Cingular Treo 650 Unlock Hack
Following yesterday’s release of the new ROM updates for the Sprint and Unlocked Treo 650, a clever cookie apparently figured out how to use these to convert the ROM of a locked Cingular Treo 650 GSM to that of an Unlocked Treo 650 GSM (which has DUN enabled and thanks to the new update also better memory management among others).
I was originally pointed to a post at UneasySilence which offered detailed but somewhat confusing and complex steps to follow for the unlocking procedure. However, leaving aside the fact that I couldn’t quite understand the process, I also lacked a Cingular Treo 650 to potentially try it on and so when A. Davis (who is quite a bit more of a techhead than I am) told me via email that he was going to give it a go I asked him to share his story with us if he was successful at unlocking it:
Well, thank goodness it worked. 
My charger was at home, so I had to wait to do the update after I got home this evening. As it turns out, I've been sync'ing via bluetooth for so long that I didn't realize my sync cable was bad, so I was forced to wait for it to work over IR, which was painfully slow... but in the end it worked (more on this later). I followed the instructions from UneasySilence (read these first). Here's a simple run down:
0) A pre-requisite that UneasySilence’s instructions left out: The Unlocked GSM update page at PalmOne mentions upgrading a few applications like DocsToGo and Zap2016 (the only two listed that applied to me) before proceeding with the actual ROM upgrade. On my Treo 650, I upgraded both of these to the latest version.
1) I started with an AT&T (Cingular, but without the Cingular logo on the case) GSM Treo 650 with the 1.0.4.1 firmware. I sync'd over bluetooth and backed up my system. I have a few extra SD cards, so I took one and blanked it out.
2) I downloaded the 1.23 firmware upgrade referenced in the instructions. I unzipped it and had a new "PALM" folder. I copied the folder straight to the SD card. I then set my email clients (GoodLink and Snapper) to not auto-retrieve, turned off my radio, removed my SIM card, and removed my primary SD card, then did a soft reset.
3) The phone booted up and I popped in the SD card with the copied 1.23 update and followed the prompts. At one point, you have to click OK and it appears to do nothing, but just click it once and if you wait 10 to 30 seconds, it proceeds. I saw the progress bar, some scrolling text, then it reset itself prompted for my language, reset again, prompted to setup the digitizer, reset again, etc.
4) After all was done I popped in my SIM card and checked the phone version... it was at 1.23. Perfect so far...
5) Next I downloaded the 1.13 Software Updater (for firmware 1.28) for unlocked GSM phones from the Palm website and unzipped it.
6) Next I went into Palm Desktop and created a new user called UPGRADE.
7) First, I removed the SD card containing the 1.23 upgrade and my SIM card, then from my PC ran the executable that does the update (please follow the instructions that palmOne provided for the Unlocked GSM update). At this point, I found out that my USB sync cable is bad. I'd been sync'ing over BT for so long, but after loading 1.23, I couldn't get a bluetooth connection working properly. Thus, with no BT and no USB cable, IR was my only choice (thank goodness I had choices). I setup hotsync on both ends to use IR and let it run. For me, this process took close to an hour. I'm sure it would have been much faster via the cable (more like 20 or 30 minutes).
8) The upgrade instructions tell you to sync and go through the reset hoops, then return to the installer and click next to go to step 2 of 2. I did this and it prompted to restore my data. At first, I was a little panicked as it said it was ready to "restore data for user UPGRADE", but I clicked next anyway and was presented with the choice to create a new user or use an existing one. I chose my normal sync ID and let it run.
It restored all my data, again over IR, in about 30 minutes. When all was done I was quite disappointed to learn that I had only gained about 1 or 2Mb of extra space (went from 6.1Mb to 7.8Mb free). But then I went into SnapperMail, copied all my mail to the SD card, deleted all of my mail from the phone, then restored it back from the SD card. Afterwards, I had 17.2Mb free... quite an improvement.
The last thing I did was to go back to Palm Desktop and delete the UPGRADE user, then perform a final hotsync. I popped in my SIM card and regular SD card, did a soft reset, then went over to PowerRun and told it to re-create all my shortcuts. One thing I found was that I had to re-run Dataviz-tech (which I normally leave in phone memory) and told it again move everything to the card. It prompted about progs already on the card and asked if I wanted to overwrite. I chose yes and all is working just fine.
I now have Firmware 01.28 and Software: Treo650-1.13-ROW. Also, in my Bluetooth settings, I now have a "Dial-Up Networking" option.
Odds are pretty good that PalmOne will make an update to disable this "update hack" and protect precious Cingular/AT&T from unscrupulous individuals like myself. As such, I'm putting both the 1.23 zip file and 1.28 zip files on my website for future generations to abuse, errr... I mean enjoy 
EDITOR’S NOTE: Please CAREFULLY read ALL instructions posted BOTH here, UneasySilence and palmOne support before proceeding with this unlock hack as we really don’t want anything bad to happen to your beloved Treo…
Finally, if all that you’re interested in doing is to enable DUN on your Cingular Treo 650 then the most straightforward option remains PDANet ($34). However, you won’t benefit from the improved memory management that optimizes memory handling and frees up more memory.
How-to: Upgrade Locked Cingular GSM Treo to an Unlocked GSM version [UneasySilence]
Finally… Treo 650 Sprint and Unlocked ROM Updates [Treonauts]
UPDATE REGARDING CARRIER UNLOCK: I initially thought that this unlock hack would also unlock the Cingular GSM Treo 650 for use with any other carrier’s SIM card but unfortunately A. Davis reports that:
“I just tried SIMs from Verizon (they now have a worldphone that operates in both CDMA and GSM via a Vodaphone partnership) and from a T-Mobile phone. Both came up with the standard "You can't use this SIM in this phone" message and allowed only for 911/SOS calls. So, it is confirmed, the unlock hack only unlocks features and removes branding, but doesn't unlock the carrier aspect of the phone. On the plus side, however, I now have BT DUN and I can get future updates whenever PalmOne releases them which is more often than not a lot more frequently than the carriers themselves do.”
[Many thanks to A. Davis for his clear and very useful instructions and also to ‘signedandsealed’ for pointing me to the UneasySilence post.]
Treonauts don’t like to be locked… 
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Comments
why can't you unlock a Treo 650 on Sprint, when Sprint sells them?
I have an Earthlink Palm treo w/out a sim card and there is no slot to put a sim card do you know how I can activate this on a cingular wireless network. I asket cingular and they told me they needed an EMIO number off the back of the phone which does not exist in a Earthlink palm. Maybee there is some how to progam that number in the phone off my old cingular sim and activate this new treo?????Please help
How do you put the Treo 650 into test mode? Verizon is the carrier.
I think I'm fxxd, and need help to change my IMEI. Let me explain:
I live in Istanbul, Turkey. I have been a Palm user for around 7 years. I have upgraded to an unlocked Cingular Treo 650, which I bought it through eBay (it is way too expensive over here, at around $1100). It is not second hand or refurbished, and arrived at Postal Office Customs nice and shiny in its box. I paid the stocking and the legal customs fees, and had been using it happily some months now. So far so good.
Then this new law was passed to (supposedly) crack down on cellular phone theft. It required every GSM phone to be registered in a central database, which all three local GSM operators share. Any phone legally imported and sold inside Turkey is already in the list, and those that are not are notified by SMS to show up at a local reseller with their receipts and their phones to register; else their devices will be blacklisted and will not work ever again. Before this law was passed, if your phone was stolen you could notify the operator to blacklist the device. Now it is the other way around.
Anyway, my problem is even though my Treo is legally paid for, I cannot prove it. It did not arrive through the usual channels (the local distributor). None of the papers I have (eBay receipt, customs papers) include the IMEI number on them. It might as well be stolen, for all they care.
Now I realize I am getting into shady territory, but I also know the trick is possible. I also have a defunct old Siemens laying around in a drawer somewhere and I have this idea to copy its IMEI to my Treo 650, so I can continue enjoying its use.
What do you think? Is it possible? Can anybody help me? I am willing to compensate you for your trouble.
Hi fellow treonauts,
I think I'm fxxd, and need help to change my IMEI. Let me explain:
I live in Istanbul, Turkey. I have been a Palm user for around 7 years. I have upgraded to an unlocked Cingular Treo 650, which I bought it through eBay (it is way too expensive over here, at around $1100). It is not second hand or refurbished, and arrived at Postal Office Customs nice and shiny in its box. I paid the stocking and the legal customs fees, and had been using it happily some months now. So far so good.
Then this new law was passed to (supposedly) crack down on cellular phone theft. It required every GSM phone to be registered in a central database, which all three local GSM operators share. Any phone legally imported and sold inside Turkey is already in the list, and those that are not are notified by SMS to show up at a local reseller with their receipts and their phones to register; else their devices will be blacklisted and will not work ever again. Before this law was passed, if your phone was stolen you could notify the operator to blacklist the device. Now it is the other way around.
Anyway, my problem is even though my Treo is legally paid for, I cannot prove it. It did not arrive through the usual channels (the local distributor). None of the papers I have (eBay receipt, customs papers) include the IMEI number on them. It might as well be stolen, for all they care.
Now I realize I am getting into shady territory, but I also know the trick is possible. I also have a defunct old Siemens laying around in a drawer somewhere and I have this idea to copy its IMEI to my Treo 650, so I can continue enjoying its use.
What do you think? Is it possible? Can anybody help me? I am willing to compensate you for your trouble.
If you want to unlock your GSM 650 to use any GSM company's SIM card, "call" *#*#45454545# Unbranding is something I haven't tried yet.
To the people trying to use Sprint 650's on GSM carriers: a Sprint 650 uses CDMA. All new Cingular phones, including the Cingular Treo 650 are GSM. You can think of the difference like the one between Windows and Mac (or Palm and Windows Mobile). Cingular might be able to support a Sprint CDMA 650 on their old TDMA network. It actually has better national coverage than the GSM network, if it still exists. The process is a lot more complicated than switching out a SIM card so your best bet would be to take it into a service provider's retail location and let them talk to tech support to work out the details.
As far as I know, I believe only the TREO GSM phones can be unlock, that would be Rogers, T-Mobile, Suncom, and AT&T Cingular in North America; Orange, O2 in UK. Since GSM is designed to be universal. See http://www.fasttutorial.com/treo650 for TREO unlocks.
Alltel is CDMA and Sprint is CDMA, is there a way for me to switch my Sprint 650 to my Alltel account?
Is there anyway to get the orange dots off my screen? I have a treo 600
is possible to Unlock treo 650 Earthlink and if it is what sevice provider can I use it with other than GSM providers.
Thanks.
I tried this procedure on my AT&T Treo and it did work, however it only removes the branding ... it did not unlock the SIM. I paid $28 for the unlock code and the SIM was unlocked in about 5 minutes!! Now I'm stuck with this 1.28 firmware AND my caller ID doesn't work. Can anyone help?
I tried the unlocked procedure on my cingular Treo and it did work, I paid $20 for the unlock code and the SIM was unlocked. But now my caller ID doesn't work. please can anyone help me to make it work!??(i never know who is calling me) Thank you
I too purchased an unlock code from e-bay which worked perfectly for unlocking an AT&T Treo 650 that is branded Cingular. I now am using T-mobile but my caller ID doesn't work either. Other than that, it works perfectly. Has anyone come accross a fix? THANK YOU!
If you want to unlock your GSM 650 to use any GSM company's SIM card, "call" *#*#45454545# Unbranding is something I haven't tried yet.
Did anyone try this .. Does it work?
Me too, I bought the unlock codes from JTunlock for €14 and it did work (after about 3 frustrating hrs of trying to get the Treo into test mode) but in the end the SIM was unlocked. But like the last few posts now my caller ID doesn't work. However, I haven't done the upgrade to Firmware v 1.23 or 1.28. Does anyone know if moving to 1.28 will bring back my caller ID? Having to answer too many sales calls which I'd normally avoid!!!
is there anyway of getting orange dots off my screen. I have a treo 650
Please help! I have a treo 650 (tmobile) and want to find a local prepaid sim card to use in it while on holdiay in costa rica - where should I find such a card??
Hi, I just purchased a Treo 650 CDMA (Earthlink) can someone help me unlock it so i could use it with verizon? Please help me
Hi, I have a PALM TREO 650, is there a way to unlock this phone to use with other SIM cards? does the 454545 code work? and caller ID, is that when u dont know whos calling u only... or is it when people dont know whos calling them??
Hi, I have a PALM TREO 650, is there a way to unlock this phone to use with other SIM cards? does the 454545 code work? and caller ID, is that when u dont know whos calling u only... or is it when people dont know whos calling them??
I have an old Treo 600 that I purchased through AT&T Wireless. I am on a GREAT plan that AT&T sold me on that gave me unlimited anytime minutes for $99! My Treo 600 is broken. I want to buy a Treo 650 and called Cingular - they said that I would have to switch to Cingular calling plans and move to a plan which would cost me $159 per month for approx. the same number of minutes. Any suggestions for what I can do? I'd like to get a new phone but keep my old plan.
If you want to unlock your GSM 650 to use any GSM company's SIM card, "call" *#*#45454545# Unbranding is something I haven't tried yet.
Did anyone try this .. Does it work?
I tried it. It took it and said SIM unlocked!
Now I need another SIM to try it out.
OK the *#*#45454545# send unlocks the SIM card, but is NOT a subsidy unlock so it wont let you put it another SIM
I'm with Cingular, I emailed them asking for unlock code due to travel plans abroad. I was emailed my code and instructions in 1 day. My phone now works with any sim card.
does anyone know anything about getting rid of xpress mail on my treo 650? i have had the device for 1 day and it has caused me nothing but headaches- am waiting for the lovefest to begin.
also, get good does me no good (i am a mac user).
have filez on device, but am afraid to dump things without knowing first. (and will it get rid of icon on screen?)
thanks,
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