Hi Ivor,

 >> I do so wish that people wouldn't spread such misinformation
 >>in this newsgroup.
 >
 > It's not misinformation, it's good advice.

Good advice or not, I still think it's misinformation.

My point is that people of all levels of knowledge and abilities use these
various newsgroups as a source of information. Isn't it better to explain
why it's not a good idea to try this at home unless you understand what
you're doing, instead of just saying you cannot?

 > Yes you can do this, but to do the job *safely* and *reliably*
 >then you do need proper equipment - the cheap solutions are *not*
 >safe or reliable and can turn expensive phones into expensive
 >bricks..!

I wouldn't quibble at all with your first point. As for "cheap solutions"
being problematical, as long as you know how to configure your PC and
software correctly they're OK for home use (I'm with you 100% as far as
business use is concerned of course).

But again - you need to know what you're doing.

Also, aren't some (many, all, none?) Nokias reflashable even if the EEPROM
is completely scrambled? I'm sure I read somewhere (I'm still researching
the whole subject) that at least one model of Nokia (the 3310?) has a "BIOS"
of sorts in ROM to allow, amongst other things, flash memory updates even if
the main firmware is completely erased?

 > Are *you* going to explain to an inexperienced person why their
 >phone is suddenly so much doorstop..?

Well, as long as the dangers have been carefully explained to them, then
it's their responsibility if they decide to proceed.

However, I'd hope that an inexperienced person (who has the sense to come
here and ask in the first place) would have the sense to get a friend who
*DOES* know what they're doing to do this sort of thing for them. If they
don't know, they can't ask?

I'm not trying to start a row, I just think we all have a certain
responsibility when posting to newsgroups, IYKWIM?

 TTFN - Pete.