N900 (upgrade / flash)

Windows



Updating the firmware using the Nokia Software Updater
Microsoft Windows users who wish to update their N900 can use the Nokia Software Updater (aka NSU), or use the Flasher (see section below).
The Nokia Software Updater is compatible with Windows XP Service Pack 3, Windows Vista Service Pack 2, and Windows 7. (Some users may encounter problems due to varying causes.)
The Nokia Software Updater can now be used when updating from a previous firmware to a new one or re-flashing.

Updating or re-flashing the firmware using the Flasher
Note: This method is fully compatible with 32-bit versions of Windows; 64-bit users may encounter problems. There is a workaround that is reported working though at talk.maemo.org Also note you need administrator rights to run flasher (somebody with a clue about windows may want to check the procedure regarding this aspect - shift-run?)
To flash from the Windows (XP, Vista, or 7) command line,
  1. Download and install the latest version of the Flasher.
  2. Download the latest firmware (.bin) file for your region and save it to  %ProgramFiles%\maemo\flasher-3.5\ (the default path), or wherever you installed the Flasher.
  3. Ensure the battery is full.
  4. Unplug USB cable if present, and switch off the device.
  5. Run the Flasher from the Start menu
  6. This is an alternate to step 5, if you have already opened the Flasher, ignore this step. Open the Command Prompt (Start then Run or Windows Logo key + R) and type cmd then press Enter. Change the directory to where you installed the Flasher (TIP: Use the TAB key to auto-complete commands and file-names)
    cd "%ProgramFiles%\maemo\flasher-3.5"
  7. Hold the u key on the device keyboard and connect the USB cable at the same time. See the Flasher documentation for more information. (TIP: Hold the u key until Windows has successfully installed the driver.)
  8. Run the following command (TIP: Do not include '-R' if you are flashing EMMC as well, see below):
    flasher-3.5.exe -F RX-51_2009SE_2.2009.51-1_PR_COMBINED_MR0_ARM.bin -f -R
Replace RX-51_2009SE_2.2009.51-1_PR_COMBINED_MR0_ARM.bin with the firmware you wish to update. (Make sure you have downloaded the actual corresponding file.) The latest PR1.3 official (rootfs) images are listed below:
USA 
RX-51_2009SE_20.2010.36-2.002_PR_COMBINED_002_ARM.bin
Middle East and North Africa 
RX-51_2009SE_20.2010.36-2.003_PR_COMBINED_003_ARM.bin
India 
RX-51_2009SE_20.2010.36-2.004_PR_COMBINED_004_ARM.bin
UK (not the vodafone firmware, but fully compatible with vodafone devices). 
RX-51_2009SE_20.2010.36-2.203.1_PR_COMBINED_203_ARM.bin
Global 
RX-51_2009SE_20.2010.36-2_PR_COMBINED_MR0_ARM.bin
The flash will take approximately 2-5 minutes after which the N900 will reboot and display the Welcome Screen with Regional settings. After booting, you may use the backup utility to restore your settings.

The above method only flashes new firmware but do not erase data stored in your phone , if you want to erase everything and make you phone as new follow these steps



  1. Grab the recent Vanilla eMMC image (.bin file) from the Nokia repository. There isn't always a new eMMC image for a new COMBINED image, as usually the content of eMMC doesn't change with new versions of the system.
  2. Navigate to the directory where the image file was saved (Windows users: if you don't know the full path to the image, copy it to the flasher directory)
  3. Execute the following command (in Linux you have to be root! On windows you have to be admin!): Replace RX-51_2009SE_10.2010.13-2.VANILLA_PR_EMMC_MR0_ARM.bin with the name of the most recent VANILLA file you downloaded
    1. Windows:
      flasher-3.5.exe -F RX-51_2009SE_10.2010.13-2.VANILLA_PR_EMMC_MR0_ARM.bin -f
    2. Linux (Replace /path/to/ with the correct full pathname to the binary. Using tab-completion helps ;-) ):
      /path/to/flasher-3.5 -F RX-51_2009SE_10.2010.13-2.VANILLA_PR_EMMC_MR0_ARM.bin -f
    3. Debian based Linux (e.g Ubuntu):
      flasher-3.5 -F RX-51_2009SE_10.2010.13-2.VANILLA_PR_EMMC_MR0_ARM.bin -f
  4. Text similar to the following will be displayed on the computer: 
    flasher v2.5.2 (Oct 21 2009)

Image 'mmc', size 255947 kB
 Version RX-51_2009SE_10.2010.13-2.VANILLA
Suitable USB device not found, waiting.
  5. Plug in the powered down N900 while holding 'u' key
  6. The dim Nokia screen will be displayed for a few seconds followed by progression dots. Text similar to the following will be displayed on the computer: 
    USB device found found at bus 002, device address 014.
Raw data transfer EP found at EP2.
Image(s) flashed successfully in 4.711 s (9199 kB/s)!
  7. The flash will take a minute or so.
  8. Switch off device by shortly removing battery.
  9. Now flash the FIASCO/rootfs image using the above commands with -R parameter.
  10. If you used the -R parameter, then N900 will reboot automatically, otherwise you need to reboot manually. The bright Nokia screen will come up, followed by progression dots with yellow LED blinking for a few seconds, first boot will be slow as the device would be optifying files.
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