From 8.26 to 8.23 on the V3

Ok folks, first let me say, this is DEFINITELY a void of the warranty!!!!!

You do this at your own risk and I am not responsible for you messing up your phone!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!

Below are the steps I followed to downgrade from 8.26 to 8.23.

Links
http://www.smart-clip.com/testpoints/V3.php

First and foremost, PRAY ALOT BEFOREHAND!!!!!!!!!!!

1. You must disassemble the phone
Remove the backplate
Remove the battery and the SIM card
Remove the 2 Torques screws that hold the lower part of the phone together.
With a VERY small flat tip screwdriver, you have to release the 4 snap together points on the side and bottom. They are located about .5 cm above and to the side of the bottom corners. Be careful not to break them or to scratch up your phone.
Once you have the bottom off, remove the ribbon cable using a small screwdriver and prying a little at a time around where the cable connects to the lower half. This will seperate the front and back.
Remove the board from the chassis.
2. With the usb port in the upper right hand corner and the battery port in the lower left corner, look at the board. There is a large metal casing on the lower portion of the board. On the right hand side of this casing are 4 solder points (2 on the side and 2 on the bottom) that have to be desoldered. I just used a sodering iron(with a new sharp tip) and a small screwdriver to heat and break the solder points. Just be VERY careful not to touch anything but the casing.
3. Once desoldered, bend the lower right corner up and bend it back and forth until it breaks off (I know, it sounds ugly, but you will never get it back into place, so its better to remove it).
4. From here I followed the Test Point Proceedures (see LINKS above)except for the following.

In order to get into test mode, I had to connect the USB cable AFTER I did everything else. The phone would not go into test mode following the exact instructions outlined in the Test point proceedures.

5. ONCE THE PHONE IS IN FLASH MODE, DO NOT !!!! UNHOOK THE BATTERY. You have to HOLD the battery in place during the entire flash process. For me, that was the hardest part of the whole process as it required that I hold the board and the battery perfectly still for about 20 minutes. I still have cramps in my hands.

6. Once the flash is done, you are done. Enjoy!!!

I have pics of what the board looks like after you remove the metal casing. I cant put them in here, but will E-mail if you like.

Very nice gresh lol...Like I said.. your nuts

Samsung,
I will take that as a compliment!! I like to say, its an UGLY baby, but a baby nonetheless!!! Thanks to all for the support and information. In looking back at the fix, it really is not that bad. The desoldering is only on the casing, not on components. Properly done, its not that bad. Anyhow, I hope you guys get some use out of it. Again, thanks for the help. I think between you and Old_Fool, you make it easy.

Last edited by Old_Fool on Mon Oct 24, 2005 7:38 am, edited 1 time in total

God Bless you brother. The head ache is worth it!!!! Congrats! So far we are the only 2 to try it.

And I have found that if you use a hobby knife to score the solder points, you can just cut through them. I think this is harder than desoldering because you rund the risk of cracking your main board, but it works. Just be careful of the components under the casing.

Also, this should work for your V551 as well. The only difference being once the phone is in flash mode, go to repair and have SC do a PDS repair, then you can put it back together and flash with the right flash for it (this way is a little easier on the hands becasue you dont have to hold the battery as long). Let me know if you try it, I would like to know the results. Thanks again for all of the help and I am glad it paid off.

All,
SC has changed the test point for the V3. This is NOT the test point I used for my unlocking and I dont know if it will work with the above proceedures. The above proceedures were written for the old test point (the resistor directly to the right of the new test point in the picture).

God Bless and Good Luck!!

I am not sure. I am not going to flash back to 8.26 to find out. If anyone does the new proceedure, please share your results.

All,
I just left the SC forum and the new test point is indeed the correct one. A member there has published a tutorial with the new test point proceedures (though, its a bit difficult the way he does it). So, we know it can be done. God Bless and Good Luck.....

Last edited by jaycandon on Wed Oct 26, 2005 9:39 pm, edited 1 time in total

From 8.26 to 8.23 on the V3

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