Nokia 3310 Spy Phone Mod

The Nokia 3310, also known as "3310" is a mobile phone designed by the Denmark based Nokia Corporation. It became the most popular phone after 2000, and almost everyone throughout the world had one. It had leading edge innovations such as voice recognition dialling and quick type SMS messaging. It was also one of the earliest ones to start the case customisation trend, which began a huge industry for accessories.

This phone has a hidden feature known as "Network Monitor", which displays the network transmitters in the vicinity and their signal strength. It has a small 48-pixel × 84 pixel liquid crystal display (LCD) panel that had very low power consumption. Consequently, his phone could operate for many days on a single charge. This phone was a mass-manufactured product, and on eBay, you could pick one up for as little as five to ten pounds. It was a commonly used phone and chances are that you might already have one stored away somewhere.

The Spy Phone Modification

The Nokia 3310 spy phone modification allows it to take itself off the hook and automatically accept an incoming call. The firmware modification also disables the ring tone so that an incoming call is silent. During this time, the display is blank giving the impression that the phone is OFF.

MBus and FBus Cables and Ports

The MBus and FBus are independent communication buses for transferring data between the phone and a host computer. Each bus has a dedicated cable and only one cable connects at any one time. The data port is behind the battery; therefore, a special battery holder on the cable enables the connection of the battery simultaneously. In this extensive multiple page article, the following pages will show how to build the circuits to interface with these ports.

Software

Some of the basic software is already available through the NokiX project, which provides customization updates to the firmware such as adding a calendar, world clock, and call duration information features.

Basic Steps Involved in Flashing the Phone

Applying updates to the firmware requires reading the firmware and saving it to a file on a PC. Then the firmware is patched using special software, which adds the necessary extra features to it. Then flash the patched firmware back into the phone. I have been able to boil it down to a few steps shown in the menu sequence.

Firmware Update

Firmware updates for the Nokia 3310 are unlikely to be available because it would require a special data cable, which is no longer produced and difficult to find.

The Flashing Cable

Since the data cable was not readily available, I decided to find another way to connect to the Nokia 3310 data port. Initially I had it connected to an oscilloscope with temporary probes but later I decided to solder a thin plastic ribbon cable, which could fold over from under the battery. You can see how I did this in the Nokia Port Mod article. It turned out to be a very useful mod and I ended up learning ARM programming -- for educational purposes of course.

I saw some data cables on eBay; however, they are for single bus communication, which is just enough to change the logo, screen saver image, and ring tone. However, you cannot change the firmware with that. These cables were available on eBay for £2.00 at one time.

g3n0lite v2.0.exe

For the Spy Phone modification, I had to find a software file called g3n0lite v2.0.exe on Google. This file, together with a set of scripts will modify the firmware file. This file is not on this site, and this article focuses on the hardware and electronics required to interface a Nokia 3310 to a PC, and thereby flash its firmware.

Skills Required

This project requires excellent soldering skills, knowledge of electronics, basic tools, and some downloaded software.

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