I was able to resolve the issue with MSU not recognizing my phone (I removed and deleted everything, rebooted and started over) and was able to upload my ringtones. Thank you so much for posting these instructions!
The only thing I did differently is that for whatever reason, P2KCommander would not recognize my c: drive, so I uploaded the tones to a flashdrive, which P2KCommander was able to recognize.
Thanks again for the tutorial that even a newbie could follow and accomplish circumventing Verizon's setup.
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yellow Posts: 1
Sat Feb 23, 2008 8:48 pm
I got my W385 to work and now I download photos - ringtons - even put in a GIF for my new wallpaper -
Thanks to the whole group
Watchout-- after two hours of working great - the phone crashed- the screen was filled with colored circles and "HELLOMOTO" across the screen and it locked up- tried everything - took battery out for hours - nothing woulld work
Do any of you know of a reset button on the W385?
jha Posts: 1
Sun Mar 02, 2008 5:09 pm
jwc1926 wrote:
Hey guys, I'm back.
Between my original post and now, Verizon has made it even more difficult to get your own custom ringtones onto your v3m.
As far as my experience goes, you can simply forget about Motorola Phone Tools (MPT), even the most up-to-date versions.
HOWEVER, I just figured out a new way of getting my own ringtones onto my V3m, and here is how I did it.
Starting from scratch with your new v3m out of the box, you will need:
(1) The latest handset drivers for your phone which you can get by Google-searching the following search terms: motorola handset usb drivers. (Sorry. I can't post the link. This forum won't let me.)
FYI, these drivers work with VISTA!
(2) Motorola Software Update which you can get by Google-searching Motorola Software Update. It's the first hit for me.
When you get to the correct page on this website you will need to select your carrier and your phone. I selected Verizon and V3c (even though I have a V3m phone).
(3) P2kCommander:
Google search this. It's the first hit. On the site, just click on the "anchor" on the ship to download the zip file.
This is a standalone file. You don't need to install it.
(4) A USB cable to connect your V3m to your computer.
**********
Okay, here are the steps. Bear in mind, I am running Windows Vista Home Basic (32-bit).
(3) Download P2kCommander and extract the files in the zip archive to a folder on your machine. I just extracted them to a folder on my desktop.
(4) Run Motorola Software Update (MSU).
(5) Power on your phone and connect it to a HIGH SPEED USB port on your computer. IMPORTANT: Do not connect your phone to your computer through a USB Hub. It has to be direct! Also, if you connect your phone to an older low speed USB port, your computer may not recognize your phone.
At this point MSU will detect your phone after a few seconds (you'll hear your phone bleeping) if you've installed the drivers correctly. When you see the "MEID Number" appear in the MSU program window, you're golden. Nine times out of ten, if you experience problems, it is because the drivers are all f-d up. See "Troubleshooting" below for suggestions on how to correct this problem.
(6) Once MSU has detected your phone, minimize (DO NOT CLOSE) MSU.
(7) Launch P2kCommander. It will ask you if you want to upgrade. I just click "No," but one of these days I probably will upgrade.
(8.) On either the left pane or right pane drop-down menu (doesn't matter which one), select "P2k Mobile Phone." If all goes well, you'll connect to your phone and be in the root directory of your phone.
(9) Go into the root directory (named "a" on my phone) and select both MyToneDB.db and TmpTneDB.db. (FYI, for novices, after you've clicked on and selected a file, you can hold down the "Ctrl" key to select a SECOND file with your left mouse button.)
(10) In the opposite pane, use the drop-down menu to browse to a location on your local machine that you prefer and click on the "Copy" button in P2kCommander to move the two files you selected over to your machine.
(11) After you have copied those two files, DELETE THEM FROM YOUR PHONE by right-clicking on each one in P2kCommander and choosing "delete." I only copied them to my local machine first in order to back them up. But these are the files that prevent you from using your own custom ringtones even if you've copied them over to your phone.
(12) Now browse to the directory on your phone that contains your phone's ringtones. The full path from the root directory on my phone is: a/motorola/shared/ringtone.
(13) Now go back over to the pane for your local machine, select your custom-made or downloaded mp3 ringtones, and copy them over into your phone's ringtone directory using the "Copy" button in P2kCommander.
DONE!
(14) Close P2kCommander, close MSU, unplug your phone, and power-off and restart your phone. You can now SET your custom ringtones. If you didn't delete the two files I mentioned above, you'd be able to see your custom ringtones, but not SET them as the default or for particular people in your contacts list. (I hate Verizon.)
IMPORTANT: You need to delete the two files I mention above EVERY TIME YOU UPLOAD NEW RINGTONES THAT YOU'VE MADE. This is because your phone regenerates the two damn files every time you start your phone.
If you're looking for a program to help you make ringtones, I suggest Audacity. Google-search Audacity. It is the first hit. Best of all, it's free! Customarily, ringtones are about 30 seconds long. You can use Audacity to make 30-second clips of your favorite songs and export them as mp3s. You can also fade them in or fade them out, and even add other effects.
TROUBLESHOOTING:
If you're having trouble connecting to your phone using MSU, you probably f-d up the driver installation. To fix this, go into your Control Panel and remove any programs having to do with Motorola driver installations. HOWEVER, after uninstalling, you'll definitely need to go to the folder where the drivers are located and manually delete everything in the following directory because the uninstall in Control Panel doesn't do the job entirely:
Just delete everything in that folder and start over with the driver installation. That worked for me.
Good luck!
What are the ramifications of doing the MSU with V3c on a v3m? I read your post and it all makes sense, but these are my first RAZRs, so I'm not that familiar with them. I am apprehensive about loading the V3c on a V3m. We have several V3m's on a family share plan and would like to load custom ringtones and be able to listen to MP3s. Previously, we had the LG VX8100's. It was pretty easy to load ringtones! Thanks for any help!
Vinwiesel Posts: 1
Mon Jun 09, 2008 12:14 am
New here, but the method mentioned in this thread finally worked for me. I could not get Motorola Phone Tools to work even with seem edits, and changing it to a v3mM, etc. The P2Kcommander method, with copying mp3's and deleting MyToneDB.db and TmpTneDB.db finally did the trick.
This was on a new v3m purchased from verizon end of May this year. All I wanted was one lousy ringtone so I didn't have the default, but Verizon wants you to purchase Vcast. No wonder they don't mention this when you sign up for the phone.
I will add though, Motorola Phone Tools still worked for me to move pictures to/from the phone which is handy.
Watchout-- after two hours of working great - the phone crashed- the screen was filled with colored circles and "HELLOMOTO" across the screen and it locked up- tried everything - took battery out for hours - nothing woulld work
