After a lot of reading and searching, I found it is possible to fix a crippled RAZR V3c (thanks, Verizon) so OBEX can be used. There is a lot of conflicting information out there and I’m not sure I can retrace my steps: even if I could, the files you need are not supported or provided by Verizon or Motorola (meaning they are provided by the modern equivalent of Blackbeard and Long John Silver — yarr!). And they may not be in the same places, for obvious reasons.
But as a crib sheet, you can search for a V3c flash file that enables OBEX, should be numbered 04 (02 is the version that worked initially, 03 is the crippled version, and 04 restores OBEX with other fixes). You also need software to flash the phone: a tool called RSD Lite, in versions 3 or better, seems to work. And a cable to hook up the phone, though this may be the last time you need it (yay!). You will have better luck looking at torrent sites to find these items. And sadly, the software is Windows only. It may work in Parallels/VPC, but since it requires a good grip on the hardware/USB, I don’t know and can’t speculate. Let me know if you get it work and I’ll add it to this entry.
I found that I had to run the flash process twice, as it failed the first time. The phone seemed hung, but when I power-cycled it and did the flash again, it worked. And I just used it to browse and retrieve files. So it may just require it to be started right before you do this (perhaps memory is an issue).
Now, by submitting this, I don’t want to be seen as encouraging piracy or theft of anyone’s intellectual property. But since the software feature you want came with the phone but was disabled to support the telco’s business model, rather than to empower you, do what you feel is right. The only company who has a beef here would be Motorola since the flash tool is an item they sell (but not to us mortals). But since we’re all fans of their hardware — seeking it out, despite their partners’ best efforts to weaken it — they shouldn’t be too upset.
Good luck.
Technorati Tags: bluetooth, freedom to tinker, verizon