How to unbrand AVR/ARM based SonyEricsson

Bruevich · Moderator Joined: 12 Feb 2006 Posts: 225

This article explains in general terms how to unbrand Sony Ericsson phones (applicable for AVR/ARM based models such as T-series). We will take SE T610 Vodaphone branded model.

The phone will need to be flashed to remove the branding and give you a 100% normal T610. First of all, I'm going to explain how your phone works. There are 3 areas that you can flash/update and I'll explain what they are here:
The first is the AVR CPU. This CPU contains the main software that makes the phone work. It is this CPU that Vodafone modify the most, putting their own Icons and that annoying Live button on the main screen. It will have a software version associated with it.

The second is the ARM CPU. This CPU contain the code that operates the modem functions of the phone, such as Infared and Bluetooth. This CPU does contain customised Vodafone software also, but nothing that affects the visual aspect of the phone. It will also have a software version associated with it, and this version MUST match the AVR version or the phone will be very unhappy.

The third area is the GDFS area. This area contains things like the default pictures and themes that come with the phone. Vodafone also put their own stuff in here, filling the phone up with lots of annoying images, sounds and themes you can't remove (because they're "predefined"). It also contains the locked WAP Profiles and links (such as More Sounds) that direct you to Vodafone Live. This does not have a software version, ie once it's been flashed you never need to flash it again, even if you want to upgrade the software version of your phone. So, you have 2 areas that run software versions (AVR and ARM CPUs) and 1 area that just contains static content (GDFS). I'll now explain what you need to do to remove the Vodafone branding.

To unbrand your Vodafone T610 you'll need to flash the AVR CPU with the same revision of sofware, but one that isn't Vodafone customised. A Vodafone customised phone will be running AVR software with language pack version EU6 or EU7. Both those versions are Vodafone customised language packs, containing the annoying icons and Live button. What you have to do is flash it with the same code release, but a different language pack. When I did my phone, I flashed it with EU2. This contains english and some other languages. Most importantly, EU2 doesn't contain any Vodafone crap!

You'll also want to flash the GDFS area with the original version from SonyEricsson. This means that you'll only have 2 tiny pictures you can't delete, one theme you can't delete and 5 sounds you can't delete. Plus it will also unlock your WAP profiles so you can change them if you want, including the ability to change your Homepage to something other than Vodafone Live!

So, what you need to do!
To remove the Vodafone branding, you'll need to flash your AVR CPU and your GDFS Area. You should also flash the ARM CPU as well, as it does contain Vodafone customisations, even though they don't affect the operation of the phone if you were to take it to a service centre without having flashed the ARM CPU they'll see you've got a mix of Vodafone and non-Vodafone. If you never plan to take your phone into a service centre though, you don't strictly need to flash the ARM CPU.

If you want to upgrade the version of sofware your phone is running, you'll need to flash your AVR CPU and your ARM CPU. If you wanted to do both (Remove the Vodafone branding while upgrading your phone) then you'd need to flash all there areas.

Hopefully now you've got the idea of what you need to do to fix your phone. Next article I'll explain how to go about doing this and the two methods currently available.