i-mate problem: clear storage killed my Smartphone :-(

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BroadArrow

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Topic # 8510 5-Jul-2006 19:21

I recently bought a second hand i-mate SP3i. (It was originally bought unlocked from Expansys USA.)

When it arrived it worked fine with my SIM in it. I then ran "clear storage" because the previous owner left all his information on it and the manual said to run "clear storage" to remove all data and return the phone to factory settings. However, the phone now can't find a GSM network.

It was orginally sold unlocked and not for a particular network so I would have thought it should work "out of the box" with the factory settings but obviously something useful was lost in the reset.

Any help very gratefully appreciated!

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Reply # 40527 5-Jul-2006 19:47

I have you checked out the club imate site for support

BroadArrow

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Reply # 40529 5-Jul-2006 20:14

No, I haven't as you have to pay to get access. I know it's a bit of a catch 22 but I don't want to fork out money to join in case I can't get the phone working and decide to sell and get a different brand instead.

Pity there don't seem to be any non-club-i-mate forums out there. How good are the club-i-mate forums?

jpwise

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Reply # 40530 5-Jul-2006 20:53

The imate forums themselves from what i've seen are pretty hopeless.

On the upside http://www.imateforum.com/ appears to be pretty good. Very active user base on there. Not run by imate themselves.

Someone on the imateforum.com site can probably assist.

Jp.

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BroadArrow

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Reply # 40534 5-Jul-2006 21:36

Thanks for that. I'll try posting there.

freitasm

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Reply # 40537 5-Jul-2006 21:47

Check in its configuration if it's changed to run in the USA bands or in the local bands.

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BroadArrow

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Reply # 40548 5-Jul-2006 22:33

I thought it might be a band problem but I can't find a way to set which bands it uses. The network settings don't seem to include any band selection option like I've seen referred to for other models. Perhaps the setting is hidden somewhere in settings files? Or perhaps it's supposed to be scanning them all automatically?

freitasm

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Reply # 40549 5-Jul-2006 22:38

I don't remember exactly on Windows Mobile Smartphone, since I don't have one handy (the old one is with someone temporarily), so I can't check the menus.

You can check the Network selection under the Phone Settings (?)... The options are Manual and Automatic. If Manual then you have to follow with a search and select the network from the list shown. If automatic it will try to find a network. What happens if you change to manual and let it perform the search?

Most tri-band phones are 900/1800/1900MHz, and only quad-band phones come as 850/900/1800/1900MHz. But perhaps you could check in the box or manual with the model that it is ready for 900MHz?

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BroadArrow

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Reply # 40552 5-Jul-2006 22:58

Surely it must be if it worked before I ran the clear storage utility?

freitasm

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Reply # 40553 5-Jul-2006 23:00

Fair enough... Give a try to a manual search and see if the phone actually finds a network.

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freitasm

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Reply # 40554 5-Jul-2006 23:01

Fair enough... Give a try to a manual search and see if the phone actually finds a network.

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chiefie

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Reply # 40559 6-Jul-2006 00:22

Club Imate is free to join AS LONG AS you are the first owner of the Imate products, if SP3i that you use now have previously been registered by the previous owner, then it will cost you to transfer the device deed to you.

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BroadArrow

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Reply # 40562 6-Jul-2006 07:41

I did try registering on the i-club forums using the phone's IMEI but the site knew it was second hand so the previous owner must have registered using it. :-(

BroadArrow

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Reply # 40563 6-Jul-2006 07:46

I posted on this in imateforum.com (at http://www.imateforum.com/forums/showthread.php?p=10069&posted=1#post10069) and a reply suggested that I might need to install the network specific CAB file to set the settings. I would have thought that basic stuff like finding a network would work with factory settings and the CAB file would be needed only for bells and whistles like GPRS but I'll give it a try. Does anyone know where I can find a settings file for SP3i on Vodafone NZ?

BroadArrow

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Reply # 40564 6-Jul-2006 07:48

Mauricio, thanks for the suggestion. I have tried manually finding the network and even tried manually adding it to my preferred networks (using the GSM network code for Vodafone) but it still reports that it can find any networks.

psychrn

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Reply # 40565 6-Jul-2006 08:34

Albeit different I just upgraded the ROM in my wm5 device-this included a whole lot of different cab files for various network operators
Presumably if we can find one for you the smartphone one would be the same??
Ill have a lkook on their ftp site

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