Sony Ericsson DB2020 unlocking I have had my Sony Ericsson K790 now for about seven months... I love this phone! It's got all the bells and whistles I need, and then some! But one thing really got under my skin when I first got this phone home and started reading into it... From what I had read, for the longest time the only way to unlock these phones was by use of a somewhat expensive (based on the notion of only ever unlocking one or two phones) dedicated hardware device. A software solution to unlocking seemed impossible (at the time) for whatever technical reason. But all that changed in the last month or so (I have been away from the whole phone scene for at least that amount of time). It is now possible to unlock DB2020 based phones using only software and the standard USB (DCU-60) interface cable! Here is how I pulled it off... Software -------- SETool2 lite qmaker.exe (bundled with SETool2 lite) XS++ First, always backup your GDFS! This is the chunk of the phone that other manufactures refer to as the NVRAM. It holds some very important information about the phone, IMEI, calibration data and so on. Very important! SETool2 lite ------------ Select your phone model from the drop down menu. Click "Read GDFS". qamaker.exe (packaged with SETool2 lite) ----------- Drag and drop your main firmware file (ex. K790A_RK1G001_GENERIC_RED52) onto qamaker.exe to generate the quick access vkp patch for the specified firmware. SETool2 lite ------------- Select your phone model from the drop down menu. Enable quick access patch option. Enable DB2020 security bypass option. Add firmware (ex. K790_R6BC002_MAIN_GENERIC_EV_RED52.mbn) to files section. Add file system (ex. K790_R6BC002_FS_AMERICA_2_RED52.fbn) to file section. Add your quick access vkp patch to the misc section. Click "Flash". Remove battery, SIM card and any removable media cards from phone. Insert battery. Hold down "C" button on phone. Insert USB cable into phone. Release the "C" button on phone when SETool2 lite recognizes the phone. Let the application and flash proceess run. During the flashing procedure SETool2 lite will prompt "Click YES to remove patch, click NO to apply patch", click no. SETool2 lite will prompt you to disconnect the USB cable, remove the battery, insert the battery, hold the "C" button and insert the USB cable. If not prompted to do so, follow the next step to customize the file system using XS++. I did the XS++ step anyways just to make sure, even though I was prompted to do the whole remove battery, insert battery, insert USB cable procedure by SETool2 lite. XS++ ---- Remove battery, SIM card and any media cards from the phone. Insert battery. Click connect. Hold "C" button on phone. Insert the USB cable. XS++ will detect the phone. Enable the "Customize filesystem" option (the detected phone should be selected in the drop down menu). Select your CDA and Region (this should match the file system flashed to the phone ex. K790_R6BC002_FS_AMERICA_2_RED52.fbn). Click "Flash". Done! Now your phone is flashed with the new firmware and file system of your choice. The advantages of a custom or generic firmware and file system are endless. A few main highlights include the removal of operator specific bradings, the ability to use .mp3's as ringtones and the removal of SIM or network locks. By enabling the quick access patch to the selected firmware you now have the ability to "tweak" various settings of the phone simply by applying a simple patch to the phone without the need to flash the entire firmware or file system again. Patches vary for different phone models, some of the more common patches for most phones enable the ability to modify the phones internal file system from the phone itself and various alterations to audio and video properties. A few example patches can be seen here: http://72.14.203.104/translate_c?hl=en&langpair=ru%7Cen&u=http://mobilefree.ru/newbb_plus/viewtopic.php%3Ftopic_id%3D2547 This sort of customization is just the beginning, with access to the file system you can modify damn near anything in the phone... custom icon sets, custom key bindings... damn near anything! - highjacked (01/15/08) *** Update: 01/20/08: *** My initial posting on the topic may be a bit misleading in the sense that the first process does not actually remove the SIM lock from the phone, rather it enables the ability to apply patches (such as the SIM lock removal patch) to the phones firmware. The process described below will remove the SIM lock from the phones firmware. Code: Sony Ericsson DB2020 SIM lock removal ------------------------------------- This process assumes that your phones current firmware has had the SETool2 lite "quick access" patch applied. SIM lock patch generation ------------------------- Download the SIM lock patch generator from http://simox.5gbfree.com To generate the SIM lock patch for your desired firmware simply run the SIM lock patch generator application and select the firmware you wish to generate the patch for. The application will generate the needed .vkp patch for the selected firmware. Application of the SIM lock patch --------------------------------- Use SETool2 lite to apply the newly generated SIM lock removal patch to your phones firmware. Open SETool2 lite and use the drop down menu to select your phone type. Enable the use "quick access" patch option, add the generated .vkp patch to the "MISC files" section and click "Write SCRIPT". Now, remove the battery from your phone, remove the SIM card, re-insert the battery, hold the "C" button and insert the USB data cable into your phone. SEtool2 lite will detect your phone and begin the process of applying the SIM lock patch to your phone. Once the patch application process has completed you can check the service menu on the phone to ensure the phone is now unlocked. Verification of successful patch application --------------------------------------------- To access the phones service menu simply key in this sequence from the phones standby menu: > * < < * < * (>/< = joystick right/left) From the service menu select "Service Info" and "SIM Lock". If the SIM lock patch process was successful you should see an open lock icon beside the network field. Thats about all there is to it, SIM free and in control.