours I was back in the Orange shop.

I explained that I wished to cancel my upgrade, even though I understood that they told me at the time I would be unable to.

Aha, I said, but you agreed to give me a Nokia N70.

'But that is an N70 sir' they replied.

Some pantomine 'oh no it isn't...oh yes it is' toing and froing occurred, but they did, eventually agree to cancel my upgrade and return my account to its previous state.

I'm now considering what else to get! and since I have only three months remaining on my (minimum) £100 per month contract I reckon I'll be walking away from Orange.

They really have messed it up. I've never changed service providers since I had my first orange brick in '94.
wonder what they'll offer me to stay, eh?

So there is hope, they know they've messed up, and if like me you're able to stand in their shop for a whole hour saying very loudly that 'it just doesn't work' they'll pretty much do anything to get rid of you.


Hoorah!

GET A LIFE!!!!!!!

[Jaffa The Cake]

Well, that was a bit of a contrast to your useful and informative post. If you bought a lexus and it arrived with the engine of a Smart Car how would you feel? People should at least be informed if the phone they're buying has been downgraded by Orange.

[moosefarmer]

You need to appreiciate the kind of person we are dealing with here.

This is the kind of person who just stands there and shout at the sales rep regardless of whether what he is saying is correct or not.

This sort of narrow minded idiot makes my life hell.
Why should this guy think he is so special that the rules don't apply to him? And what gives him the right to shout his mouth off, embarassing the sales rep... making them look an idiot in front of a shop full of customers. It's not their fault.

The single most annoying thing a customer can do is be smug and set out to make us feel stupid. It's really not funny and it's very degrading.

The "Pantomine" routine is the best example of this. Disagreeing with everything we say even though we know we are correct is very frustrating as you can imagine!

P.S. That last post wasn't me... a disgruntled fellow colleuge!

[Rich_Enduro]

I am refering to an incident that happened just today... Saying you will kick the *@~# out of me because you don't get on with the phone and I sold it to you is not cool.


this was a really stupid thing this customer did, staying cool and thinking about possible answers the assistant might give before going into the store and having any necessary comeback questions ready is always the best thing to do.
i hope you reported this incident to someone higher in orange? Orange need to be made aware that feelings run so high regarding this issue. i think what many of us find frustrating is the fact that when we phone up we get the impression we are the first person to of said the software is useless. the "thats the way it is on orange" attitude is wrong. orange shouldn't just say well if you don't like it to go else ware. they should be saying to us that they are aware of the problem the Homescreen causes and they will be making an update (on/off option) available soon.

[Guinness2702]

Crudolf... it quite clearly states in BOLD ON THE FIRST LINE that there is no 14 day money back with an upgrade.

Believe it or not we Orange sales representives DO NOT DESIGN the phones, we sell them. Threatening to sue us does not worry us.

The fact that you do not like the product is not a valid excuse.


The Sale of Goods Act 1979, as amended, states that goods must be "as described", and it is you, who "sell them" and not the people who "design" the product who is responsible here. The only question is does the description "Nokia 6680" (for example) refer only to the hardware, or the software too (or is there any further description given that explains that the product has been modified from the manufacturers original specification)

The fact that the product is not what we thought we were buying, and that it is not "as described" is a valid excuse, and stating that there is "no money-back guarantee" does not affect the statutory rights afforded under the SoG Act. If it can be proved that the product is not "as described", then anyone who is dissatisfied is entitled to a full refund.

Regardless of whether or not the product is not "as described" as coverd by the SoG Act, I personally feel that I have been defrauded, conned, or tricked by Orange into buying something which is inferior to what I was expecting. I'm not suggesting that it was your intent to defraud me, but, even if your omitting to tell me that the product had been modified is not in contravention of the SoG Act, I expect as an act of goodwill, that you make it right.

It beggers belief, that a company like Orange, especially in the middle of an advertising campaign which attempts to suggest that it treats existing and long standing customers well, that the complaints of thousands of your customers are dismissed or ignored.

[cprafferty]

Ok this thread gone WAY off course.

This isn't about how orange is treating its customers nor is it about how customers are treating orange.

Its about how to remove the orange homescreen.

If you don't like it, pay some to remove it or use the HS killer app Simple as that.

@moosefarmer

Whether it was you or someone else posting "GET A LIFE!!!!!!!"

Really doesn't help anybody, it only makes it worst. So deleted the post or at least edit it.

[Guinness2702]

This isn't about how orange is treating its customers nor is it about how customers are treating orange.

Its about how to remove the orange homescreen.

If you don't like it, pay some to remove it or use the HS killer app Simple as that.


I beg to differ. The ideal answer to the original question is "take it back to any orange shop, where they will remove it while you wait." The problem is that A) Orange refuse to do it at all, and B) we shouldn't have to pay to have this 'problem' 'fixed'.

How to avoid getting 'infected' with HS in the first place is just as valid and useful to the uninitiated as how to get rid of it.

Okay, I take your point that this is a tech forum, not a general discussion/flame forum and that arguing about it isn't actually getting anywhere. Maybe we should just accept that for the time being at least, the best option is to send it off/go to one of the places already mentioned, and close the thread.

[cprafferty]

The only problem I can see with your "ideal" solution is that most orange shops are not Nokia level 2 service centres & thus don't have the equipment in order flash the phone.

Other than that can't argue.


I beg to differ. The ideal answer to the original question is "take it back to any orange shop, where they will remove it while you wait." The problem is that A) Orange refuse to do it at all, and B) we shouldn't have to pay to have this 'problem' 'fixed'.

How to avoid getting 'infected' with HS in the first place is just as valid and useful to the uninitiated as how to get rid of it.

Okay, I take your point that this is a tech forum, not a general discussion/flame forum and that arguing about it isn't actually getting anywhere. Maybe we should just accept that for the time being at least, the best option is to send it off/go to one of the places already mentioned, and close the thread.

[FOOOD]

Wow, HSKiller is great!

I know it doesn't sort out the problem as good as flashing the firmware, but as a quick fix this'll do me until my contract expires.

Then I'm moving to another company (if Orange continue to force this shite on us).

[alan1812]

can anyone tell me if there is someone in south wales who can debrand my 6680 from orange
thanx alan

[LegandKilla]

Hey Guys

After spending over an hour on the phone to orange we have come up with the conclusion that there is no way to get rid of it. Whats funny i asked him if they had recieved any complaints about the orange menu stuck on the left hand side, and he said "about 3 people" which is not enough to warrent them to change the menu system to any future phones they release.

I had a samsung D500 on orange with that sh**ty menu and ended up selling the phone and buying the same phone offline, however the N70 is going to cost me big!

I spoke to one of my mates who works in the orange store to get some "off the record answers", i asked about flashing and downloading these applications to get rid of them, he said if you get it flashed you will loose your warrenty with orange and loose all the orange features like pv player, orange plus etc. You can try downloading the apps but so far (he has the same phone) none of the applications he had has worked and messed up settings and icons on his phone.

At the moment thats a risk im not willing to take..and lukily im still in my trial period of the phone (7 days) so i called orange and told them "to come pick up your sh**t" and im gna move to another network!!!

i suggest we all bombard the orange complaints centre ... but i doubt it it will work.

The future is BRIGHT but its NOT ORANGE!!!

[Rich_Enduro]

Hey Guys

After spending over an hour on the phone to orange we have come up with the conclusion that there is no way to get rid of it. Whats funny i asked him if they had recieved any complaints about the orange menu stuck on the left hand side, and he said "about 3 people" which is not enough to warrent them to change the menu system to any future phones they release.

The future is BRIGHT but its NOT ORANGE!!!
nothing new with your findings. but the loss of the orange software such as the pv player is a small price to pay.
I've posted the results of my poll (see link below) in the official orange devoloper forums (not for public use) with the hope that it might start to sink in that hardly anyone wants this joke of an idea hindering our phones. as of today, out of 135 votes i have 125 votes from people that hate it. but orange will tell you they are all wrong!!!!!! when will orange learn.

[joebee30]

Just got a free 6630 upgrade from Orange and damn wasn't I disappointed having got used to my old 7610. That home screen was so damn annoying and - as everyone has pointed out - how dumb is not putting in a option in consideration that some people might just not want it there!!!

Big up to the guy who created the HSKiller app - took me hours to find it and now finally my familar Nokia screen is back and goodbye to that nasty Orange screen. Sure it appears on Startup but then my phone is on 24/7 so it'll never bother me.

Probably will get it flashed when I get a chance but for now I'm happy :-D

Joe

[Rich_Enduro]

a poke in the eye for existing customers, a glimmer of hope for new ones.

see this link (http://discussions.nokia.co.uk/discussions/board/message?board.id=smartphones&message.id=1602)

[Shermozle]

In the thread referenced above, someone says:

3. No doubt the Orange firmware turns your phone into a handy Orange Spy Machine, or usage monitor or something which offers a direct benefit to Orange such that they would prefer you to keep the original firmware. (This is pure speculation and may not be true)

Interesting idea actually. I wonder how you could investigate this? Maybe if you redirected net stuff through a desktop with Gnubox you could sniff the traffic to see?

[fatreg]

Ive installed the HSkiller on my N70 but to no avail?

am i doing something wrong?

2.0537.1.7 is my N70 SW revision.

the app is running but doesnt appeear to do anything?

GRRRRR

fatreg

[grag]

like wise there are two applications running Console and Homescreen - i can select either using the menu key - Homescreen gives me as expected oranges abomination and console gives a blank screen and flashingh cursor in the top left of screen

[one_kill_wonder]

Hi guys, registered here to let you guys know I managed to unbrand my orange n70 I received only a few days ago.

for those of you looking for a place to do this in london - look no further!
The carphone warehouse on marylbone high st, close to Baker street and Baker St station will do it for you, theyve got a NSC in the basement or something...

I went in there earlier today, explained the situation to a sales rep that was clueless, the guy said no, I challenged him saying it doesn't unlock the phone just gets rid of the orange paraphernalia, he said its a breach of contract and they have to update with orange firmware, i said what contract? he said "its just a verbal thing, you just cant do it," i said bull, got him to call up the engineer downstairs, who said "yeah thats fine" I had version 2.0.something orange firmware, a half hour later and ive now got the 3.4.something nokia unbranded.

Morale - go into a shop, get them to show you the contract that says you cant reflash it, its an orange service, a nokia phone. orange tossing around with the phone is balls.

I still have the orange GPRS settings, it deleted the songs id put on the phone, reset any profile settings i'd made, lost PVplayer and realplayer and its jiggled some stuff around, but they can all be replaced, and best of all that sodding homescreen has been replaced with the active standby.

Thanks and hope this helps

[Flakezero]

GET A LIFE!!!!!!!
Thanks mate, very constructive.

Perhaps if you'd made a more appropriate reply I might have mentioned the kid in the shop was really good.

But the point of the post is as follows....

They may tell you you can't change your mind within fourteen days like other upgrades, but its not true, as I managed to do it.

If that is in some way inappropriate to this thread then perhaps my current command of english is less than I imagined.

did you just not like my style? Or was it that I suggested the Nokia series of phones are defined by the operating system, and as such the Orange N70 is a different and much worse phone?

Yours getting a life....

Flake.

You can say what you want now mate, I doubt I'll be back to these forums.

[drcrank]

Has anyone found the homescreen process(es) on the N70? In theory, couldn't you just terminate the offending process and be homescreen free until the next time you restart your phone?

Doctor Crank

[Guinness2702]

Has anyone found the homescreen process(es) on the N70? In theory, couldn't you just terminate the offending process and be homescreen free until the next time you restart your phone?

Doctor Crank

On the 6680, the process just restarts (somehow). I assume that the 70 does the same

[woodlandstar]

moosefarmer you are an idiot. If you think you are so good at your job (I quote you on that "I am also very good at my Job. I have very good prodect and service knowledge") then try seeing it from the customers point of view, and stop complaining.
Just because you work there doesn't give you superiority to what is right and wrong. Sure you have an insight to the industry but your comments are just childish.

Quote: "That is why you need to research the phone you are interested in before purchasing it. If you do not like the Orange branded 6630/6680/3230/N70 then don't purchase one."
-then show me a link to the Orange web site where it states they have tampered with the software which will cause the phone to run slower.

Like Jaffa the Cake, I also worked in a GAMEs store, as the store manager. Haggling is part of the sale in these kind of stores. If you can't hack it then go work in Clarks (or Clarkes even :) ).

"YOU SIGNED THE CONTRACT... YOU KNOW THE SOFTWARE ON THE PHONE... THATS WHY WE DEMO THEM... IF YOU WEREN'T DEMOED ONE YOU DIDN'T ASK FOR A DEMO."
haha brilliant, please post again just for the comedy value

[tonofun]

Well, this aint so good :sad:

I've just had my 6680 replaced via insurance, and of course the new replacement phone has the Orange homescreen bunk all over it again :x

Just spoke to the NSC in Cardiff I went to last year to sort it out and have it flashed, and they've said they are unable to do it anymore because they have had the software taken from them which they use to do it...

So now I'm not entirely sure what to do... Any ideas anyone?

EDIT: Looks like FoneFix in York are still able to do this, for approx £26 via post, so I think I'll be sending my phone on up there at some point in the near future, unless anyone has a cheaper, more local option.

[alan1812]

i had mine flashed in Fast phones Merthyr Tydfil for £15 it's a nokia service centre

[tonofun]

i had mine flashed in Fast phones Merthyr Tydfil for £15 it's a nokia service centre


Hey, thats much closer, and cheaper! Got a website or phone number? How long ago did you have it done?

[alan1812]

i had my 6680 done about 3 or 4 weeks ago
but if you get it done you need pv player for wap content to play

Fast Phones Direct - Merthyr Tydfil

14C Lower High St, MERTHYR TYDFIL, CF47 8EB

01685 388188



http://www.118118.com/search?exit=inspect&id=206035544493231212&type=business&name=fast+phones&position=Merthyr+Tydfil

[tonofun]

Many thanks Alan1812 :D

Yeah, I discovered I couldn't play videos from Orange's site after having it flashed the 1st time round. I did look round for the PV player to re-install it at the time, but didn't find it... Do you know where to get it from?

I'll be giving those guys in Merthyr a ring very soon now then, hopefully, I can have my 6680 back in clean, non-orange f*cked up condition again :cool:

[alan1812]

i think i still got it i will have a look but can not remember how i got it

[alan1812]

http://www.talk3g.co.uk/showthread.php?p=11846

PvPlayer Version 03.04.00.253 build 269 is required if you wish to use Orange World video content on an unbranded or SIM-Free Series 60 device like a Nokia 6680.

Orange_PVPlayer_build_269.SIS

Thanks to hartry for making this SIS file, alllowing easy installation and uninstallation on your device, and to dgilbert2 for the original files. The version Orange provided, build 235, caused clips to play with no sound. The resolution of this issue is a fantastic achievement considering the lack of support from the operator.

I have tested this file on my SIM-Free 6680 and am pleased to report it worked perfectly. If you have any issues, questions or comments about this specific download then please post here.

Known issues for build 269:
The Sky Mobile (third party) application does not function correctly with PvPlayer. (Packet Video are investigating)

[Dingledoodie]

although this app is doing a great job of blocking the homescreen, i have just found out from the orange developer forum that Since version 1.9 of the Orange Signature Homescreen, the On/Off feature has been implemented
so the next question is how do we find out what vesion of the homescreen we have? and what handsets have V1.9?
i wonder if future firmware updates will include V1.9. it'll save me making the guy down the market £20 richer!!!

I just got my new 6233 this week and the Orange Homescreen is driving me nuts. I hate it! Orange Customer Services told me I'm stuck with it (an 18 month contract too).

You mention the the Orange Homescreen can be turned off in newer versions of the software, and this is true... kinda. I was happy to see I could make it all disappear, but once the phone is turned off and then on again... the Orange software returns. Grrr...!!!

I'm hoping to get mine flashed ASAP, but I think it's disgusting that we have to pay to get rid of an application we didn't ask for!!!

[6233]

I received my new orange 6233 yesterday and had the menu bar woes.

I paid for firmware online (&#163;13), obtained phoenix 2006 software and flashed the phone with a CA-53 cable.

The phone is still locked to orange but the menu bar is indeed removed

I bought the firmware here
http://www.gsmevolution.com/

I followed this guide
http://www.seventy4.co.uk/weblog/2006/11/02/how-to-install-phoenix/

I flashed it with orange firmware... I assume if you flash the phone with t-mobile, voda etc firmware then it may move the phone to being locked to the chosen network.

One last thing..... when your all set and you have selected the firmware there are 2 options in the flash box.... theyre both safe but the second one just flashees it with the same orange 4.54 firmware including menu bar. the first selection flashes the phone to the orange 4.54 supplied firmware without menu bar...... hmm pretty hard to explain here but you will see what i mean when you get to the point where youre actually going to flash.

I ended up using the 6233 ORANGE-C CH firmware in the end

[darx]

I received my new orange 6233 yesterday and had the menu bar woes.

I paid for firmware online (£13), obtained phoenix 2006 software and flashed the phone with a DKU-2 cable.

The phone is still locked to orange but the menu bar is indeed removed

I bought the firmware here
http://www.gsmevolution.com/

I followed this guide
http://www.seventy4.co.uk/weblog/2006/11/02/how-to-install-phoenix/

I flashed it with orange firmware... I assume if you flash the phone with t-mobile, voda etc firmware then it may move the phone to being locked to the chosen network.

One last thing..... when your all set and you have selected the firmware there are 2 options in the flash box.... theyre both safe but the second one just flashees it with the same orange 4.54 firmware including menu bar. the first selection flashes the phone to the orange 4.54 supplied firmware without menu bar...... hmm pretty hard to explain here but you will see what i mean when you get to the point where youre actually going to flash.


flashing a different opperators flash file will not remove the sim lock

[6233]

flashing a different opperators flash file will not remove the sim lock

ah - thanks for that. What I really wanted to flash it with was pure nokia firmware. There was one provider in the list that I didnt recognise... HG3 ??

I have downloaded another firmware file from gsmrevolution that I'm yet to have a look at, the RM-145_dp_v_73.0_mcusw04.52. I havent got the cable here at the moment to have a look. To remove the menu bar was my goal..... and the phone is a whole lot better without it.

A few weeks later..............

I had to flash the firmware back to the Original Orange O 04.54 UK Black revision in order to get mini opera to connect. After having a little look araond in the settings :

Menu > Settings > Display> Standby Mode Settings> Orange Homescreen> On/Off............ did I miss this before or what ?

[bugmenot]

Just come across this thread and was wondering if you have seen this? (http://www.gsmhosting.com/vbb/showthread.php?t=344689)

It's a guide on how to change your phones product code, then fool the nokia software updater into thinking it's a generic phone, and then your phone gets flashed with the generic firmware, orange homescreen gone.

I have a 6680 on orange, and although I haven't actually tried that method it looks promising.

[egayer]

Hi,

Orange software is driving me crazy... It appears that on the 6233 (orange UK) the orange software messed up with the nokia software, and the main result is (I am sure there are more) that when I allow the "standby mode", I can't see the calendar events on the standby screen... I can see all the shortcuts, I can see infos, I can see music if I want but for some reason the calendar does'nt show any event, even if the day is full of...
It seems like flashing the phone is not enought to remove the orange software... I tried HSKILLER, but when I download it, I got a file called HSKILLER.sis, and this file is not recognized by my phone...
Any idea ?

thanks

[Rich_Enduro]

Hi,

Orange software is driving me crazy... It appears that on the 6233 (orange UK) the orange software messed up with the nokia software, and the main result is (I am sure there are more) that when I allow the "standby mode", I can't see the calendar events on the standby screen... I can see all the shortcuts, I can see infos, I can see music if I want but for some reason the calendar does'nt show any event, even if the day is full of...
It seems like flashing the phone is not enought to remove the orange software... I tried HSKILLER, but when I download it, I got a file called HSKILLER.sis, and this file is not recognized by my phone...
Any idea ?

thanks
did you edit the phones product code before flashing? (see the above post) if you did, i read that orange are introducing sim cards that install the homescreen to unbranded phones straight off the simcard!! (i hope this isn't true!)

[Guinness2702]

I tried HSKILLER, but when I download it, I got a file called HSKILLER.sis, and this file is not recognized by my phone...
Any idea ?

thanks

If you have Nokia PC Suite installed, just double click the file on your PC and it should run the nokia software updater and install it on your phone. Or, you could run nokia software updater manually and select the file to install.

[willphase]

Just come across this thread and was wondering if you have seen this? (http://www.gsmhosting.com/vbb/showthread.php?t=344689)

It's a guide on how to change your phones product code, then fool the nokia software updater into thinking it's a generic phone, and then your phone gets flashed with the generic firmware, orange homescreen gone.

I have a 6680 on orange, and although I haven't actually tried that method it looks promising.

Sorry to semi-necro this thread but I just tried this and it worked perfectly and thought others would want to know. It also updated the version of my BIOS to the latest one. I was successfully able to restore the backed up contacts from my memory card back to the phone memory.

FYI I have a 6680 from Orange UK (original product code 0523689) and I used the product code 0520999 (Euro1 Silver Blue). I used the supplied USB cable DKU-2 and the only part in the instructions that was vague was which option to pick when installing the flashing software (it's the top option!).

I also couldn't find the gsmmagic.zip so had to look around a bit for that. To help everyone I've archived the software I used and the codes here:

http://will.phase.net/files/nokia/

Good luck everyone - and **down with the homescreen**!

Will