Motorola CDMA Digital Phone Software Revisions

The following table reflects the software versions that I am aware of to date, in various Motorola StarTAC models, and any details I know of about each version. Most of Motorola's CDMA phones use very similar software, so the StarTAC, Timeport, Vader, V-Series, etc., are really very much the same inside.

If you have a 7860W or higher model phone, you can find the software version number by pressing FCN 1, Phone Options, Phone Info, and scroll until you get to Software.

StarTAC FLEX:

It seems that there is more to new features than just the firmware. It has been a mystery for quite a while why even though people have the same or newer firmware than someone elses phone, there are features on one that aren't on another, such as Mobile Originated SMS (MO-SMS)

Upon getting both my StarTAC 7860W and 7868W upgraded to Firmware revision 7574, I still did not have the option to send a message, even though the menu structure had changed the 'Messages' menu option to 'Inbox'. Firmware revision 6654, which was the same firmware that was originally on my phone, does have the send-a-message option on another StarTAC I've seen - purchased much more recently by a friend.

The people at Telus Mobility will happily upgrade the firmware and PRL in your phone - but according to them, the additional features, such as MO-SMS can only be activated by having the phone 'FLEXed' - which Telus Mobility does not have the equipment to do, and has been trying to acquire it from Motorola to no avail. The only option is to send the phone to Motorola for the FLEX update. The only reason why Telus Mobility is releasing phones with various versions of FLEX is because that is the way they are getting them from Motorola.

Upon going back to my testpage notes it appears that there is a field that identifies the current FLEX in the phone. (68#) Having access to a number of different StarTAC phones owned by various people, and bought at various times, I have seen a few different 'FLEX' ID's, which may correspond to which features may or may not be available. I currently to not see any pattern in the ID's, but hopefully this information will be more obvious when we have enough FLEX ID's. Please lookup 68# in your testmode, and let me know any additional information you can provide.

Determining Firmware Date:

Please take a look through the test mode page to get more information on the firmware revisions you have. When you enter 19# in testmode, it shows your firmware revision. Now, each time you press * again, more information will be displayed. I would most appreciate if you could send me this info, one of the interesting entries is a date which is probably when it was released by Motorola. I will be adding these to the "FW Date" Column.

This table is getting to be a mess :) I will be reorganizing it sometime to group phones together under one firmware version.. This should remove a lot of the redundancy among phones.

Apparently the firmware files are stored as ".EHX" files, ie 7058.EHX, is how the service providers receive them.

Thanks to Steve for this e-mail about the firmware upgrades for the StarTAC 7760, it appears that the new versions do a lot more than just fix the date bug:

I've tested the SYN7464B Data cable that normally works with the 786xW series of StarTAC's on the 7760 with the 5110 firmware on a friends phone. It does not work as a modem, and it does not work with Truesync. It is interesting to note however, that it does the confirmation beep when you put the cable in, which it never used to do. It also enables the Data Setup menu, where you can select Voice Only, Incoming Fax Only, or Incoming Data only.

If you open up a terminal program to communicate with the phone directly, all you get is a bunch of garbage characters when you turn the phone on and off, and sometimes having the cable connected will cause the phone to stop responding to keypresses, and randomly reboot. Quite strange.

My guess is that even thought the software supposedly enables or adds these features, the electronics needed in the connector are not present. It may also be that there is a different cable pinout required for the 7760, but good luck finding the cable! Oh well..

Jan 28, 2001, Re: Firmware 5110 for Startac 7762
Thanks to Mark McDonald for this info

I can confirm that the software upgrade to the 7762 DOES include TrueSync and data compatibility. I don't have the phone in front of me now, but I know these are listed as supported features after the upgrade. I regularly back up the phonebook and sync it to Outlook, and I tried it with my laptop a couple of times. My phone is the dual band StarTAC, which I use regularly for this.

Jan 29, 2001, Re: Firmware 7058 for StarTAC 7767W
Thanks to 'PupaScoopa' for this info

7058 fixes a few hand-off problems with the phone "forgetting" some important parameters. This is generally for better call quality.

The software and "wakeup banner" is a different file, they can be loaded separately. The banner is a simple b/w .bmp file (properly sized). If you wanted to change that logo to one you make yourself, call the nearest store that has a service facility and ask 'em for the size (width x height in pixels) of that bitmap. If they agree to do this for you, make your own graphic, load it on a disk, and take it over to get it loaded.

Ryans Note: the size is 90x24 pixels

Feb 2, 2001, Mobile Originated SMS
From various Newsgroup postings

Apparently, the Timeport P8767, which comes with firmware 7080 has an additional menu for mobile originated SMS. This feature will be added to the StarTAC 7868 with a similar firmware number, but nonetheless, it will take a few months for any of the providers to actually support the feature. I have added some unconfirmed entries to the list on this page, as to what versions people believe add these features. I will continue to update the list as I read new information.

Feb 26, 2001, Firmware 7088 for the ST7860W and 7868W

Well, I finally got some time to stop by the Telus Mobility office in Burnaby near Willingdon & Canada Way. I walked in with both the 7860, and the 7868, and asked if they could upgrade them to the latest firmware. I had 6654 in both of them, and the guy at the counter said there was an update for the 7868 because it was dual band, but doubted there was one for the 7860. After waiting about 15 minutes, he came out from the back and said that there was indeed an update for the 7860, and he wanted my number just in case. Another 20 minutes later, and he came back with both phones programmed, both with the new 7088 software, newer than the timeports I had looked at!

I was curious to see if the background grinding noise problem I had with the 7860 would be rectified with it, but it was not, and I can not find the option for MO-SMS, that is supposedly in this version, but I guess is disabled for now. Another person who upgraded their phone was told that there was extra hardware required to support this feature in the 7860. Is this Motorola's way of saying upgrade to a timeport? Or will there be some sort of plug in keyboard to support this feature. The update wiped out the extra NAM's I had programmed into the phone, but that wasn't much of a problem, because they were mostly just altered copies of the first one. Upon reprogramming NAM2 into the 7868 with a copy of NAM1, I noticed that the PRL was still present on NAM2, which did not exist on the previous software.

The NAM2 PRL searches PCS 0350 before CEL 0384, so it connects to the 1900Mhz network instead of the 800Mhz. This is a great way to switch which band you are on! There are some other modifications to the PRL order, which I will post on my PRL page. Other than that, I haven't found much else noticeably different yet.

However, it does seem to work much better with the Clip-On Speakerphone. With software 6654, the party on the other end of the call had a really hard time hearing me. With this update, they can hear me much better. I will have to try it again while in a vehicle driving, as it was pretty much useless to call someone because it would try to cancel out so much of the background noise.

Feb 27 2001: E-mail & Notes in Phonebook entries in rev 7088

Today I noticed in the 7088 software is the option to add an e-mail address along with phone numbers in one of the four available slots on each phone-book entry. You can actually enter any chunk of text you want, with any combination of letters, numbers and punctuation, up to 50 characters. The resulting entry on the phone book entry is an @ sign, and is only for display purposes. It does nothing by holding the smart button for 1 second. (Although it would have been handy if it sent it to the microbrowser)

The Microbrowser is the same version that was in 6654.

Apr 10 2001: Depending on the 7760, Data may actually work

I lost track when I was actually told about this, but I have received reports of people who have upgraded the firmware to 5110 in their 7760, and the Data Cable DOES indeed work. So it can only lead me to believe that either there is something defective in the hardware of the particular phone I tried, or only later revisions of the 7760 can do it.

Apr 19 2001: Backlight bug in Timeport P8767

I received an e-mail from Nick, in regards to a newsgroup posting he had made a while back regarding a bug in his Timeport P8767. Here is the relevant part of his e-mail to me:

"When the phone is on and plugged in charging...(closed) and you unplug it from the power...the screen and backlight switch on, and then dim in 30 seconds (or 15) like usual...but stay on until you open/close the phone... This seems to really affect my battery life..."

I have also observed this same bug with my StarTAC 7860 & 7868 with rev 7088. But the bug isn't as much of a nuisance, because it just means the LCD is on, without the backlight. You have to test by flipping the phone open very quickly to see the delay before the screen comes on - or it will already be there which indicates that the screen was on when the flip was closed. This does not take nearly as much battery power as it would to leave the screen in 'dim mode' on a timeport's colour display.

Aug 21 2001: What's New in Firmware 7574

I noticed that a brand new 7868W phone from Telus Mobility had this new firmware, as well as the option for sending and receiving messages. Under the messaging menu, the 'messages' option is now replaced with 'Inbox' and two additional entries: 'Outbox' and 'Send a Message'. I went down to the Telus Mobility Service & Repair Office, and had both my 7860W and 7868W StarTACs upgraded to this firmware. The options for sending and outbox were not available, but my Messages option changed to Inbox. Apparently, on top of the firmware upgrade, Motorola needs to perform what's called a 'FLEX' upgrade to actually enable the new features - and Telus has not been able to get it for themselves - so the only option is to actually send it back to Motorola to get it done.

Here are some of the differences from 7088 I've noticed so far:

The new version of the browser is definitely a cool upgrade. It makes the mobile browsing experience just a little less dull. Many of the games sites especially make creative use of the graphics. The only problem is that most of them design for phones with larger LCD screens, and most images just don't quite fit vertically on the StarTAC's LCD matrix. It is a little slower, but it does a good job of keeping you informed of what it's doing.

October 24, 2001: What's new in Firmware 7582?

According to numerous people that are Verizon wireless subscribers in the US, it appears that they are now able to get this software flashed to their phones from a number of different dealers. I am surprised that Telus Mobility here in BC does not have it yet, I checked with them today.

This version apparently adds MO-SMS capability, even without changing the FLEX. Apparently he had flex CA3F1D, and previously did not have the send a message option, but with 7582 he does, and the flex is the same. It also fixes the quiet beeping issue, or 'clicking' for service tones.

Until I find a better place to post this, here is the MO-SMS documentation from Motorola, in PDF Form. (Thanks Richard Ness for posting it)

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Ryan Goolevitch - ryang@trideja.com
Last Modified October 24, 2001