So far, we know that there is only 1 way to flash your ROM from the SD Card of which I have written a guide here. However, that method is rather risky in a sense that if you were to load a ROM that was not meant for your device, you would brick it. This has happened many times as users tried to flash their Glofiish X500+ ROM with a Glofiish X500 ROM. To fix this problem, you could follow the steps here to unbrick your device. However, wouldn’t it be better if the device prevented you from using a ROM that was not meant for it in the first place?
Step By Step
Well, that is now possible. Actually it was possible from a long time ago, just that we did not know about it. So what is the safest way to flash a new ROM to your device using SD card?
1. Using a normal SD card of at least 512MB in capacity and formatted in FAT (also known as FAT16), place the temp.bin file in it. If the file extracted is temp.dat, change it to temp.bin before transferring.
2. Place a file called USBDLUpdate_Console.exe in the SD card as well. You should now have 2 (and only 2) files in the SD card:USBDLUpdate_Console.exe and temp.bin.
For those unsure of where to get USBDLUpdate_Console.exe, you can follow the instructions here.
3. Put the card into your device and navigate to a file explorer of your choice.
4. Tap on USBDLUpdate_Console.exe to let the update begin and let it run.
5. It is completed when you see the words Waiting For USB Connection (or something similar).
6. The update was done successfully and in the safest way possible.
The Reason Behind It
USBDLUpdate_Console.exe is a Soft Bootloader that is loaded into the RAM when you do a ROM upgrade that Eten had planned for you (the one where you connect your device to the computer and run the .exe ROM on it). This application kills Windows Mobile (temporarily) so that the upgrade process can take place. It will prevent you from flashing your device with a ROM that was not meant for it (be it official or not).
When you follow the steps to flash your ROM using bootloader mode (which is most probably what you have been doing up till now), the device will read from any .bin file in there, regardless of its name. This means, even if you put a file with the name eten.bin, it will attempt to (and will successfully) update the device with that file. It ignores the USBDLUpdate_Console.exe file that you have placed in the SD card because it is not activated which means your device is ‘open’.
So What Should I Use?
To be on the safe side when flashing a cooked ROM, use this method. In the highly unlikely event that the ROM was messed up by the developer, you’ll know that your device will not proceed with the upgrade.
If this method does not allow you to flash your device with the new ROM AND you know that this ROM was meant for your device, then you can go ahead and use the bootloader mode directly.
But if you did that and later found out that it was the wrong ROM, then you will have to unbrick your device using these steps.
If that still doesn’t solve your problems, looks like you’ll have to send it in for repair.
Some Things To Clear Up
- It is highly recommended that your device is connected to a power source (preferably AC) while you are doing the upgrade.
- You can use this method to flash your device with both official and cooked ROMs.
- You do not need USBDLUpdate_Console.exe if you plan to use the bootloader mode directly.
- The .bin file can be any name that you want it to be.
- Only use a normal SD card (not those newer SDHC ones) for flashing.
- SD card must be formatted in FAT (also known as FAT16) and nothing else.
- Use a card of at least 512MB in size to allow sufficient space for unpacking of the .bin file.
Thanks to the-equinoxe from Eten Users Forum for this tip.