Barnharts.NET Motorola KRZR K1m

Motorola KRZR K1m

This is all the stuff I spent hours learning after I got my Motorola KRZR K1m from Verizon Wireless.
If something needs to be installed that you don't have, check the links at the bottom of the page.
If at all possible, you should use a USB High Speed port directly on your computer (not a hub).
This is what worked for me. It may not work for you or your phone. USE AT YOUR OWN RISK.

Add a MicroSD card

Buy at least a 1 GB MicroSD card (under $35). It should come with an SD adapter.
If you don't have a way to read SD cards on your computer, buy a card reader also (under $10).
Put the card into your computer and format it with FAT32. Do this! Many come FAT16 formatted.

Turn off your phone. Always turn your phone off when inserting or removing the MicroSD card.
It may appear to work while turned on, but trust me, strange things can happen.
Remove battery cover by pressing down on clasp while sliding cover towards the top of the phone.
Put card into the phone. Read the manual if you can't figure this out. It has pictures.
Turn the phone back on. Don't bother putting the cover back on yet.

Now would be a good time to change some settings so that your data is stored on the card.
Note that these menus are for the Verizon Wireless menu system.
Menu / Settings & Tools / Memory / Save Options (if you don't see it, your card isn't in correctly)
Go through each option (Pictures, Videos, Sounds) and tell it to save on Card Memory

How to disable EV-DO (only if you really need to)

So why would you ever do this? If you're not going to use your phone for data (i.e. web) stuff or you're in an area with no, or very bad, EV-DO service, your phone is going to constantly be looking for the EV-DO signal. Since you know it will never find it, this needlessly drains your battery faster than normal. In these cases, you might as well turn EV-DO off.

Be warned: This is a scary process. Follow it exactly.
I am not responsible if you mess up your phone.

Enter ##DEBUG (##33284) quickly (you may not see the 4)
Wait 20 seconds and press/hold the END key to turn the phone off
Turn the phone back on
You should boot up into the DEBUG screen
Press PREV (left soft key) until you see the screen with HDR Pref and HDR Hybr
Scroll down to HDR Pref
Press CHANGE (right soft key) until it switches to cdma (or auto if turning EV-DO back on)
Press EXIT (left soft key) and then be patient
Wait for phone to reset back to *ORIGINAL* DEBUG screen
Press CLR and then the left soft key in a quick sequence
You should see your normal screen now
Enter ##DEBUG (##33284) quickly (you may not see the 4)
Wait 20 seconds and press/hold the END key to turn the phone off
Turn the phone back on

If successful, you'll notice that there is no longer an EV-DO indicator at the top of the screen.

How to move wallpaper/photos from your computer to your phone

Insert the MicroSD card into your computer.
You should see a directory called my_pix. If not, follow the “Add a MicroSD card” instructions above.
Copy your wallpaper/photos into the my_pix directory.
Keep the file names under 32 characters with no funny symbols in them.
Remove the card and place it back in your phone.
Menu / Get It Now / Picture & Video / My Pictures
For any picture that you want to use as wallpaper or on a contact record:
Options (right soft key) / Move and then move it to your Phone Memory

How to move music from your computer to your phone

Note: USB Driver must be installed
Note: Windows Media Player 10 or later or the V CAST Music Essentials Manager must be installed
Note: If Windows Media Player 11 does not work, download and install the Sync Music Fix
Example uses Windows Media Player but Music Essentials Manager should work in a similar way

Open Windows Media Player and click the Sync button at top right
Use the USB cable that came with phone and plug the phone into the computer's USB port.
On the phone: Menu / Get It Now / Music & Tones / Sync Music - wait for screen to say Connected
In Windows Media Player, make sure that you are saving to the MicroSD card memory (top right)
Drag and drop your music files to the sync list on the right half of the screen
When finished, click the Start Sync button (bottom right)
Sync may blow up with long file names, or names with strange symbols, or duplicate truncated names.
When sync is complete, phone screen will tell you that it can now be disconnected
Press the END key on the phone and disconnect it from the computer

Notes
The above instructions work for me 95% of the time. Every now and then, it blows up and hangs.
When this happens, I have to take the MicroSD card out of the phone, put it in the computer
and delete any temporary (.dat) files and the song it blew up on from the my_music directory.
I'm guessing this has something to do with the way that the MP3 is encoded.
WMP encodes about half the files to WMA and just sends across the MP3 files for the rest.
If anybody knows why, please let me know and I'll get it posted here.
I suggest sending your files in small batches. It's easier to recover when this happens.

I've also tried copying MP3 files directly to the card while it's in my computer.
That works sometimes but fails a lot. Again, probably having to do with the MP3 encoding.
It's less hassle and more reliable to just use Windows Media Player and let it convert what it wants to.
It also works better if your file names are under 32 characters with no funny symbols.

How to move ringtones from your computer to your phone

Note: USB Driver must be installed
Note: Motorola Software Update Program must be installed
Note: P2KCommander must be installed
Note: Try to do this only one time. You will have to reset ringtone assignments each time.

Start the Motorola Software Update (MSU) Program
Use the USB cable that came with phone and plug the phone into the computer's USB port
Wait for MSU to detect the phone and display the phone's ESN
Leave MSU open through the rest of this process
Start P2KCommander (click OK if a pop-up box shows up)
Ignore any error messages in the lower left window of P2KCommander
Select “/a P2k Phone system” at the top of the right column
Click the Re-Read button
A box will pop up telling you it's ok to do other things. Ignore it and be patient.
When the phone has been read, you'll see a single directory called “a” on the right side
Double-click “a”
Double-click “motorola”
Double-click “shared”
Double-click “ringtone”
Navigate the left side to where your ringtones are on your computer
Select the ringtones you want to copy on the left side and then click the Copy button at bottom right
Click OK for each ringtone as it copies
Click the Re-Read button
For each new ringtone on the right side, select it and click the Attributes button at bottom right
Make sure that “Readonly, cannot overwrite/delete” is checked
Make sure that “System, survive Master reset/clear” is checked
Click OK and repeat for each new ringtone on the right side
When finished, navigate back up the right side directory structure until you see MyToneDB.DB
Delete MyToneDB.DB
Close P2KCommander and then close Motorola Software Update
Unplug the phone
Turn the phone off and back on

How to move movies from your computer to your phone

If somebody can tell me how to do this, I'll be forever in your debt.
I've tried every combination of settings I can think of with MP4, 3GP and 3G2 video files.
They just don't want to play on the phone. They'll start up for a second or two and then freeze up.
If you know the secret, please contact me. I'll post it here if I ever get it figured out.

This is what I think I know about KRZR videos
Format: H2.63/MPEG4 3GP or 3G2
Resolution: 128 x 96 pixels or 176 x 144 pixels
Frames Per Second: 12.47 or 15
Bit Rate: 203 Kbps
Audio: MPEG4aac, 0 bit rate, 64000Hz, 9 channels

External Links

Motorola Handset USB Driver for Windows
Susteen USB Driver - try this if Motorola USB Driver does not work
Mark Venture's Driver Help Page

Windows Media Player
Sync Music Fix - for Windows Media Player 11
MTP Fix - use this if Sync Music Fix does not work
Verizon Wireless V CAST Music Essentials Manager

Motorola Software Update Program
P2KCommander
Mark Venture's P2KCommander Help Page

MOTOKRZR K1m Home Page
Motorola KRZR K1m How To Guide
Motorola KRZR K1m User Manual

Motorola KRZR K1m Threads of Interest at Howard Forums
Duracell replacement battery

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