[K3]Solution to being stuck on 3.09 or 4.10 firmware.-*may* also be a fix if bricked.

[Sab0o]

Hello all

As you may or may not know, firmwares versions 3.09 and 4.10 once installed will not allow you to change the firmware version by any normal means.

I expect you all to have read at least the first post of the HOWTO : Upgrade Firmware (K3) thread before reading this so you at least have a basic idea of the manual firmware updating procedure. Page 6 of this thread is where i first heard of tcctool. It may be helpful to read it. I have tried to put all the information there in this thread.

The only way to change your firmware version once you're on version 3.09 or 4.10 is to use Dave Chapman's tcctool.


tcctool is basically drivers for the K3 when it is in recovery mode.

Here is a simple outline of what you need to do:
1. Plug in your K3 and set it to recovery mode (Hold the power switch and press the pin-hole reset button on the back)
2. Install tcctool as the recovery mode drivers. You do NOT need to uninstall the Samsung drivers. They are comepletely irrelevant to this procedure. - Though if you're switching to a UMS version yuo might as well
3. Use tcctool.exe to boot a firmware version that is lower than the one you would like to install (you may have to copy tcctool.exe in to windows/system32 to use it. Look down a bit for the command you have to use and how to use it.
4. The K3 will boot into this firmware in USB mode. Copy the .rom and .img of the firmware you would like to install to your K3's root directory.
5. Set your K3 back to recovery mode and boot the old firmware again, but this time as soon as it shows the Samsung logo - take out the USB wire. This will cause it to boot the new firmware, but not in to USB mode, thereby causing it to detect the firmware on it's drive and install it.
6. 'Upgrading firmware' Message. Congrats.


Long instructions:
To install tcctool as your K3's recovery mode drivers (Windows XP - I have never used Vista):
1. Download tcctool-win32.zip.
2. Extract the folder tcctool to anywhere on your computer.
3. Plug your K3 in to your computer via USB.
4. Set your K3 to recovery mode by holding the power on button down and the pressing the pin-hole reset button on the back. A "New Hardware found" window should appear on your computer.
5. Install tcctool as it's drivers. In the new hardware found window choose; search selected folder for drivers. Select the tcctool folder you just extracted. Click next.

tcctool should now be installed.

once tcctool is installed as explained above put tcctool.exe from tcctool-win32.zip into your Windows/system32 directory (so you can access it via Start->Run)

note: It seems that you can't install the firmware version that is already booted. So you have to find and older version to boot first.
Now you can boot any .rom file onto your K3 temporarily (until it's turned off) by running this command from Start->Run. E.g.

tcctool -d ypk3 YPK3.rom

Where YPK3.rom is whatever the firmware file is located on your hard drive.
for example, put your YPK3.rom into your computer's C drive (in no folder AKA 'root directory') and type

tcctool -d ypk3 C:\YPK3.rom

the K3 will show the Samsung logo and boot into the chosen firmware.

You now want to boot your 'old' firmware. i.e. older than the firmware you wish to upgrade to (but not necessarily older than your current firmware):
If you are stuck on 3.09 and want to install a UMS version, boot firmware version 4.03.
If you are stuck on 4.10 and want to install a MTP version, boot firmware version 3.05. (or lower? if you want to end up with version 3.05 instead of 3.09)


Open the K3's disc If it asks to format - it probably will - format as FAT32, default allocation size, quick format probably doesn't matter, I didn't.

Copy your desired firmware .rom on to it along with it's .img file. e.g. 4.06/4.10 for UMS OR 3.05/3.09 for MTP. (copy them to it's root directory)

Once you have done this, set your K3 back in to recovery mode (by holding the on switch down and pressing reset) and boot your 'old' rom again using the "tcctool -d ypk3 YPK3.rom" command.
Pull the USB cable out as soon as Samsung logo appears. This will cause it to boot the new firmware, but not in to USB mode, thereby causing it to detect the firmware on it's drive and install it.
You should get the upgrading firmware message and then it should turn off.

Congratulations! You've beaten Samsung's evil plot to stop you from changing firmware version!

Special thanks to MarvinM and Dave Chapman.

Let me know if I've missed anything or if you have any suggestions on how to make this post easier to understand.

[CrowdAds]

[MarvinM]

This method should also work for bricked k3's, can the title of the post be changed?

You could also stress that 3.09 will not work as the 'old' firmware used to boot.

Do the samsung drivers interfere with MTP>4.xx upgrades? If not it may be worth stressing not to uninstall, it isn't required to run the recovery mode drivers and that's not what I thought when first trying tcctool.

Excellent work!

[sassafras]

Nice guide. Stuck

[Sab0o]

Cool, sticky, thanks.

MarvinM, I've made it a little clearer about 'old' firmware.

[johnh]

I seem to have totally screwed up my player.

I used the 4.03 firmware to use for the tcctool command line option which appeared to have worked.

I formatted the drive and copied the 4.10 .img and .rom files to the root of the drive.

Now in step 5 I'm not sure what I'm supposed to do here:

"5. Set your K3 back to recovery mode and boot the old firmware again, but this time as soon as it shows the Samsung logo - take out the USB wire. This will cause it to boot the new firmware, but not in to USB mode, thereby causing it to detect the firmware on it's drive and install it."

I've got the USB plugged in. I hold down the power and push in and release the reset button on the back. I then release the power button. At this point, the screen is kind of dark.

It doesn't appear to reboot. Is there something I have to do to get it to 'boot the new firmware'? If I unplug the USB then all I get is blank bright screen once it's booted.

[Sab0o]

use this command again:
tcctool -d ypk3 YPK3.rom

[johnh]

Oh so then I'm actually doing an update twice? Once from 3.09 to 4.03 and then to 4.10.
I'll give it a try.

Thanks.

[Sab0o]

no, you are booting into 4.03, using 4.03 to put the install files for 4.10 on the K3's drive, then booting into 4.03 again, but pulling the usb wire out as it boots, so that it boots into normal mode (not usb) and detects the 4.10 install files and installs them.

[The Dreamix]

Thanks. It's perfect.

[DAVEYRAVEYGRAVEY]

Yay, now if only i could get my left audio channel working (i took it apart for nothing) Thanks for the guide. it worked!

[shwetanshu]

my keys are not working... everytime i have to switch on k3 i have to press the reset button... but after that also touchpad does not work... only lock touchpad key work... i have followed all the steps mentioned here... what to do??

[Sab0o]

You'll have to give more details and try to make more sense if you want some help.

What firmware version are you on, and when did this start happening?

[microsoftsux]

can somebody please share 3.05 firmware?

[microsoftsux]

Please help me!
I think I screwed my k3.
I could not find the 3.05 firmware so I first booted k3 using 4.03 in recovery mode and then installed French 1.04 (coz it said any older) and it showed the firmware upgrade. But now when I switch on my K3 there are no graphics and even when I connect it to computer for firmware upgrade, the computer fails to find drivers for the MTP.

The device got converted from UMS (4.10) to MTP (1.04) but its not being installed in computer saying "A service installation in this INF is invalid" and the drivers are not installed. I am stuck and can't use it now.

Somebody please help.

[Sab0o]

I don't know a lot about MTP versions, and I can't really understand why anyone would want to use one, but if you can still boot in to recovery mode you should be able to use the guide to go back to a UMS version - or make another attempt at installing 1.04. (maybe try 3.09?)

[gagnon_n]

my yp-k5 freeze during boot,... and not recognize by pc,,, maybe tcctool should be fix to add yp-k5 on it,,

[microsoftsux]

I got my problem solved! There was some problem with windows media player 11. It wasn't working. I reinstalled windows and everything is fine now. And success fully updated firmware from 1.04 to 3.05!

Thanks a lot!

[shwetanshu]

just sent my k3 for repairing.... they said that mainboard was at fault... they will replace the mainboard.... they idnt have that part and it will take a week's time to send it back to me!!

no music on the go for a week... sigh!!

well, sometime K3 wont switch on, so i just used to push the reset buton in and then use it... but one dy while listening to FM, it hung.. i tried switching it off, but it didnt, evn reset button didnt work... somehow switched it on thru this tut an backed up my music collection and then sent it for repairing!!

[The Dreamix]

I have a problem. I have at present the firmware 4.10 but every time I want to switch on my K3 I have to press at first on the reset button.

[Sab0o]

The Dreamix:

Sounds like a hardware problem. You should probably see if you're still under warranty or something.

You could still try reinstalling/ installing a different firmware version, just follow the guide as if you're stuck on 3.09.