Flashing your N9

So either PR 1.2 has screwed up your N9 (Unable to start operation. Refreshing cache. Please wait.) or you just feel like you need a shiny clean device to fully appreciate the N9, and now you want to flash your N9. Flashing your N9 isn’t as difficult as it sounds, so don’t panic. Just be sure to double check everything you do, and pay attention (or take your ADHD medication). Here’s how to do it…

Step 1

Back up your device/contacts/etc. If your contacts are hosted in the cloud, you can probably skip this step. Otherwise, back up with some Nokia software or other. Note that MFE doesn’t sync SMS – so if history of this is important, you should back up. Actually, you should back up regardless, just in case.

Step 2

Go to THIS website to grab the latest flasher for your N9. This is the file you’ll want (choose accordingly – a newer version would probably be best) Maemo Flasher-3.12.1 Tool for Harmattan, installation package for Windows 7, XP and Vista. You can choose whichever fits your setup; don’t download the Windows binary if you have a Mac (DUH). Take note that maemo_flasher-3.5_2.5.2.2 is for the N900 – these aren’t the droids you’re looking for.

Step 3

Dig out the SIM tray of your N9 and take note of your product variant. In my case, it’s 059J238.

Step 4

You’ll need Windows (or a Virtual Machine running Windows) for this step. Download and install the latest Navifirm from here. Select Nokia N9 (RM-696) from Products, the release you want which in this case is 30.2012.7.1 (typically the most recent) from Releases, and then under Variants, look for your product variant and select it. This is what your Navifirm screen should look like (except probably the variant).

At this point, I’d suggest you Mark All under the Files section, and then click Download. Navifirm will proceed to download the entire lot of files you’ve selected, so go grab a coffee and a snack unless you have insanely fast Internet. The 30.2012.7.1 firmware downloads weigh in at a total of approximately 3GB.

Step 5

Time to get down to the actual flashing. You’ll want to make sure your N9 is either fully charged or close to it. The last thing you want is the device running out of juice halfway through flashing, at which point you have a good looking paperweight. Turn off your N9. Open up terminal/command prompt and navigate to the directory where you have the Maemo Flasher-3.12.1 Tool for Harmattan installed. Run the following commands, replacing FIRMWAREIMAGE.bin with your own downloaded filename:

flasher -F FIRMWAREIMAGE.bin -f

In my case, this is the command I would run:

flasher -F DFL61_HARMATTAN_30.2012.07-1_PR_LEGACY_005-OEM1-958_ARM.bin -f

Once you see “waiting…“, you can then plug in your (OFF) N9, at which point your N9 will hopefully begin and finish the flashing process. This shouldn’t take very long assuming the N9 is connected to a USB 2.0 port, maybe a couple of minutes at the most. You can keep an eye on progress either via the command prompt/terminal or a somewhat less informative display on the N9 itself. Once the N9 shows a completely blank screen and the command prompt/terminal looks finished, it’s time to unplug the N9 and turn it on (while praying).

Assuming everything went well, you should have a shiny, swanky, new N9 running Pr 1.2.