Topic: Got a new phone..

[iPPi]

I got the Sony Ericcson k790a this weekend and I love it.  Absolutely slick, with a 3.2 MP camera and the ability to play videos and listen to music.  Just waiting for the free 1GB card to come in and I'll be able to listen to more music.

Anyway, one problem that is bugging me though.  I can't get the k790 to use mp3s as ringtones.  I'm reading somewhere that the k790 has DRM stuff, and I'm not familiar with that crap.

Is there a way to get mp3 ringtones working on this phone?

[Pugnate]

I have the k800i... same thing except it is 3G so has two cameras for video conferencing. And yes you can use mp3s as ringtones! Go to the file manager thingee and find an mp3 you want to use as a ringtone and check its properties. The option to use as a ring tone is there.

And it is a great phone, with a lovely screen. The games are pretty decent too.

[iPPi]

When I try what you've said pug, the Use-as submenu is all grayed out.  I can't use it as a ringtone, alarm signal, message alert, or contact ID.  They're all grayed out.

[Pugnate]

My music is stored on the mem stick, I wonder if that makes a difference. Shouldn't though. Also my friend has the K790 and he has the exact same functions incl. the mp3 ring tone usage.

Anyway:

Click FILE MANAGER and then go to the MP3 folder. Find a file you want to use and click the select button on MORE.

You should see the following:

SEND ---->
USE AS --->
MANAGE FILE --->
NEW FOLDER ---->
DELETE
MARK --->

Under USE AS the options I see are RINGTONE, ALARM SIGNAL, MESSAGE ALERT and CONTACT RINGTONE.

What do you see greyed out?

Also have you tried updating the firmware? It is really easy with this. Click SETTINGS and under GENERAL there should be UPDATE SERVICE. Your phone will automatically set your internet to work, so try updating?

Oh and when your phone is connected to the comp., you can't change anything via the phone.

[Pugnate]

I think I figured out your issue. Is your phone locked? The K790i/K800i are unlocked but the K790a are normally distributed by cellular providers and they lock the phones so they are restricted to only their service. Plus to protect themselves they implement this DRM crap.

Solution is to just get a fresh clean firmware installed and should solve everything. Plus it won't affect your current service, though you should make a 100% sure.

edit:

Just did some checking on the K790a and it is indeed locked for some reason. The good news is you can just install a clean SONY firmware and should function normally.

[iPPi]

I found a Sony DRM packager.  I think I can use it to DRM package some of my short sound clips as ringtones and it should work.

I don't really want to go through the trouble of flashing my phone with new firmware and stuff unless absolutely necessary.  I'm gonna try that DRM packager right now and see if it works.

[iPPi]

Got it working with the DRM Packager.  Though, drag and dropping the files into the phone don't work.  Have to 'transfer' them to get it to work properly.  Kinda retarded.  Oh well, just an extra step to get mp3 ringtones working .

[JacksRag(e)]

Welcome to SE family, heh.  I just got a w850 recently.  It's great.

[iPPi]

I've always liked SE phones.  I used to use a SE t616, and then I switched to Nokia 6620 for 2 years, and now I'm back to SE again

[Pugnate]

Yea my last three phones have been SE ones. I'd say Nokia has them on durability though.

[beo]

yeah, my last couple of phones have been SE's. they're great for functionality, size, battery life, etc - but a couple of buttons fell off of my last one, so i'm inclined to agree with pug on the durability thing.

[Cobra951]

I just got an LG VX8300 from Verizon.  Added to my mom's plan, which included a free upgrade to this phone, and 2 for the price of one (so we both have one now).  This is my 1st cell phone, and I am lost, as you may imagine.  I can make calls, that's easy.  It's all the fancy functionality that is going to take me a while to sort out.  This thing takes microSD memory cards, a format I didn't know existed.  Also, I'm wondering what it's going to take to play music.  It supports WMA, which I can deal with, but I don't think I can plug in a standard headphones.  (2.5 mm to 3.5 mm adapter needed, with 4 connectors???)  Whole new world for me.  I was able to take a couple of pictures, but video and browsing are still future projects.

[Quemaqua]

I have this magical phone that's plugged into my wall.  It hasn't many features, but it's easy to run away from, and I've never been fond of talking to people.

EDIT - You know, I should really ban myself for trolling.

[Cobra951]

Haha!  That's OK.  It gives me an excuse to post some more about it.  Damn thing's a hidden-cost trap.  I have to be careful not to use some items in the menus, or the meter starts running.  There's no easy way to transfer music, and an undocumented way of enabling MP3s has been plugged up.  It's a cool gadget regardless, especially for the money (none, outside of monthly charges, which are not bad at all for 2 people/phones).  I will take on the challenge of figuring out WMAs at least.

[iPPi]

Yea those cell phone plans and stuff get expensive if you start doing extra stuff.  I try and stay away from anything that requires a connection to the cellular network and that'll keep you out of extra charges (except for making calls and stuff).

I just transfer music via USB cable, or Bluetooth.

[Pugnate]

Cell phone rates are crazy expensive in North America... like insanely. I'd say they are 25% more expensive than most of the world.

[sirean_syan]

I have the almost the same phone as Que. My favorite feature is it has this invisible wire between it and the wall. It doesn't go as far as a cell phone, but I can walk around an apartment with it. Plus, it gives me two headsets with one phone connection, so we can put one in the bedroom even though there's no phone jack in there. It's awesome.

[Cobra951]

My brother has a USB/bluetooth "dongle" he uses to connect his phone to his PC.  I'll be giving that a try.  I can get a USB cable, but a lot of people seem to have problems with that.  Another approach is a memory card & card reader.  For any practical amount of music, I'll need one of those microSD cards.  I need an adapter for normal headphones too.  The costs of peripherals here is going to rack up.  It may not be worth it.

[iPPi]

Yea my Nokida 6620 would not talk to my PC at all whenever I tried to hook it up.  Poor software support on Nokia's part.

But with this new SE I got, it acts like a USB memory stick.  Good stuff.

[Cobra951]

OK, finally got there from here.  I got a 512MB microSD card which came with a full-sized SD adapter.  Works fine in my little USB card reader, so I created the requisite folder, and dumped some WMAs & MP3s into it, expecting only the WMAs to work in the phone.  To my surprise (yay!) the MP3s worked too.  The Verizon "music essentials" kit was not bad at $30, since it includes decent earbuds and a USB cable, plus software and n00b-soothing lit.  I'm ready for BitPim now too.  (Bluetooth is not an option with this phone.  Verizon has made it useless for file transfers.  Self-serving bastards.)