[Focus General] EnderPsp:
Feb 2012: This guide is somewhat obsolete now, because of WindowsBreak project. A simpler unlock guide is in posted here and a complete unlock + Internet Sharing guide is here.

I did this guide as I didn't find a complete noob guide, up to date and with all links in one place.

Noob friendly unlock and update to Mango (keeping Chevron unlock) how-to

Prequisites and must read/understand before proceeding:

Zune 4.7 might be needed, I'm not sure 4.8 works. Uninstall 4.8 and install 4.7 if unsure (and don't update it).

Micro SD card

: If you want to install a micro SD card, you have to do it

before

step 2 (recommended after flashing 7004 - step 1). Also recommended to format the card beforehand with FAT32 (32K or 64K clusters). Then hard reset the phone from Settings/About/"Reset your phone" or the 3 buttons combo (see Focus wiki). When a new micro SD card is added, the phone requests a hardware reset to recognize it and properly work.

Flashing

: doesn't affect in any way phone's functioning as long as it's not interrupted in mid process or the phone doesn't have a hardware fault. Recommended to flash the phone on a laptop or a PC+UPS. You can backup your current firmware so you can restore if needed. Flashing, downgrading, upgrading firmware etc does not affect

Network Unlock

. Once your phone is unlocked to any network, it will remain so, regardless of flashing firmware.

Remember, if you

hard reset

(in Mango - or any WP7 OS version), you will lose Chevron unlock (ability to deploy XAPs) and to get it again you will have to re-do all the unlock process above.

You can use hard reset to revert to "factory" settings ;)

Optional: To deploy XAPs, Windows Phone Developer Tools is no longer a requirement (about 3 GB). W.I.N.C.O.'s mini SDK WP7 is a smaller solution (4 mb instead of 3 GB - see point 3 below.)

0. (optional) Backup your current firmware, PC program and steps read here.

1. Flash AT&T or Rogers ROMs (7004) from this thread (note: 1st post links no longer valid, new links here)

Personally I recommend Rogers, as it's cleaner: doesn't have the AT&T apps & customization/logo etc. If you're unsure how to do ROM flashing, read my post here (I referenced AT&T "Cetus" ROM there, so replace "Cetus_ATT" with "Rogers").

1b. (optional) Add the micro SD card and do a hard reset (Settings/About, press "Reset your phone"). For compatibility, read this thread or the Focus wiki.

2. Unlock with Chevron, program, steps and video tutorial here

2b.

Please note:

the Chevron certificate has expired on 25 November 2011. To still be able to use it do this: mail the certificate to yourself. Open it on the mail in the phone, click on the certificate and when the "shield" appears, close it, don't install it. This just insures that the certificate has been downloaded to the phone, so you won't need internet connection to install it later. Now, disconnect the PC from internet, and set the date on PC prior to 25 Nov 2011. Then, set the same date on the phone and put the phone in Airplane mode. Then, install the Chevron certificate. After this, reconnect the PC to Internet and use Chevron to unlock.

3. To deploy (install) XAPs, download and install W.I.N.C.O.'s mini SDK WP7 and then wXapAssistant

3b. Optional/alternate method of 3): if you already installed Windows Phone SDK, you can use Phone7Market on PC from here to deploy XAPs. Once installed, in the folder you have "wp7-deploy.exe" which you can use to deploy/install XAPs, ie wp7-deploy.exe full_path_to_XAP\XAP.XAP, as in:

wp7-deploy.exe C:\WP7\New_SMS_Unlock.xap

4. Immediately after unlocking, install and run Samsung Tools from here, to prevent relock

Check all checkboxes and reset.

4b. (optional) In Dialer, dial ##634# , this should open Diagnosis v929 (just for checking)

5. Install WP7 Root Tools from here

6. Deploy New_SMS_Unlock.xap from here

7. Run WP7 Root Tools on the phone, and in Explorer tab, create a folder "provxml" in the root directory. Now go inside "Applications" subfolder, then inside "Install" subfolder and locate folder "D19A....". Inside, find the "unlock.xml" file. Tap and hold and press "Copy". Then navigate back to "provxml" folder you created, go inside and press "Paste", and see if you have the "unlock.xml" file in it.

Please note: you won't be able to see the "unlock" option in Diagnosis by typing *#9908# until Mango (Rogers) or NoDo/Mango (AT&T).

8. Connect the phone in Zune and update the phone all the way to Mango (7720/7740/later). Keep in mind that if you do this with Zune 4.7 you will have to update to Zune 4.8 now to be able to sync. That's ok.

9. In Mango, uninstall Diagnosis app (if you installed it).

10. Open Diagnosis again by typing ##634# in Dialer. When in Diagnosis type *#9908# . Select "unlock" (should be the last item) and press "Save". It should say "Loading GPRS..."and you can exit Diagnosis.

10.b (optional) If you want to be extra sure, you can re-do step 4 again for good measure.

Congratulations, you are now unlocked in Mango!

Important:

In case something happens and your phone gets re-locked, just run only step 10+10b and you will be unlocked again.

Optionally, you can do Interop unlock, read here. Alternatively, you can enable Internet Sharing+Interop unlock (2 in 1, in the file "DiagProvXMLv0.91_IS.xap") from here (run "DiagProvXMLv0.91_IS.xap", go to "iso store" tab, press and hold "Interop Unlock" then press and hold "Internet Sharing"). You will also need to deploy a fix for the 3G: "Samsung Repair 3G by Heathcliff74.xap" from here if you do Internet Sharing.

This has been tested to work on AT&T and Rogers Focus with hardware revision 1.3, might work in 1.4.

To check what hardware revision you have, either look under the battery or check my post/thread here.

Don't forget to press Thanks on the original tool/thread poster!