By the end of today I felt myself David Hasselhoff. A close friend of mine bought off a VERTU Signature S replica from one of the popular websites (I’ll disclose its name by e-mail only). The VERTU phone did not work properly and the producer suggested resetting the phone with the default factory reset code 1122. Alas, the phone became even more glitchy. The main desktop theme disappeared. It had an analogue clock before, and after resetting the Signature S replica the desktop became white. Contacting the seller a few times did not help. He wouldn’t reply nor pick the phone up.

That's how the phone looked after resetting...

He came over last night, thinking that I might help him. I contacted Lux-Replica-Phones.com and had them try to help me. They said that there was an issue before with the Signature S, but they have updated the firmware. Since Kyle had not bought the phone from Lux-Replica-Phones they refused accepting it for guarantee repairs. I talked to Gary on the phone and arranged the delivery of a special USB2COM cable and a USB Flash Disk with all the neccessary software (thanks so much, man!). We had to pay 29 bucks for shipping using Western Union as the quickest payment method available. Within a few days we got the UPS package with a small box inside.

The UPS Express Life-Saving Device

The box contained the promised USB Disk and the Cable to flash the VERTU Signature S replica, carefully packaged, arriving in time for us to have the weekend dedicated to completely reset the VERTU Signature S firmware.

The USB-to-Serial UCable and the USB Disk

Without further ado, we copied all the stuff from the Flash Disc to my laptop and installed the necessary drivers for it to work. All the sofware was ready and needed some minor setting up. I called up Lux-Replica-Phones again and had Jan send me out all the instructions on how to flash my VERTU Signature S replica.

Connecting Up The VERTU Signature S Replica

And we went into the depths of Chinese firmware flashing, with sweat dripping off my forehead and Kyle wiping it off – we actually managed to complete the flashing of Kyle’s VERTU Signature S with little effort. Here’s how it’s done…

WARNING: Reflashing or modifying your VERTU phone is an infringement of warranty conditions. Reflash your phone only if you’re 100% sure of what you’re doing, how you are to do it, and if you have no other choice. Kyle and myself are not to be held responsible for any deader-than-dead phones resulting from the misuse of the following rules. The information provided is not an instruction manual on how to flash your VERTU Signature S replica, but merely a recollection of how we managed to do it. Kids, don’t try this at home.

1. Remove the battery and connect up the Signature S phone with the provided USB2SER cable.
2. Launch the MultiFlash Toolkit.
3. Click on “Factory Database/Data Source File” and select the “MTK_DATABASE.mdb” file.
4. Click “File/Open Download Agent” and select the “MTK_ALLnOne_DA.bin” file.
5. Click “File/Open Scatter and Load Setting” and a new window will pop up.
6. In the Scatter and Load window click the “Select File 1″ button and select the “scat_ROM.txt” file provided on the disk.
7. Click the “ROM” label under the 4 Scatter buttons and select the firmware file with the language version you need for your VERTU Signature S. The ROM file is “C12_V090321B.bin” for Version B.
8. Close the Scatter and Load window.
9. Set the Baud Rate to “460800″.
10. Set the Type to “Downloaded ROM”.
11. Set the Operation to “NOR”.
12. Insert the battery into the connected up phone and press the START button.
13. As soon as one of the COM ports listed becomes blue and a timer sets off, switch the phone on. The phone will not switch on, but the small light at the top will light up and the progress bar in the software will start.
14. When the download progress reaches 100% wait for 2 minutes before closing the program, disconnecting your phone and switching it on.

Clear as it is, when you don’t understand what you’re really selecting and what that or this thing does, your nerves become shattered, especially when you know that if something goes wrong the phone may end up dead to an extent where no flashing will ever help. Nevertheless, we went for it, as we had no other choice…

Flashing the Signature S

…

Flashing the Signature S

Just a little further.. (they told me it’d take 10 minutes..)

Flashing the Signature S

..and…

…100%. Green light… another 2 minutes… Cable disconnected… Pressed the soft Power ON button… and… VERTU greeting… music…

Reflashed VERTU Signature S

Eureka! We did it!… What a weekend! What an experience! Again, do not do this if you’re not sure of what you’re doing. I’m not an expert; I just did what the guys from Lux-Replica-Phones told me to do. Read the disclaimer above. I was not allowed to upload any of the software that was given to me, so if you need it contact Lux-Replica-Phones.

Thanks for reading and commenting. By the way, I’m placing an order for my own VERTU Signature S next week. So another photo review is coming up soon.

|© Copyright 2009. Timothy Nine |