Nokia 5130 "contact service" error

[MetalheadGautham]

My Nokia 5130 XpressMusic bricked around a month back and says "Contact Service" when I start it and instantly shuts down.

This happened abruptly, and was not triggered by an update or an application. I was using it, signal dropped to zero for an hour, battery was low so I switched it off and then restarted after connecting charger and started getting this error message.

Nokia Care is asking for Rs. 2000 to fix it saying its a "hardware problem" and need 13 days to return the phone. Didn't think its worth spending this much on the phone when its market price is only a little more for a new one.

Is there a simpler or cheaper way to repair the phone ? And what exactly can cause this problem ? Service center guys didn't even open it and they said its a hardware issue so I think it could have been a bluff.

[Zangetsu]

^^ never heard of this issue...can u post the screenshot of the error message on phone...

[MetalheadGautham]

Cannot post screen shot because my cam isn't fast enough to focus or grab the pic. But I can describe the actions:

1. I start phone
2. Since there is no SIM, it asks "Start without sim card ?"
3. I press yes
4. for a very tiny moment, screen goes white, with red text saying contact service which appears in lower quarter of the phone if you divide the phone horizontally into 4 parts.
5. Phone shuts down.

[clmlbx]

well it happened abruptly and without any physical damage then you can try formatting it.. try re-installing latest firmware. it is possible just because of firmware got corrupt..

then you also say that signal dropped to zero for and hour so it might be hardware problem.. (antenna) but in that case too phone should at least switch on.. so IMO first try re-installing firmware and then show it to in grey (local) market for cheaper solution.. You don't need to repair it but you could ask for what is problem how much will he charge then he will describe every problem to you and it's cost

[Zangetsu]

@MetalheadGautham: Install Nokia Software Upgrade tool in PC & upgrade the Firmware to latest version.

[clmlbx]

^^software upgrade is not possible here becuase phone does not switch on and software updater can not install on dead.. switch off phone.. You need phoenix or JAf for this.

[MetalheadGautham]

Well last time I checked, I had the latest firmware installed.

And yeah there was zero physical damage to the phone. I was listening to MP3s throughout even when the signal was zero (which I had assumed was a network problem and not a phone problem). The phone had not heated up or anything like that to indicate hardware problem. And since the music player was working perfectly, I doubt hardware is the problem.

So what kind of software do I need to manually overwrite the firmware without switching on the phone ? And will the provided USB cable do for the connection purpose ?

[clmlbx]

yes usb will do. u will need

navifirm_V0.4 (648KB)to search and download your phone's firmware

Firmware of your phone (100-200 Mb according to phone)

Phoenix Service Software (99MB) .. this to install firmware..


If you can't find this then tell me I will upload and send u link

[MetalheadGautham]

The above work on 32-bit Windows XP SP2 ??? Because that's the only windows machine I've access to (my lappy is linux).

EDIT: bit of googling found everything

EDIT2: Is the firmware supposed to be in .exe format or another format ??

[clmlbx]

no not exe .. It will be bunch of files with various extensions ..

[MetalheadGautham]

A little more detail will help. Like the file names and/or the extensions I am supposed to download.

[Manickaraj]

Originally Posted by MetalheadGautham

A little more detail will help. Like the file names and/or the extensions I am supposed to download.

I faced a similar issue a year back and this happened to be exactly 10 days after my Insurance expired I had to shell out 2k to get it repaired. I dropped my phone and trust me wen I say dropped, I dropped it really hard cracking the screen (thought it was just a 1 ft fall), audio hardware and wat not. And I got the same error

[clmlbx]

Originally Posted by MetalheadGautham

A little more detail will help. Like the file names and/or the extensions I am supposed to download.

sorry for delay I did not see this post. check image below which has files for my phone nokia 5235..

In there you don't need to find any thing..you will just have to search for you your mobile type (like mine was RM-588).. then their would be many version available.. so download any or india,Asia version with English as primary Language..that will be whole package so all files will be downloaded. Use Navifirm.. Mine is with little advance features.. but files that you will download through Navifrim willl be around 4-6 files

Spoiler:

[MetalheadGautham]

Sorry for late reply, but finally found time to go through this process.

I followed the instructions here: USING J.A.F. TO FLASH NOKIA MOBILES ? COMPREHENSIVE GUIDE TO NORMAL, UPGRADE OR COOKED/HACKED FIRMWARE FLASHING | DiGi-PASSION

Everything worked, and finally, when I rebooted my phone I got the familiar contact service error message once again.

So everyone, thanks for the help. But I guess it was a hardware issue after all.