techno_junkie
Banned
Unlimited Video Recording -- Nokia 6600
Howdy folks,
I did a few searches for this on the boards but wasn't able to find a lot of information or support for this.
I have decided to write up this little help article directed at the people who may not the full story. I hope it helps, and a sticky might go a long way to making sure people stay informed.
For those of you currently in the dark: yes it is, only recently, possible to record unlimited video on your Nokia 6600. It involves using a third party application called ETi Camcorder, sending it to your 6600 phone, installing it and running it.
There is one catch though, and that is that the program, originally designed for use with Nokia 3650 and 7650 phones, will only run as intended with the latest firmware upgrade. This is Version 4.09.1, dated 26-02-04. Without the latest firmware, the program will run with no sound, fail to install, or fail to open once installed. Please don't come complaining to the forum with problems running or installing ETi Camcorder on your 6600 if you don't have the latest version of firmware. If you do have the correct firmware, ensure you are running the correct version of ETi Camcorder. The version that enables us to record unlimited video is "ETI_Camcorder_Pro_V1.0". The official name of this is ETI_Camcorder_Pro_V1.0_john74.sis, but of course many places willl no doubt have renamed or cropped the title, but you should know what to look for.
Two important things:
Before the posts accumulate about how you are able to get what is needed to make unlimited videos on your 6600, please read the sections below. It should answer every question you have, but if it is not answered, feel free to post your answer. I find it extremely annoying when the same, answered or redundant questions are posted over and over. Note that at the end, where I originally placed a description of ETi Camcorder, there is simply a link to another topic I decided to create because I thought it was far enough off the beaten track of the values of this thread to start a new one.
How do I obtain the firmware upgrade?
To obtain this upgrade you will need to visit a Nokia Care Center (NCC) and ask for the latest firmware. You should probably check to make sure you're getting updated to 4.09.1, not 3.42.1 for example, an older version which is only recently being faded out. The newer version has been around Asian countries for a few weeks or longer, and has, in the past few days, been added to Australian NCCs. I cannot vouch for other continents and countries, but maybe others here can.
Cost: The cost of a firmware upgrade is covered wholly by your warranty as a Nokia product. The NCC should simply take your phone, remove your MMC, if one is being used, and sim card, give them back to you while they hold your phone for roughly an hour. During this time it is put into a flash machine and 'flashed' the new firmware. Under special cirumustances (i.e. at the service center's discretion, usually) they will ask for your warranty or receipt. This didn't happen to me or either of my friends. If you cannot provide these, a service charge of AUS$33 applies to flash the firmware. I have also been informed European NCCs will charge 21 Euro. Remember, this is only for cases where your phone is not under warranty, but as the phone is less than 12 months old on the market, they most likely will do it without the need to prove this.
The only other way to get your firmware flashed is by downloading the version you're after and flashing it yourself using your own special flash machine, such as Tornado. These can cost thousdands of dollars.
What else does this firmware do for me?
Not entirely sure. As with some other firmware updates, you can except your phone to run a little bit faster (but you should be using the "1 Day Log trick" anyway). You can also expect less glitches in programs or applications quitting and such. I do know the firmware introduces a "Clip details" for video clips, that shows us lots of important information about the selected clip. This is well deserved as clips that exceeded the length of the on screen display were hard to find out the names of without selecting "rename". And that was stupid. One disadvantage of the new FW is that the sending of files that end with .jar and .sis is simply ignored. This is obviously an act of piracy protection. Remember that you can still receive any file type, it only disallows you to forward them on to other Bluetooth or InfraRed devices. Even programs like FExplorer and Forward won't trick the OS on this one. Maybe a file exploring program will be developed later on down the track and implement some kind of work around. For now, you will need to rename the file (using whatever programs you like; Nokia's built-in file managers won't let you) to *.jpg. This will then be fine to send, and upon receiving and opening it on another phone for example, will actually still open as a *.sis file. As far as I can tell, the phone is trying to open it as a JPEG, but when it fails, is able to revert to the correct method of opening. Might not always work though.
That pretty much sums up the advancements I've been able to figure out. Any others that people know of (from perhaps a site
detailing them) would be appreciated. Another side note: please don't ask question upon question about whether you should get
the firmware update followed with stories about whether or not you intend to use this program (ETi Camcorder). New firmware is created for many different reasons, and sometimes you want to take advantage of those points, sometimes you don't. In the same way Microsoft releases updates, service packs and fixes to many problems for their Windows operating system, Nokia releases updates to their platforms. When a Microsoft update is released, you take a look at what it encompasses, be it Windows Media Player, a driver fix for a certain hardware type, glitch fixing for a particular program or maybe a port block for a potentially dangerous virus recently uncovered. I would hope you are able to take responsibility to know when to upgrade your Windows operating system and that you reuse that common sense with this too. As for FW 4.09.1, I know unlimited video recording is not the only benefit of getting this update, and it was not my only incentive. You need to research and work out what they are, and whether you want those benefits or not.
Where can I get ETi Camcorder?
The software is available for download at many places, including #mediaplace, and IRC channel found on server EFnet. Allegedly, www.avianet.com has it. If you can really not find it, I know certain people in #mediaplace have it and may be able to send it to you, or there are at least people who are able to advise you of where to get it.
There may be some sites that are selling it as a Symbian application, but I have not yet found any of these. (I'm sure when it first came out, this was more apparent.)
Cost: Free download. If you feel safer purchasing a copy over the Internet by all means do so, however I have not found any sites that still sell it.
What about ETi Camcorder 3?
As far as I know, this is another fake application rolling around the Internet buliding up a collection of users wondering what is exactly is going on. It has been proven to fail to run on Nokia phones, and many testers have said it installs strange files on your phone's C:. Some programs, including the whole set of BT Master and BlueJack apps, do similar things to entice novice Series 60 users into doing stupid things. These excess files which do nothing to run a useful program may corrupt some data in a virus like manner. My advice is to steer clear of ETi Camcorder 3. Version 1.0 is the working version anyway so I don't know why you would bother. Note that ETi C3 can be found in many triggers in #mediaplace, so be careful to be on the lookout.
So, how does the ETi Camcorder V1.0 run?
Another topic has been started on the same board as this one, and gives a small description of how ETi Camcorder works.
One note I would like to add to this post for readers: Note that video recording is not actually "unlimited", as mentioned many times in this post, but restricted to the available memory of your phone or memory card. Effectively the program will record forever, but the limitation of our memory card, such as the size of our MMC, is what will stop that. So that is where we get the term "unlimited video recording". (Note that 4 Mb (megabytes) will buy you approximately 10 minutes of footage. Use that to work out 6 megs, 32 megs, and 512 megs. It's quite a bit!)
Howdy folks,
I did a few searches for this on the boards but wasn't able to find a lot of information or support for this.
I have decided to write up this little help article directed at the people who may not the full story. I hope it helps, and a sticky might go a long way to making sure people stay informed.
For those of you currently in the dark: yes it is, only recently, possible to record unlimited video on your Nokia 6600. It involves using a third party application called ETi Camcorder, sending it to your 6600 phone, installing it and running it.
There is one catch though, and that is that the program, originally designed for use with Nokia 3650 and 7650 phones, will only run as intended with the latest firmware upgrade. This is Version 4.09.1, dated 26-02-04. Without the latest firmware, the program will run with no sound, fail to install, or fail to open once installed. Please don't come complaining to the forum with problems running or installing ETi Camcorder on your 6600 if you don't have the latest version of firmware. If you do have the correct firmware, ensure you are running the correct version of ETi Camcorder. The version that enables us to record unlimited video is "ETI_Camcorder_Pro_V1.0". The official name of this is ETI_Camcorder_Pro_V1.0_john74.sis, but of course many places willl no doubt have renamed or cropped the title, but you should know what to look for.
Two important things:
Before the posts accumulate about how you are able to get what is needed to make unlimited videos on your 6600, please read the sections below. It should answer every question you have, but if it is not answered, feel free to post your answer. I find it extremely annoying when the same, answered or redundant questions are posted over and over. Note that at the end, where I originally placed a description of ETi Camcorder, there is simply a link to another topic I decided to create because I thought it was far enough off the beaten track of the values of this thread to start a new one.
How do I obtain the firmware upgrade?
To obtain this upgrade you will need to visit a Nokia Care Center (NCC) and ask for the latest firmware. You should probably check to make sure you're getting updated to 4.09.1, not 3.42.1 for example, an older version which is only recently being faded out. The newer version has been around Asian countries for a few weeks or longer, and has, in the past few days, been added to Australian NCCs. I cannot vouch for other continents and countries, but maybe others here can.
Cost: The cost of a firmware upgrade is covered wholly by your warranty as a Nokia product. The NCC should simply take your phone, remove your MMC, if one is being used, and sim card, give them back to you while they hold your phone for roughly an hour. During this time it is put into a flash machine and 'flashed' the new firmware. Under special cirumustances (i.e. at the service center's discretion, usually) they will ask for your warranty or receipt. This didn't happen to me or either of my friends. If you cannot provide these, a service charge of AUS$33 applies to flash the firmware. I have also been informed European NCCs will charge 21 Euro. Remember, this is only for cases where your phone is not under warranty, but as the phone is less than 12 months old on the market, they most likely will do it without the need to prove this.
The only other way to get your firmware flashed is by downloading the version you're after and flashing it yourself using your own special flash machine, such as Tornado. These can cost thousdands of dollars.
What else does this firmware do for me?
Not entirely sure. As with some other firmware updates, you can except your phone to run a little bit faster (but you should be using the "1 Day Log trick" anyway). You can also expect less glitches in programs or applications quitting and such. I do know the firmware introduces a "Clip details" for video clips, that shows us lots of important information about the selected clip. This is well deserved as clips that exceeded the length of the on screen display were hard to find out the names of without selecting "rename". And that was stupid. One disadvantage of the new FW is that the sending of files that end with .jar and .sis is simply ignored. This is obviously an act of piracy protection. Remember that you can still receive any file type, it only disallows you to forward them on to other Bluetooth or InfraRed devices. Even programs like FExplorer and Forward won't trick the OS on this one. Maybe a file exploring program will be developed later on down the track and implement some kind of work around. For now, you will need to rename the file (using whatever programs you like; Nokia's built-in file managers won't let you) to *.jpg. This will then be fine to send, and upon receiving and opening it on another phone for example, will actually still open as a *.sis file. As far as I can tell, the phone is trying to open it as a JPEG, but when it fails, is able to revert to the correct method of opening. Might not always work though.
That pretty much sums up the advancements I've been able to figure out. Any others that people know of (from perhaps a site
detailing them) would be appreciated. Another side note: please don't ask question upon question about whether you should get
the firmware update followed with stories about whether or not you intend to use this program (ETi Camcorder). New firmware is created for many different reasons, and sometimes you want to take advantage of those points, sometimes you don't. In the same way Microsoft releases updates, service packs and fixes to many problems for their Windows operating system, Nokia releases updates to their platforms. When a Microsoft update is released, you take a look at what it encompasses, be it Windows Media Player, a driver fix for a certain hardware type, glitch fixing for a particular program or maybe a port block for a potentially dangerous virus recently uncovered. I would hope you are able to take responsibility to know when to upgrade your Windows operating system and that you reuse that common sense with this too. As for FW 4.09.1, I know unlimited video recording is not the only benefit of getting this update, and it was not my only incentive. You need to research and work out what they are, and whether you want those benefits or not.
Where can I get ETi Camcorder?
The software is available for download at many places, including #mediaplace, and IRC channel found on server EFnet. Allegedly, www.avianet.com has it. If you can really not find it, I know certain people in #mediaplace have it and may be able to send it to you, or there are at least people who are able to advise you of where to get it.
There may be some sites that are selling it as a Symbian application, but I have not yet found any of these. (I'm sure when it first came out, this was more apparent.)
Cost: Free download. If you feel safer purchasing a copy over the Internet by all means do so, however I have not found any sites that still sell it.
What about ETi Camcorder 3?
As far as I know, this is another fake application rolling around the Internet buliding up a collection of users wondering what is exactly is going on. It has been proven to fail to run on Nokia phones, and many testers have said it installs strange files on your phone's C:. Some programs, including the whole set of BT Master and BlueJack apps, do similar things to entice novice Series 60 users into doing stupid things. These excess files which do nothing to run a useful program may corrupt some data in a virus like manner. My advice is to steer clear of ETi Camcorder 3. Version 1.0 is the working version anyway so I don't know why you would bother. Note that ETi C3 can be found in many triggers in #mediaplace, so be careful to be on the lookout.
So, how does the ETi Camcorder V1.0 run?
Another topic has been started on the same board as this one, and gives a small description of how ETi Camcorder works.
One note I would like to add to this post for readers: Note that video recording is not actually "unlimited", as mentioned many times in this post, but restricted to the available memory of your phone or memory card. Effectively the program will record forever, but the limitation of our memory card, such as the size of our MMC, is what will stop that. So that is where we get the term "unlimited video recording". (Note that 4 Mb (megabytes) will buy you approximately 10 minutes of footage. Use that to work out 6 megs, 32 megs, and 512 megs. It's quite a bit!)
