Saturday, August 1, 2009

How to update Sony Ericsson W595 Firmware

Recently I have upgraded my Sony Ericsson (SE) W595 firmware because it has been "rebooting" frequently. I guess I've been "spoilt" by the iPhone firmware upgrade process but I find that the SE W595 firmware upgrade rather unfriendly. This post is to sort of guide you in the upgrade. The steps here assume that you are using a Windows machine. I've upgraded mine using Windows XP Pro.

I'm not sure what was upgraded but after the upgrade, I found improvements in the following:
  • My phone has stopped "rebooting" itself (1 week so far)
  • In the calendar, the days are bold in the month view if there are events/appointments scheduled for that day

There are a few things you should prepare before upgrading the firmware:
  • Ensure that you have the USB cable to connect to your phone
  • Ensure you have installed the Sony Ericsson PC Suite (Download from here) and backup your phone
  • Ensure you have installed the Sony Ericsson Update Service (Download from here)
  • Ensure that your phone is almost fully charged

Take note of the following:
  • All your SMSes will be erased after the firmware upgrade
  • All your settings will reset back to the default after the firmware upgrade
  • All your game settings will be reset (Not sure about the new games installed)

Yes, I was surprised at the above. Previously when I upgraded the iPhone firmware like nobody's business, I never had such problems. In fact, the upgrade was seamless and nothing is lost. Oh well...

After you have prepped yourself for the upgrade, do the following:
  1. Switch off your phone

  2. Remove and insert the battery (I believe this is to "reset" the phone)

  3. Connect your phone usb cable to the PC

  4. Launch the Sony Ericsson Update Service

  5. Choose the W595 phone from the dropdown list (easier to find your phone)

  6. Press and hold down the C button (not the power button), and plug in your usb cable to the phone

  7. After holding the C button for a while, you should see your computer detecting a new device. The Sony Erricsson Update Service will download and install the firmware.

  8. Just follow the instructions on the screen. You will be asked to disconnect the USB cable after the software has installed the firmware. The phone will continue the installation for a while.

  9. Launch the Sony Ericsson PC Suite to restore your phone after the firmware has been upgraded.

That's it. After all these steps, I had to start the painful process of setting back all my phone settings (including wallpaper, screen saver, area info, etc). However, my phone has stopped rebooting so I guess this is worth the effort.

37 comments:

Loueepu said...

While updating i lost my Data,i am not able to get all the data.Can anybody help me on this,I am ready to pay for this.
pls mark mail me loueepu@yahoo.com

Anonymous said...

is this updating possible with mac?
i downloaded it and it seems to be problem....
anyone an idea where to find a version for mac?
thank you
angie

chantc said...

Sorry. Based on the official link from Sony Ericson, I do not see any option for macs. I think you need to use Parallels or boot camp to upgrade the firmware.

Anonymous said...

i was just wondering if updating the firmware using sony's update tool will "debrand" the phone?

i'm on vodafone, and they have predefined two of the keys to connect to vodafone live. these are not configurable within the phone itself, and it's a bit of a pain.

chantc said...

Hmm... I recall when I reinstall my firmware, the 2 keys (I presume its the left and right key) still points to the telco's predefined keys. I was hoping the firmware reset will remove it but it didn't, at least for my Singapore's Telco :)

fara anak abah said...

it have been 7 hours since 1 updated my w595..it can be switch on but then it didnt go 2 da main wndows(i mean,the main wallpaper)i`ve charged da mobile right after the update process...is it normal?its killing me..urghh

email me at orange_me2020@yahoo.com

chantc said...

What you can try is to re-install the firmware again. That should help "reset" your phone. This time, ensure that your battery is full.

That's the only solution I can think of.

Anonymous said...

I got it done, thanks a lot for the tips

Anonymous said...

had a problem..my 595 phone is not starting after i had disconnected it last time...it just produce vibration and don't start and it continues....
thought the update may work..i followed the process..but it say"you have the available latest version of software"...what's the way to re-install??how?? is it to go thru the same process??

chantc said...

Sorry, it has been some time since I've installed the firmware for the W595 and I no longer have this phone.

I do recall that you can just re-install the firmware with one of the options in the software.

Unknown said...

My w595 mobile is not showing media function.like blank.also when i press menu button(middle).it show some error massage.in my phone setting menu when i click software version it is not opening..pls help me..

chantc said...

This sounds like your handphone is corrupted. I think the best is to flash it again with the new firmware. That would help reset your phone back to the default settings.

As above, I no longer have a W595. Cannot recall how to do it other than the instructions I put here. Sorry if I cannot be of much help.

Anonymous said...

My 595 phn is not recieving massages.and when i m sending a msg it's not showing the delivery report.bt,the msg settings are perfect.what can i do?u got to help me first man.

chantc said...

For your problem, I think you need to approach your telco for help. It may be a settings problem since you're not even receiving SMSes.

Anonymous said...

i keep getting 'call lists empty' even though i keep making calls. anyone can help ?

chantc said...

Sorry, I've never seen that problem before when I used to own this phone. You can try to reflash your phone though, which is similar to resetting your computer. It might help.

Anonymous said...

Hello!

I am trying to update firmware. BUt unable to get step 4 result.
Also do i need to switch on my phone as it was switch off in first step.Kindly suggest

chantc said...

You need to first install the Sony Ericsson PC Suite. To get the step 4 result, your phone must be switched off or you cannot execute step 6 as far as I recall.

Sorry but it has been some time since I did this upgrade. I no longer own this phone so I am unable to try it out.

Anonymous said...

thanks for your reply. I followed above 4 steps but when tried to connect pc suite with pc it shows to install pc companion software.
I have not switched on my phone yet. also when i tried to press C uton nothing happened no dilog box is opend.cn u please suggest something

chantc said...

I think that means that the PC suite that you have installed is incomplete and it couldn't detect your sony ericsson phone properly. You'll need to get the full suite installed, and ensure that the software can detect your phone before pressing the C button. That's my guess.

Anonymous said...

thanks for your reply...ok, i will try to reinstall it. pc suite will detect teh phone even if phone is switched off. right??

Anonymous said...

hi!

I phone just switched off and not able to sitched on..It happened few days back too. then i visited to SE shops they updated the firmware for phoe. It happened again now I dont want to go there again and agian. i want to upgrade it myself. Do I need some sort of software for firmware or can i follow the same step whihc u mentined here Thanks

chantc said...

I did it myself by following the instructions in the post. However, it has been a long time since I used this phone so I'm not sure if the steps are still accurate.

Anonymous said...

thanks for ur reply...pls tell if we need some other software apart from sony pc companion to do this.

chantc said...

I only needed the PC companion software, and the firmware file at that point in time. I do not recall installing any other software.

Anonymous said...

thanks for ur answer...

Anonymous said...

my phone is soy ericsson w595 but can not select phone mode . there is no menu , setting , usb on my phone

chantc said...

Have you tried the above steps? I think it should still work. I can't try it again though because I've not been using the W595 for a very long time.

Mimi said...

I just bought a 2nd hand W595 and I'm having the same constant refreshing problem. I'm about to try re-flashing it. (I'm doing this for the 1st time) Is your phone's defective firmware R3EG004? That's the one that I have now. And do you still recall what firmware version you replaced it with? Thanks.

chantc said...

I'm so sorry. It has been so long since I used that phone and I'm unable to recall the firmware. However, I do know that the firmware update resolved my problem. You may want to try it but remember to backup your phone. The rebooting is very irritating.

Mimi said...

I see, so after the update the phone's constant rebooting totally stopped?

And the link doesn't seem to point to the pc suite and update service anymore, I had to google to find them because Sony has changed their website already. You certainly didn't use Sony PC Companion, right?

chantc said...

Yes. The rebooting stopped totally.

You're right. Looks like the PC suite no longer exists. That will mean my instructions may not be accurate now.

According to the website, PC Companion should be used now to do the upgrade.

Apologies. I no longer have that phone so I may not be able to help in providing the instructions.

Mimi said...

The Sony store over here only offers to repair Xperia phones, so I guess it has something to do with those software being obsolete. But thanks to Google, they are still being uploaded by other W595 users. I can't run PC Companion because my PC has only 1GB RAM so I will follow your tutorial, since I have the update service software and pc suite software.

Mimi said...

My W595 can't be detected by my pc eventhough I choose all the USB options already. The lightning/charging logo shows up only in mass storage mode but the pc still can't detect my phone. Do you still have the SE PC suite in your pc? Which version did you download? I downloaded version 1.6.0 which was made in 2006, but it's an old version, and the W595 still didn't exist yet that time.

I'm currently downloading version 6.011.00 though, but I'd like to know which particular version you installed? Since there's also a 3.1.1. Thanks!

chantc said...

Sorry, I'm using a mac now and I that happened quite some time back.

I did a bit of googling. Why don't you try this link: http://sony-ericsson-pc-suite.soft32.com/

Mimi said...

Thanks for the link, I actually downloaded that version yesterday, and my phone still can't be recognized by the pc, while all the other devices like flash drives can be recognized. I guess I have no choice but to use the phone's over the air update service, good luck if it can update itself properly with all that constant refreshing. Thanks!

chantc said...

Have you tried point 6 and 7 in my post after you reset the phone? Based on my recollection, if you do not follow these 2 instructions, it will not detect your phone.

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