Windows Mobile 6 upgrade for Samsung BlackJack hits today
After having given its newer BlackJack II cousin plenty of breathing room in the WinMo 6 spotlight, Samsung's finally doubling back to bring the original up to spec. No, seriously: as of 5PM Eastern Time today, you'll be able to hit the attached link and download Windows Mobile 6 (an official ROM, finally) for your old-skool BlackJack in all its glory. For folks not in need of the II's GPS, the upgrade should breathe new life into a handset that still holds its own in the smartphone pack, and for some time now, has been just one small upgrade away from avoiding the proverbial glue factory. Let us know how it goes, updaters!Note: Prior to 5PM EST, you'll be redirected to an old Windows Mobile 5 update for the phone. Hang tight, folks!
Filed under: Software, Samsung, ATT, Windows Mobile
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Randy @ Jan 23rd 2008 1:05PM
I don't believe it! Is this a dream?
murph @ Jan 23rd 2008 1:20PM
no. frickin. way.
Ill believe it at 5:01 when my download is in progress. No actually, I still wont believe it until my DL is done, and the install is complete.
Javier @ Jan 23rd 2008 7:05PM
What the F**k no VISTA support.
Ash @ Jan 23rd 2008 1:32PM
Is this WM6 upgrade good with Vista too? Earlier releases of upgrades ignore Vista like it does not exist!
west @ Jan 23rd 2008 1:39PM
It is made extremely clear on the download page in big red letters that the installer does not work with Vista. ha.
John @ Jan 23rd 2008 2:16PM
About 2-3 months too late. I already dumped my BJ, went to a Dopod C730, and now an iPhone. I rather enjoyed my BJ, just wanted WM6 without the flaws of the leaked version.
Ricky D @ Jan 23rd 2008 2:58PM
Cool. Unfortunately unless it's an update to Windows 6.1 most of the cooked ROMs out there are better. I don't think I'll update unless it has at least the threaded SMS.
Randy @ Jan 23rd 2008 3:38PM
Look at at this way. An official release means that the cooked ROMs will be based on a real release and not the beta which could have flaws that haven't been discovered yet. They can only get better as a result.
chadow @ Jan 23rd 2008 3:58PM
Ill wait to see how/if tethering works before I update
nmason @ Jan 23rd 2008 4:33PM
f-ing a. I waited about as long as i could for this update, and finally gave up and hopped on the iphone train in september.
I'll download it just because, but seriously, this kind of still pisses me off.
Ash @ Jan 23rd 2008 4:57PM
West
The link you see here is still the old link to WM5...Ha Ha
Note: Prior to 5PM EST, you'll be redirected to an old Windows Mobile 5 update for the phone. Hang tight, folks!
So that still does not answer my question about Vista..
west @ Jan 23rd 2008 10:33PM
Okay, the actual download page was for 5 until 5pm. I meant the instruction page:
http://ars.samsung.com/customer/usa/jsp/faqs/faqs_view.jsp?SITE_ID=22&PG_ID=557&PROD_SUB_ID=558&PROD_ID=751&AT_ID=83176
so vista is still screwed.
xtex @ Jan 23rd 2008 5:10PM
Erm.. anyone care to share the link to the update on AT&T or Samsung's site? Google just finds 50,000 "OMG WM 6 IS COMING SOON" links. :)
mobileserver @ Jan 23rd 2008 5:15PM
The beast is released!
http://ars.samsung.com/customer/usa/jsp/faqs/faqs_view.jsp?SITE_ID=22&PG_ID=557&PROD_SUB_ID=558&PROD_ID=751&AT_ID=83176
eViL_D: @ Jan 23rd 2008 5:14PM
2:09PM PST......*strums fingers* A big wiff of air again.
eViL_D: @ Jan 23rd 2008 5:16PM
@ Ricky D
The cooked ROM's are pretty good, however I did have bluetooth issues with it, which unfortunetly is a deal breaker (WA just passed the "no cell phone use" law).
Jared @ Jan 23rd 2008 5:57PM
When someone gets it on let us know if ICS works. Can't upgrade if its not there. :(
Ezra M @ Jan 23rd 2008 11:53PM
That law doesn't come into effect until July of this year. FYI
Tony @ Jan 23rd 2008 6:10PM
Just a warning. As if 3pm PST 1/23/08 although the download page clearly states this is an upgrade to Windows Mobile 6 for the BJ, the link has not been correctly updated to point to the WM6 upgrade. It still points to the last WM5 patch release months ago. I called Samsung support on this, and the representative stated that the WM6 development team was experimenting with update page, but the offical WM6 release date was Feb. 4, 2008, not today.
Great job Samsung - you update all kinds of information on the BJ software download page to say that WM6 is available now, but then don't bother to update the link to the software.
Inwa @ Jan 23rd 2008 6:15PM
The file doesn't seem to be valid. It's the same file that was for WM5 patch.
Inwa @ Jan 23rd 2008 6:34PM
Yeah, just ignore me...
Mike @ Jan 23rd 2008 7:19PM
The download link provided earlier in the comments worked like a champ. I've installed and things are looking good so far - it's definitely WM6 :-)
calereneau @ Jan 23rd 2008 10:31PM
Doesn't work for me. Only installs an old update to WM5.
But on the bright side, I was able to completely erase everything on my Blackjack for nothing! YAY!
EricB @ Jan 23rd 2008 11:09PM
ITS OUT BITCHES
miguel @ Jan 23rd 2008 11:28PM
gmail client still runs into the security wierdness ... this sucks
calereneau @ Jan 24th 2008 12:44AM
Here is the official download link. The zip file should be 63.1mb and named "SGH-i607 Upgrade.zip"
http://www.samsungwireless.com/techtrain/tekweb/support/downloads/SGH-i607%20WM6%20Upgrade.zip
If you get anything else, don't waste your time.
Allan @ Jan 24th 2008 4:33AM
Is this update limited to BlackJack phones purchased in the US? Can it work on other BlackJack units?
brian @ Jan 24th 2008 9:50AM
I had heard they were stripping out Internet Sharing. Can anyone confirm this? I'm not upgrading without it!
Carl Martin @ Jan 24th 2008 2:14PM
Just finished upgrading, and it was very smooth. The only thing I notice is that WM6 drains the battery a lot faster.
Chris @ Jan 24th 2008 2:52PM
I just took a look on a friend's new Blackjack II with Mobile 6 and while Internet Sharing is listed in the Windows directory, trying to open it gave an error message about a bad link or uninstalled libraries. Can anyone confirm that Internet Sharing is still a part of Mobile 6? I really wouldn't want to lose that.
The Man @ Jan 24th 2008 9:34PM
ICS does work on the BJ after doing the WM6 update. All you have to do is copy the file just like in WM5.
Brian @ Jan 24th 2008 10:03PM
I didn't copy any files on WM5 for it to work. Which file(s) do I need? Are they on WM6 or do I need to take from from WM5 before I upgrade?
Jason @ Jan 27th 2008 9:21PM
There's no link to Internet Sharing (ICS) in the Start Menu, so make a copy from \Windows\ to \Windows\Start Menu
Also, free ROM memory is like 30MB after the upgrade! Now I can finally install J9 to the ROM. WOOHOO!
Jason @ Jan 24th 2008 10:06PM
I have never seen this documented, so I was pleasantly surprised to see that with the WM6 update, my good ol' Blackjack supports micro SDHC. So, I'm rocking my new 8GB card AND the Mass Storage driver actually loads reliably on systems with hardware install restrictions. FINALLY!
Dan @ Jan 25th 2008 11:00AM
i upgraded it the other day and have been playing with it since. GMail Java app works, you just have to hit OK to allow the connection to occur. Tested Internet Sharing over Bluetooth today and was happy to see it work just fine.
Other than that everything seems to be much snappier and quicker to load. Oh i noticed the right softkey does not change when an event such as new email or voicemail has occurred. I cant find the config for it so if anyone does let me know.
Oh and ringtones have to be less than 300k in file size which is kinda annoying.
rvinny @ Jan 25th 2008 3:56PM
I was hoping since it was a release from Samsung, that it would be provider unlocked. Not the case :(
PenguinCarl @ Jan 26th 2008 4:10PM
I have a Blackjack, how can I get this upgrade?
pff1029 @ Jan 27th 2008 3:10AM
Anyone notice if call quality is not what it used to be after upgrading? I also can't get a 3G signal in as many places as I did w/ WM5.
Mark @ Jan 29th 2008 5:17PM
Is anyone else unable to Text or Multimedia Message post WM6 upgrade?
Chris @ Jan 29th 2008 4:54PM
Yes, I just went through the WM6/SMS problem with both ATT's customer service and tech support and they can't figure out what's going on with it.
The tech said that everything's provisioned properly on their switches, so it might be a bad SIM. I went to the local ATT store, had them replace my SIM, but the problem still exists. The store techs tried several things to see if they could ID the cause but no luck. Right now, I have a ticket open in their engineering group to get this looked into.
Will post a follow-up if anything changes.
Mark @ Jan 29th 2008 5:23PM
Thanks Chris.
Sounds like you have at least 2-3 hours already invest. Thanks for your efforts.
Please keep me (us)updated.
Chris @ Jan 29th 2008 6:04PM
Just got off the phone with Samsung tech support (888-987-4357) and explained the problem to them. Here's an overview of what unfolded after that ...
The L1 technician did some research, came back and said the the OFFICIAL release date of the WM6 upgrade will be 02/04/2008, and that the version released on that date would resolve the SMS/MMS issues.
L1 suggested that I re-install WM5 in the meantime to regain SMS functionality. When asked where I should procure the WM5 installed, since the Samsung website no longer has any links to the WM5/ATT build, he said, "his supervisor said that the WM5 firmware from Microsoft's site." I asked for a URL on the Microsoft site that linked to the Samsung-specific version of WM5, and he tried to find it, gave up, and transferred me to L2 support.
L2 technician said the L1 guy was full of crap regarding the 02/04 date, and that the WM6 build that was released is all that there is. He suggested downgrading to WM5, then reinstalling WM6. Unfortunately, L2 couldn't provide a URL to download WM6, and he didn't know what might happen if I attempted a WM6-to-WM6 reinstall. Said the only other options are to send phone in for Samsung to reflash to WM5, or ask an ATT store tech if they can reflash it to WM5.
End of call.
Bottom line - if you have a copy of WM5 updater for the i607, downgrade, try WM6 again, if it still has problems, re-downgrade and live with it.
Chris @ Jan 29th 2008 7:04PM
Okay, I got SMS & MMS to work again, for now (SMS was also working the day after I originally upgraded, but it stopped a few days later, so YMMV.)
I did a hard reset of the phone, and let it re-format itself. You can do this by:
1 - turn off the phone,
2 - push the nad-pad in the UP direction,
3 - turn on the phone,
4 - press 1 at the prompt, followed by "y" to start the re-format
5 - reboot the phone
6 - test the crap out of the SMS
Mark @ Jan 29th 2008 8:07PM
Ok, Chris.
It's been approximately an hour. Still SMSing successfully?
(...or are you spending your time reinstalling all the software you just blew out with the hard re-set?)
Remember: One step forward and two steps back!
Chris @ Jan 29th 2008 11:25PM
SMS works, but now I've lost connectivity to the Internet. Same exact problem that happened to my wife's i607 about 2 days after being upgraded to WM6.
Sigh...
Chris @ Jan 30th 2008 1:25AM
Holy monkey, thank God for Google.
Finally got everything working. The Internet connectivity issue is fixed by going to...
Settings -> Connections -> Menu -> Advanced
and setting BOTH Internet connection & WAP connection to "MEdia Net"
Mark @ Jan 30th 2008 3:30AM
I did a hard reset and still no MMS/SMS. For that matter, I can't even get out a simple text msg. (Although with MMS/SMS, I get an error message. With text, I get a prompt indicating that it went. But, it is never rcvd at the destination.)
Also, I have checked & rechecked the settings. All appear to be in order.
It seems as if these features have just been "disabled".
I did read on another blog that another user was having the same problem in EDGE. Once in a 3G environment, that user noted the problem went away. I will be stuck in an EDGE environment for the next few days. Thus, I am unable for that amount of time to test this theory.
Does anyone have any comment on this network variation theory?
Chris @ Jan 30th 2008 12:08PM
I've tested SMS, MMS, and Internet services in the 3G area that I live in, and in the EDGE area that I work in, and all are still working after 9+ hours.
For me, the real test will be if they continue to work after several days.
The one thing that I did notice was that ActiveSync briefly flashed a connection error message when I did a manual update after arriving the EDGE area. But the error message went away in about a quarter of a second, and was replaced by a normal status indicator. So it seems like the radio isn't making a seamless switch between modes.
I'd seen a quasi-similar problem with the original WM5 firmware, but that one required me to re-boot the phone in order to get incoming calls and data after going from a 3G-to-EDGE areas, though I could still make outgoing calls. That was annoying as hell.
Thad @ Feb 5th 2008 12:57PM
I have found that since updating to wm6 my internet/phone all go belly up after some period of usage. seems like rebooting the phone solves the problem immediately but i get back the same problem with connectivity after some time. i don't know if active syncing to my exchange server at work makes the problem happen faster but it might.
Peter Schulz @ Feb 23rd 2008 3:36AM
I just upgraded to WM6 and could not connect to the internet. Here is a link to the ATT website with configuration instructions. All is working now.
https://www.wireless.att.com/support/deviceConfig.do?content=KB85556.html