Microsoft is claiming those Windows Phone 7 owners who used an unofficial update tool to download the latest software tweaks will be blocked from future updates.
Were you one of those Windows Phone 7 users who, frustrated
with Microsoft's slow pace of updates, used a homebrew solution to download
software tweaks ahead of their official push-out?
Yes? Then you might have a slight issue.
"Despite the fact that many people have claimed that an
unofficial update mechanism worked fine for them," Brandon Watson, Microsoft's
director of developer experience for Windows Phone 7, wrote in a May 4 posting
on
The
Windows Blog, "we cautioned that phones which were updated via this method
were not going to be able to update past build 7390." That's a reference to the
recent "NoDo" update, which boosted app-loading speeds and introduced
cut-and-paste functionality to Windows smartphones.
"Unfortunately for those customers out there who acted on
information from sources outside of Microsoft, the rubber meets the road
today," he added. "Phones updated via the unsupported method do not contain an
official image and cannot be updated further at this time." For those whose
smartphones have smacked into this particular wall, "you will most likely have
to return to a store and submit your phone for a manufacturing return."
Microsoft is currently prepping its
first-ever
security update for Windows Phone 7, known as build 7392, which will
protect the devices against a vulnerability caused by fraudulent certificates.
In addition to Windows Phone 7, affected Microsoft products include Windows
Mobile 6.x, Zune, Kin, and Windows.
At the beginning of April, developer Chris Walsh issued the
ChevronWP7.Updater,
which gave Windows Phone 7 users the ability-at least in theory-to update their
devices' software ahead of official push-through. Three days later, though, he
reversed course, asking people to avoid using his homebrewed utility. "I was
later informed by Microsoft that there were several problems with my tool and
the manner in which it changes phones,"
he
wrote.
Watson's blog post describes how the unofficial tool, at
least according to Microsoft, garbled Windows Phone 7's underlying software.
"The state machine looked more like pre-7390 than it did 7390," he wrote.
"However, because of the existence of some of the 7390 bits on the phone, and
the fact that the 7390 update process was not intended to run against this
a
priori unknown state machine, the result was an incomplete 7390 update."
Hence the error messages.
Walsh,
in a May 4
posting on his blog, asked users who'd "Walshed" their devices to post
their phone make and model, information from settings, and their carrier.
"Personally, Zune updated 3 -Walshed' phones to 7392 just fine this morning. So
I'd love to hear if you are having issues so I can check it out and see the
issue," he wrote. "If you've posted below with your details ... I will be in
contact with you with a solution to fix it."
Walsh also suggested the fix in question was "quite simple
really."
Watson wrote: "The creators of the unsupported tool are a
clever bunch, and wanted to get a timely fix created for customers who have put
their phones into this state. ... we will work
with them to validate their solution and applaud the team for taking
responsibility to do this."
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