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How To Hard Reset The N900 To The Factory State

By - Vaibhav Sharma On 5 February 2010 10 Comments

As I have mentioned before, unlike Nokia’s Symbian devices, the N900 does not have a code that you can enter to format the device and restore it to the factory state. However, if you like playing with software in the extras-devel repositories, chances are that sooner or later you will like a fresh start and want the N900 to be restored to the state in which you first picked it up.

How To Hard Reset The N900 To The Factory State

There is no seemingly easy way to do this and I really hope Nokia is doing something about it. That being said, how do you go about accomplishing the task? The answer is to flash both the N900’s OS and the 32 GB mass memory. This can be done on a Mac, a Linux or a Windows machine. Since windows is the most popular OS, I will show you how to do this via Windows.

Before we start, please note that this would be done using the command line interface, it may seem tricky but let me assure you that it is simply enough for anyone to accomplish.

  • Download and install the latest version of Maemo Flasher (e.g. maemo_flasher-3.5_2.5.2.2.exe). Since this is a command line application you will see no shortcut on the desktop or in the Program Files option under the Start menu.
  • Next, Download the latest firmware (.bin) file, it will look like “RX-51_xxxxx_ARM.bin”. You will need your IMEI  number to access the downloads, it can be found on the box or by going to Settings > General > About Product.
  • Also download the Vanilla eMMC image (.bin file) from the same page. It will look like “RX-51_2009SE_1.2009.41-1.VANILLA_PR_EMMC_MR0_ARM.bin”
  • Save both  to C:\ProgramFiles\maemo\flasher-3.5\. My suggestion is to rename them to something simple such as RX-51.bin for the firmware and R.bin for the eMMC, this will make typing the commands easier later on.
  • Make sure that the battery is fully charged and switch off the device.
  • Open the Command Prompt by going to Start then Run and type cmd, then press Enter.
  • Change directory to the flasher’s program path by entering:
cd "C:\ProgramFiles\maemo\flasher-3.5"
  • Connect the USB cable while holding the ‘u’ key on the N900. Within an instant you will see a USB icon on the top right corner of the N900. Now leave the ‘u’ key.
  • Run the following command:
flasher-3.5.exe -F RX-51.bin -f -R
  • I typed RX-51.bin because I had renamed the file earlier, otherwise it would have been: (this was the name of the latest firmware, the name may vary after a new firmware comes out)
flasher-3.5.exe -F RX-51_2009SE_2.2009.51-1_PR_COMBINED_MR0_ARM.bin -f -R"
  • You will see text similar to the one below on your PC.

How To Hard Reset The N900How To Hard Reset The N900

  • The update will take about 3 minutes after which the N900 will reboot and display the Welcome screen with Regional settings.

The next step is to flash the Mass Storage or the eMMC. The first few steps are identical to the way you would flash the firmware. If you are following on from the above and already have the command prompt open, you can directly proceed to step number 3.

  • Open the Command Prompt by going to Start then Run and type cmd, then press Enter.
  • Change directory to the flasher’s program path by entering:
cd "C:\ProgramFiles\maemo\flasher-3.5"
  • Connect the USB cable while holding the ‘u’ key on the N900. Within an instant you will see a USB icon on the top right corner of the N900. Now leave the ‘u’ key.
  • Execute the following command:
flasher-3.5.exe -F R.bin -f -R"
  • I typed R.bin because I had renamed the file earlier, otherwise it would have been
flasher-3.5.exe -F RX-51_2009SE_1.2009.41-1.VANILLA_PR_EMMC_MR0_ARM.bin -f -R
  • You will see text similar to the one below on your PC.
How To Hard Reset The N900
  • The flash will take around 1 minute after which the device will reboot.
  • The bright Nokia screen will come up on the screen with the USB icon on the top right followed by progression dots with yellow LED blinking for a few seconds. The device will then turn off and go into charging mode with the yellow LED blinking (NOTE: If the device appears to reboot, unplug the cable.)
  • Unplug cable and wait for device to turn off completely. You may hear a sound (punk) of the device turning off.

That’s it. You have now hard reset the N900 to the factory state. This procedure can be used to update the firmware on your device as well, if you wish you can leave formatting the eMMC if your intention is only to update the firmware. Please make sure that the battery on your N900 is completely charged, otherwise you might brick it.

This guide has been adapted from this immensely useful wiki on maemo.org.

Disclaimer: Please do this at your own risk.

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10 Comments »

  • Me said:

    Thanx man, this might be handy in the future.

    # 6 February 2010 at 8:43 pm
  • MUGHALGXT said:

    Bro…. very important FIRST FLASH eMMC and THAN Firmware not the other way round!

    # 7 February 2010 at 12:19 pm
  • Andres said:

    Mughalgxt; I did this procedure as indicated, but I missed your comments, so I did flash the firmware first and then I tried to flash the eMMC, but I keep getting the a massege saying that the usb port is not found. Is there any other way to flash the eMMS ?

    Thanks

    # 10 February 2010 at 7:30 am
  • Glen said:

    Work Perfect for me thanks a lot you save my live god bless you………..

    # 11 February 2010 at 5:07 am
  • Alexander said:

    The Maemo Development Environment Downloads seems to be down???? why is that??? i was interested in flashing my N900 because the screen calibration utility will not work any more. (when i push the 1st ex it closes down) i have rebooted many times.

    Every thing else seems to be working fine. I did install a zagg invisible shield last night. and you have to use this soapy water solution to install it. Could that soapy water have damaged my N900????

    Has any one else had of heard or know the remedy to my screen calibration issue???

    please help. thank you

    # 13 February 2010 at 7:33 pm
  • Ammad said:

    I have downloaded and installed flasher 3.5 on windows XP.. I have downloaded and copied the latest firmware and copied it to the flasher directory.

    I run the mobile on Flasher mode and I can see the USB icon on top right corner with Nokia written in centre of screen

    When I give the command as specified in directory, it gives %m.. I dont know whts is that?? Following is the copy of commands and response from command prompt of Win Xp

    D:\Program Files\maemo\flasher-3.5>flasher-3.5 -F RX-51_2009SE_3.2010.02-8.003_P
    R_COMBINED_003_ARM.bin -f -R
    flasher v2.5.2 (Sep 24 2009)

    RX-51_2009SE_3.2010.02-8.003_PR_COMBINED_003_ARM.bin: %m

    D:\Program Files\maemo\flasher-3.5>flasher-3.5 -F RX-51_2009SE_3.2010.02-8.003_P
    R_COMBINED_003_ARM -f -R
    flasher v2.5.2 (Sep 24 2009)

    RX-51_2009SE_3.2010.02-8.003_PR_COMBINED_003_ARM: %m

    D:\Program Files\maemo\flasher-3.5>

    It does not flash but gives %m.. What does it means.>?????? And what to do now??

    # 20 February 2010 at 12:03 am
  • burnzie.85 said:

    Ammad i had the same problem an could not figgure out where i had gone wrong but in a last ditch attempt i moved
    RX-51_2009SE_3.2010.02-8.003_PR_COMBINED_003_ARM.bin
    RX-51_2009SE_1.2009.41-1.VANILLA_PR_EMMC_MR0_ARM.bin
    into the same directory as the flasher tool C:\Program Files\maemo\flasher-3.5 (u might of saved it somewhere else) an that solved the RX-51_2009SE_3.2010.02-8.003_PR_COMBINED_003_ARM.bin: %m problem! an it worked like a charm :D hope that helps you out!!

    # 21 February 2010 at 7:22 pm
  • arjman22 said:

    you know just by clicking Tab key when in the command prompt it will choose the different files in the folder, so you don’t have to rename the files.

    # 25 February 2010 at 8:14 am
  • Vegito168 said:

    Ok, so I began to try to flash the eMMC first, and I followed the steps to the “T” but this is what I get every time. It never gets past the “Suitable USB device not found, waiting.” I even tried flashing the firmware first, but got the same result. I already installed the flasher-3.5 and made it install to my C: Drive in program files, but not under the (x86) 64bit program files folder. I am running windows 7 64 bit. Maybe that is my problem……I’m not sure. I know that it says only XP and Vista, but 7 has been out for a little bit now, so I assumed having windows 7 wouldn’t make a difference. Can anyone point me in the right direction. I appreciate any help I can get. Thanks.

    Microsoft Windows [Version 6.1.7600]
    Copyright (c) 2009 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

    C:\Users\Vegito168>cd “C:\Program Files\maemo\flasher-3.5″

    C:\Program Files\maemo\flasher-3.5>flasher-3.5.exe -F R_EMMC.bin -f -R”
    flasher v2.5.2 (Sep 24 2009)

    Image ‘mmc’, size 241163 kB
    Version RX-51_2009SE_1.2009.41-1.VANILLA
    Suitable USB device not found, waiting.

    # 25 February 2010 at 6:44 pm
  • Nino said:

    Thanks. Very useful tips.

    # 5 March 2010 at 12:11 am

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