AT&T Sends A New Blackjack
Over time, the Samsung Blackjack has become a bit of a burden for me. At first, I really liked it, but it has developed some troubles. It drops calls, gets poor reception, and decides to turn its phone radio off (almost randomly). Speakerphone and other problems compounded my frustration with it. Windows Mobile 5 has some issues as well, and a WM6 update was not available when I had last checked.
Then, out of the blue, AT&T called last week and offered to replace it, as it was in the Jan 2007 batch of phones with antenna problems. Sure enough, a replacement arrived a couple days later.
I updated ActiveSync and sync’d the phone to my PC. While getting the latest ActiveSync I discovered that Windows Mobile 6 was available as an update as well. So, in one weekend two of my biggest gripes about the Blackjack have been rectified. It remains to be seen whether the reception stays solid or not, but if it’s like the original refurbished Blackjack I got (which had to be replaced due to charging problems), the reception should be much better.
Updating Blackjack to WM6
To update the Blackjack to WM6, visit Samsung’s WM6 update site and follow the instructions.
Though I highly recommend you follow the instructions listed there verbatim, essentially the process is as follows.
Turn off anti-virus and firewall software – I needed to turn off ZoneAlarm before sync-ing the phone.
Download and update ActiveSync – You will need version 4.2 or greater.
Download and install the Samsung Modem Drivers – Not sure the reason for this, but probably it’s got to do with the flash process.
Download the Blackjack Software Update – This is the WM6 update for the Blackjack.
Run the WM6 Blackjack update – this should take several minutes. You’ll see a downloading screen on the phone (shown below).
Backup data from your phone – The WM6 update will erase all data on the phone.
Reset the Blackjack with *2767*3855# – This simply reboots the phone.
Verify the phone’s software version with *#1234# – should be something like I607UCHA1.
WM6 is now installed – enjoy.
So, thanks AT&T! (And Samsung.)
It’s nice to see a big company make something right without me having to spend hours on the phone talking to customer no-service. Yes, I know other customers have probably taken care of the complaining for me, but it was nice to have AT&T take care of the replacement so quickly and easily.
WM6 is nice too, so thanks, Samsung.
Update: Though WM6 and the replacement Blackjack are definitely a step up for me, I have noticed an occasional issue where the phone will lock up and require a power-off, power-on cycle. tmantist wrote in to say “I am having issues with WM6. I have trouble making calls now. This is so weird, before I installed WM6 I didn’t have any call connectivity problems.” So heads up. WM6 is not all sunshine and light for everyone.
