ROM upgrade error 296 (upgrade only)

[hazymat]

Hello

I've searched on this forum and can't find the answer to my specific question.

I upgraded a while back to MrClean AKU 2.3 and now I need to downgrade because the unit needs to be sent back under warranty due to screen alignment issues.

So I unpacked the i-mate WWE ROM, and replaced the ROMUpdateUtility from that with the ROMUpdateUtility_Wizard_NoID.exe, which I downloaded from the XDA FTP site. (This is because using the standard one supplied gives a ROM upgrade error 296: UPGRADE ONLY error.)

As far as I can make out, the ROMUpdateUtility_Wizard_NoID.exe is just patched to not validate the current version when upgrading.

"Brilliant, this should work", I think.

But I get the following error:

"ERROR [238]: FILE READ... the update utility cannot open the requested file. Please check your update utility"

(see here http://static.flickr.com/111/306871020_8aa37f337e_o.gif)

Please help, anyone, I am coming up to the end of my warranty period and reeeeally want to get this crappy broken screen alignment problem sorted!

Thanks in advance

[hazymat]

* bump *

Hope it's not considered rude to bump here, just would love to solve this problem as tis driving me a bit mad :)

Many thanks in advance

[_Nomad_]

msmobiles.com:
This error message may appear when, for some unknown reason, the ROM image on the phone is corrupt. Download the whole RUU and try again.

[hazymat]

Hey

Thanks for the tip. You were right, it must have been a corrupt .nbf file.

I tried to downgrade and the progress bar started and finished and all seemed to go well.

But when I boot up again I get the white MrClean ROM splash screen still!

Is it possible the update was done but the splash screen was not replaced?

Or perhaps the update wasn't actually done? Which version number do I look for? I used the .nbf file packaged in with the imate ROM K-JAM_WWE_1010903_106_10110_ship.exe

Please help!

[_Nomad_]

try using this (ftp://xda:xda@ftp.xda-developers.com/Wizard/Roms/Qtek/CUSTOM__RUU_Wizard_1050412_WWE_101_11210_WWE.exe) rom to downgrade with... after that you should be able to upgrade to any official rom. Make sure that you pick an official one as the above rom downgrades the ipl/spl as well.

ohh... and make sure that you restore the CID lock as well, they might be get rather cranky otherwise...

Good luck

[hazymat]

Hello

Thank you so much for the reply, I really appreciate the advice. I would feel so out-there-on-my-own without it! I bought the imate off contract from expansys and it was really expensive and so really don't want it to end up a brick as I can't afford another right now!

I successfully downgraded to that QTEK custom ROM.

But now when I upgrade again to K-JAM_WWE_216901_2169101_020710_ship (latest).exe from that QTEK ROM, it doesn't work! Upgrade error again [ERROR 296]

Here are the screens I get:

http://static.flickr.com/114/309671629_756dc86b9d_o.gif
http://static.flickr.com/107/309671652_327adfb432_o.gif

Thanks again

Mat

[_Nomad_]

Just to clarify... is the phone CID-locked? You might also want to try flashing it with the K-JAM_WWE_1010903_106_10110_ship.exe ROM before upgrading it... you can also try putting the phone in bootloader mode, press and keep pressed both the keys on the right side and then insert the pen in the resetbutton, before trying the upgrade...

EDIT: msmobiles.com shows the following regarding the particular error:
ERROR [296] : UPGRADE ONLY

One of these error messages will appear when you use the wrong RUU to do the upgrade. RUU will check if the Model ID and Language ID are compatible with the device. Make sure you use the appropriate RUU tool to upgrade.

[hazymat]

Hey Nomad

Thanks again for the advice. This is all really really helpful. Going to try what you suggested a bit later.

I think I CID unlocked the phone - to be honest it was a while ago and I just remember blindly following someone's instructions (I was at a point of desperation at the time for another reason!)

Either way, I am pretty sure it would have to have been CID unlocked because I flashed the ROM from the imate default one to the MrClean one.

I did some initial looking around about CID relocking the device but still not sure how. Does the lockiwiz give the option of locking the CID as well as unlocking it?

Thanks!

Mat

[hazymat]

I flashed from the QTEK custom ROM to the K-JAM_WWE_1010903_106_10110_ship.exe after doing that special reset whilst in the bootloader. This flash upgrade worked but again it didn't remove the splash screen from the QTEK custom ROM.

But now whenever I try to flash to the latest imate ROM K-JAM_WWE_216901_2169101_020710_ship.exe using the default RUU I get ERROR [296] UPGRADE ONLY.

And when I try to flash to the same ROM using the noID RUU I get ERROR [238]: FILE READ ERROR.

(On that last one, I have re-downloaded both the noID RUU and the extractable archive K-JAM_WWE_216901_2169101_020710_ship.exe from the XDA FTP.

So, I'm still unable to get my ROM to the imate version! Many thanks for your help!

Mat