Got a little tired of the Vodafone branding on my C902, and a little digging around found out how to 1) debrand it and 2) have future firmware updates from the Sony Ericsson Update Service (SEUS). I debranded a phone once before (paying for the priviledge) and as a result couldn’t get any new firmware – I would have had to keep on paying each time I wanted to update whch wasn’t really a great solution.
Debranding a C902 from Vodafone turns out to be easy and free.
Firstly, you’ll need a piece of software call A2Uploader, and an XML file to fool Ericsson’s update service into thinking your phone is unbranded. Click here for the copy I made and used. Then you simply use SEUS to flash your firmware to the latest version, saying yes to all the warning about possible data loss.
I was a bit put off by the fact that my AVG anti-virus warned me that A2Upoader contined a Trojan. It didn’t, so to get it to run I had to turn off the residnt shield within AVG. Then you just follow the prompts like this:
1. Turn off your phone, take out the battery, re-insert the battery (don’t turn the phone back on)
2. Fire up A2Upoader, click “File System Tool” on the right, hold the “C” button on your phone and plug in the USB cable. A2Uploader should then recognise your handset.
3. Use A2Uploader to browse your phone to “tpa/preset/custom” and copy the XML file onto your phone.
4. Shut down A2Uploader, disconeect the USB cable from the phone, and switch it back on.
You can now use the Sony Ericsson Update Service and get the latest firmware. The Sony Ericsson firmware, not the Vodafone stuff.
Having done this, my phone is:
1) running much faster
2) has a decent battery indicator
3) much nicer icons in the main menu
4) hasn’t got 50 shortcuts to Vodafone Live! that I can’t change (I hate that)
You can also use A2Uploader to get rid of the awful pre-installed games, and any media files (ringtones, pictures etc) that you can’t normally remove using the phone. Great!
I thought it might be an idea to show a couple of pictures of the debranded c902. A bit tricky to get the phone to take a picture of itself, so I asked Tony if he could take a picture using his iPhone. And here it is:
Turns out the iPhone camera is, to be frank, absolute rubbish so you probably can’t read what’s on the phone. Even funnier, I asked Tony to bluetooth the image over to me once he’d taken it, and he told me he couldn’t – the iPhone can’t transmit files via Bluetooth. Pathetic eh?
Just for the sake of fairness, I took a quick shot of his iPhone with my c902, see if you can spot the differences in image quality:
Both images were taken indoors, with poor lighting and no setting camera options to anything other than default. I’m horrified the iPhone has such a crap camera, and is incapable of sending files via Bluetooth particularly as it’s so incredibly expensive.
dear andy
thanks for the tip.
all steps followed up to copy of xml file onto the phone.
q1: there are 2 .xml files: customize and customized-capability. which one should be copied? and
q2: how to copy? by double right click you get only the “read” action which could do so… i tried both files with the read command, a2uploader stays put and nothing happens. ofcourse, avg is disabled.
would really appreciate help
thanks a lot
Thanx a lot! But where can I get those XML files from ?
The link to the XML file is in the original post above – I’ve changed it to make it a bit clearer. Just right click and “save as”
Thanks! Erm do u know hw can i delete those annoying network operator shortcuts from the standby ? coz my phones left soft button contains a link to homepage of the internet and i wana replace it !!
Nice 1 m8! i was lost to ****.. cudnt find proper instructions newher! sorted!!
Once you’ve loaded the standard Ericsson firmware, the network operator shortcuts disappear. This was probably the top reason I did this.
Thank you SO MUCH. You’re actually a lifesaver. And also quite funny! xD
will this also work on the c905 ?
It should work on the c905 as it’s from the same series. Of course, you’re doing it at your own risk though!
You are a star. I just switched from Vodafone to O2 and needed to de-brand my phone. Can’t believe how easy it was. The phone is so much better now. Cheers
thank you, this has made my phone so much better, i was dissapointed that i had a crappy 02 button there… thx alot . Tino
Oh my gosh, thanks soooo much! Vodafone is crap and my W595 looks A LOT better now (:
hi
any chance any of you know what i have to edit in the XML file to get danish language again!!!!!!! HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!
You’d need to change the “cda-number” tag contents. Finding the right value to use is simple enough – just Google for “C902 CDA Number List” or something – there are loads of lists published with them all in there. Hope you get it working!
thanks!!!
my c951 looks a lot better now, and works better too. no more “live” button and useless vodafone menus.
great!!!
WOW…..you are the best!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! What a change!!!! My C902 is now awesome!!!
Can you tell me how to get over the fact that the Sony updater says i have the latest firmware version, and won’t let me update it after taking the above steps?
Didn’t work – UK Vodaphone, unlocked using Aerix. Copied file, don’t see any difference, can’t change up shortcut as before, Vodaphine live button as before. Followed instructions exactly.
wow – two (what appear to be) identical questions! Sounds like the phone hasn’t actually been changed.
Just to try and clear it up – if the Vodafone logos & branding are still appearing or and if SEUS isn’t offering you what you know to be the newest firmware, the phone still thinks it belongs to the network. When you’ve managed to overwrite the XML file SEUS will recognise your phone as factory default. When you view the file in Windows Explorer, you’ll need to tell Wwindows to display hidden and system files for the actual XML file to appear.
Hope this helps – I can promise it did work for me.
Hi Andy,
A million thanks for you tutorial, my c902 work like a charm.
it was a Belgian vodafone branded phone.
after a lot of search, a didn’t believe my eyes when i found your web page. it seems to be too simple to works…
SEUS give me the latest software update for the c902.
-Much faster (it was not my first c902)
-better camera quality!
Thank you very much!!!
Hey dude whats-up?
listen I’ve followed every step up until the part where you copy the xml file over firstly what is the file name of the xml and where in the specified folder must I put it? I did followed it step by step but mine does not show the SEUS on the phone.
PLEASE HELP Oh guru of debranding wizdom
Reinhardt
Just download the file in my post – right click the link and “save as” to your desktop or somewhere. You do NOT need to rename it – it’s already got the right filename. Then using A2 Uploader copy it to tpa/preset/custom on the phone. That’s it!
Ok cool now that I’ve done that where do I go from there?
Thanks a billion!
I accidentally deleted all of the files in custom and my phone didnt work. It was ok because SEUS makes new ones of everything!
Thanks Andy
Andy,
Worked a treat with no problems at all. I now have a nice clean C902 with the only mention of Vodafone being on the front of the phone – and that would need a different sort of ‘file’ to remove it.
Thanks!
Bill
Great to hear that Bill – and don’t for one second think other “debranding” file hasn’t occured to me as well
Awesome guide!!! It’s a royal pain in the arse when your network is anything other than vodafone, but now it’s sorted out.
Thank you!!!
it is not getin detected……..wat 2 do…???
it is branded wid 3-mobile….
After debranding… My phone looses signal every few minutes & then the signal bar goes up again. It does this all the time… & people cannot reach me coz it says my phone is unavailable…
Any clues? Thanks
Thank u So much. Nice Explanation and Nice Method. I have Just change my Vodafone software to original and i am so happy.
Cheers.
Fantastic Work my friend,The best Debranding guide ive ever used.
Keep up the good work debranding the best phone around!
Cheers Again
Lee
Excellent!! Thank’s bro!
At first A2uploader would not detect my phone, I found I needed to download and install ggsetup-2.2.0.5.exe after this it wotked a treat.
many thanks
This worked but now I notice that my “CALL” button no longer works making it impossible to answer my phone, any suggestions?
Hi…..
Will it work for c905….
I irritated with Vodafone Stuff on my C905…
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