HTC releases official update for AT&T 8525

by Chris Ziegler, posted Apr 30th 2007 at 1:01PM

Don't get your hopes up, it's not Windows Mobile 6 or anything cool like that, but HTC and AT&T have thrown 8525 owners a bone today with the official release of an expected (albeit a tad late) firmware upgrade. HTC's page for the update is about as vague as it could possibly be without totally concealing the fact that it is, in fact, an update -- but we've heard through other sources that it should offer up a functional push-to-talk button, miscellaneous bug fixes from the 8525's original firmware, and that love-it-or-hate-it AT&T branding. Can't have your flagship smart device dressed up in outdated branding, now can you?

Filed under: Software, HTC, ATT, Windows Mobile

Tags: cingular

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Neutral

William @ Apr 30th 2007 1:47PM

as of this comment posting, the HTC download page still shows the older 1.34.502.1 release. was the newer update pulled maybe?

Neutral

matt @ Apr 30th 2007 1:57PM

Actually, I downloaded it and submitted the news at 8:30 AM/ET.

It is important to note that the download link is for a ROM slightly older than the one displayed in the picture (seen here and on HTC's web site); 2.15.502.1 with a date of 03/29/2007.

Neutral

matt @ Apr 30th 2007 1:59PM

I downloaded and submitted the news around 8:30 AM/ET. I installed it shortly thereafter and noticed that the ROM was slightly older than the one shown in the above image; 2.15.502.1 dated 03/29/2007. Maybe that's why it was pulled.

Neutral

vision77 @ Apr 30th 2007 2:58PM

I think the link about is old or messed up somehow. Here is the working link: http://www.htcamerica.net/support/8525/software-downloads.html

Highly Ranked

Brandon @ Apr 30th 2007 5:58PM

A couple comments about this new firmware

1) The new ATT startup sound is HORRIBLE and loud
2) When it was doing the carrier branding after the firmware installed, the glorious U (UMTS) logo showed up. Now here in Pittsburgh, we don't yet have UMTS, so i was shocked to see it. Needless to say, it went away in favor of the E. :(

Neutral

kashif @ Apr 30th 2007 6:40PM

The update also adds a slew of AT&T software, such as Cellular Video (Cingular Video), and the same AT&T Music setup as all the current music line up.

Now if i could only find an excuse to use PTT...

Neutral

matt @ Apr 30th 2007 7:26PM

The difference between 2.15.502.1 and 2.15.502.3 (besides a few MB) is additional AT&T branding and the adding "Task Manager" from HTC was rebranded to "X-Button". Besides the additional bloat that AT&T happily added the ROM feels smoother and snappier than the original ROM. There are quite a few changes that I like.

Neutral

matt @ Apr 30th 2007 7:26PM

Oh, and one more thing. XM Radio software is included but not accessible from the Start Menu or Programs folder.

You can access it using File Explorer, Device, Program Files, XM Radio.

Neutral

Bear @ Apr 30th 2007 8:40PM

Well, as usual, Cingular got it wrong. This upgrade has TANKED my voice commander and it will not stay started no matter what I do. Ideas anyone? HELP!

Neutral

gothamite302 @ May 1st 2007 1:25AM

i was happy to see the update finally released and as a whole it seems to be much smoother. the internet sharing app is much easier to use than the previous wireless modem setup.

Highest Ranked

matt @ May 1st 2007 8:43AM

anyone know how to remove the loud att startup?

Neutral

Adam Solomon @ May 1st 2007 9:51AM

Overall a nice update. However, if you use a Mac notebook the device no longer shows up as a dial up modem when you pair via bluetooth, it did before. Therefore, you can no longer get online on your Mac with the 8525 after this update.

Neutral

Glenn @ Aug 24th 2007 12:28PM

It's been a couple months since this posting. Has anyone figured out a way to get online using a Mac and tethering the 8525 via bluetooth?

Neutral

hesh @ May 1st 2007 9:58AM

Updating to this rom wipes out the phone right? So you have to reinstall everything?

Neutral

Brandon @ May 1st 2007 10:51AM

In response to #11:

The following information is from xda-developers and does work:

Disable/change the startup animation or sound

HKLM\SOFTWARE\HTC\StartupAnimation

Enabled - change from 1 to 0 to turn everything off and permanently fix the volume issue.

You can also customize the animated boot up by deleting or changing 2 keys. (Doing this does not fix the volume issue)
Delete the WAVFile Key to remove the sound only.
Delete the GIFFile Key to remove the animation only.
Put your own .GIF file or .WAV file on the phone and rewrite the 2 keys (WAVFile GIFFile) to the new file location. i.e. \My Documents\Files\CustomAnimation.gif

More info about tweaking the 8525's registry can be found at:

http://wiki.xda-developers.com/index.php?pagename=Hermes_Registry

Neutral

Bear @ May 1st 2007 7:33PM

Anyone else lose their VC 1.5 functionality with this? Help!

Neutral

Sjanski @ Jul 15th 2007 7:07AM

I upgraded to VC 1.6 from VC 1.5...I had to load the 1.5 first, then run the update installation. Notification when I loaded 1.5 said it is not designed to work with new upgrade, but after 1.6 upgrade (only $10.00 at: http://www.pocketgear.com/products_search.asp - search Voice Command)
seems to be working fine...so far...Just be sure that you remove the 1.5 version (even though it is not functional) FROM YOUR PDA ONLY, BEFORE you install 1.6.

Neutral

Jeff @ May 2nd 2007 9:56AM

Since I have an Unlocked 8525 w/Tmobile as my cell-service, I figured I would just update the phone to see if it would work some of the kinks/glitches out of my phone.....It ran a bit more smooth. But it was a pointless upgrade seeing as I am on Tmob. I did a little bit of searching >:P and found WM6(props to xda dev. team) Now, as soon as Tmob rolls out its 3G network I'll be good to go!

Neutral

Bear @ May 4th 2007 5:15AM

this has got to be the worst upgrade yet. But the downside is horrible.

1) Disables the DST adjustment, and keeps sending me back to England as my home time zone, screwing up the call history and all my appointments.

2) Disabled my Voice Commander and nothing seems to be able to get it working.

3) Added stupid startup nnoise, even if you had the volume set to off when you shut down the phone.

I may just re-flash back to former ROM. Wasn't as fast for performance, but it was better than this lemon. Of course, this is my 3rd 8525, as they keep sending me "reconditioned" (read: still broken) models from the junkpile in Texas, so it just may be time to call on the warranty again and request phone #4.

Neutral

djpablog @ May 4th 2007 9:37AM

Actually you wont, tmobile's 3G will not be using the 850mhz frequency theyre rolling theirs out on 1700, a frequency that the hermes does not support.

Neutral

Mick Liubinskas @ May 4th 2007 5:45PM

OK, I was dumb enough to buy this when I've got a mac. Missing Sync seems to make up for it though.

But ROM updates are all PC. Any Mac tips?

Highly Ranked

Alan @ May 5th 2007 12:33AM

Is it just mine or does the screen turn on by itself for no reason. I have noticed this a couple of times when i had my phone on my desk not doing anything.

Neutral

byrd @ May 6th 2007 7:06PM

19 - Kindly post when/if you get an answer to this. I have a Mac and my work laptop has too many restrictions (no admin rights). Would LOVE to install the new update, but can't.

Neutral

Neil @ May 7th 2007 1:30PM

Has anyone noticed that since updating the ROM there is some kind of andwidth throttling going onfor the tethering? While tethered to my MacBook Pro with Bluetooth 2.0 the phone's Pocket IE reports over 1Mb on CNet's bandwith meter while the MacBook reports only 300k.

Anyone know of a hack to get it to use the full available bandwidth?

Neutral

Jason Parkinson @ May 29th 2007 12:22AM

Neil,
I have a Power Book and I can't get my Phone to teather now that I've done the update. How are you doing it? Can you send me the steps?

Thanks!

Neutral

Tim Reilly @ May 7th 2007 9:14PM

PLEASE BE WARNED! DON'T GO THROUGH WHAT I DID!!!

Several things occurred when I "upgraded", yesterday, FOLLOWING ALL OF HTC'S INSTRUCTIONS.
(I backed up to outlook, backed up files files too) I hope someone has some suggestions and I'm just being a dummy about all this.

1. Opera Mini no longer connects properly on the connection test. (IE Mobile works ok.) All those bookmarks lost too. Anybody else have this problem?

2. I can't figure out how to make yahoo and hotmail work with the email manager any more. They actually took these out??? They worked great before this "upgrade". On setup, I am only given the option for POP/IMAP or Outlook E-mail.

3. Opera Mobile was not backed up. Lost all those banking and financial bookmarks too. Hope I can re-download it since it cost good money.

4. Incidently, there is still no support for My-Cast, the only decent almost-real-time weather radar and forecaster Java App for mobiles.

In summation, my 3 year old Moto V551 (with Edge), functionally speaking, completly runs circles around my 8525 (even with HSDPA/UMTS and WiFi) at this point.

Are there any more functions left for AT&T to disable? I can't wait to find out on the next "upgrade".

Someone please please tell me I've got this all completely wrong and am just a dummy and on a rant. Please.

I will never go through anything like this again without first checking the comments on the Engadget Mobile site.

Neutral

Adam Solomon @ May 10th 2007 8:42AM

For post 22, since I've done the ROM update, my old method for bluetooth tethering no longer works. Please let me know how you're doing it on your Macbook Pro.

Neutral

Neil @ May 11th 2007 4:07AM

For post 24, the way to do it now is based on the new "Internet Sharing" application. When you turn it on and setting it to bluetooth it creates a "PAN". If you have the new Mac 10.9 then under the Bluetooth icon in the menu bar you will have the option to join the PAN on your phone. You can Google this if you need more info.

Neutral

Adam Solomon @ May 11th 2007 10:55AM

One last question. For post 25, My option for Bluetoth Pan exists, but is grayed out. Any idea why? Thanks again for the help

Neutral

smokine6 @ May 21st 2007 2:02AM

HELP!!!

I tried upgrading the ROM but screen goes blank and I lose connection to my ActiveSync. I followed the instructions, but it keeps doing it. Even followed the recovery instructions and still no luck. What am I doing wrong?

Neutral

jp @ May 25th 2007 11:51AM

I have the exact same probleam.
Any luck figuring it out?

Neutral

Cliff @ May 21st 2007 11:55AM

I was happily using my unlocked Cingular 8525 in Australia on a Telstra SIM and foolishly did this upgrade.

I am now totally unable to reconfigure this to connect to Telstra's network.

Anyone want to make a quick $50 and get this straightened out?

-C

Neutral

James Santagato @ Jun 5th 2007 8:17AM

Has anyone ever had a problem with the phone NOT turning on after a charge or after going into StandBY mode? I have to completely remove the battery to get the phone to turn back on? Do I have a defective one? Let me know. Thanks.

Neutral

Jeremy O'Hara @ Jun 11th 2007 12:26AM

I think that the upgrade worked out spledid minus the fact that i can no longer get downloaded ringtones to actually ring, they will play in media player but won't audibly ring on incoming calls, a few coworkers of mine had the same problem anyone know what the deal is?

Neutral

Ricky @ Aug 6th 2007 12:57AM

I also did this upgrade and now the "voice tags settings control panel applet is gone, but the programs entry is not. So now I can no longer program tag entries. Does anyone know how to get it back?

Neutral

donv11 @ Nov 28th 2007 6:49PM

I have an intermittent problem where when I attempt to use the power button. It will not turn the device on. To fix this I have to either do a soft reset or call the phone from another phone. Appears to be a software problem as on other occasions I can use the power button to turn the device on and off as often as I wish.

Neutral

Bob @ Jan 2nd 2008 3:59PM

My on call phone is an ATT 8525 it was upgraded to rom 3.62.502.3.
Does anyone know where to find the ATT 8525 rom 2.15.502.3? This is the WM 5 rom. the Current WM 6 rom changes the Internet sharing to something more proprietary to ATT. With the WM6 you are required to use their third party connection manager. with rom 2.15.502.3 it was not necessary. Does anyone have a suggestion? Can I flash my rom to 2.15.502.3?
I have an 8925 tilt that has the same affliction...
Thank you,
HelpdeskBob

Neutral

Dale @ Mar 8th 2009 12:33AM

I can not get the push to talk feature to work. Is there any down loads that will make this feature work

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