New Symbian (S60v3, S60v5 and Anna) Hacking Method – Dr.Web Anti-Virus App Workaround

Update – Unfortunately this method is not working in Nokia Belle phones, so if you are looking to hack a Symbian mobile having Belle then please refer to this new post (Nokia 808 PureView hack is described in this post). The following method works perfectly in Anna and older Symbian phones.

In a recent post I described “Flashing the phone with a hacked uda” to hack Symbian^3 phones. However a new Symbian hacking method emerged recently which is very easy and simple (no flashing or custom uda required thus no risk of dead phone). Actually this method utilizes the all capability (system read/write access) credentials of an antivirus app to copy the three .ldd files (ROM Patcher driver files) inside C:/sys/bin folder. ROMPatcher hacks the phone with the help of these files (only if the files are present in C:/sys/bin).
Anyway, exactly follow the steps given below to hack any Symbian phone (S60v3, S60v5 and Symbian Anna) –

1. If you have memory card as “E:/” drive in your phone (as in older phones without mass storage memory) or if there is only Mass memory and no memory card inserted in new phones – then download this file (zip archive)
However, if your phone has mass memory and memory card as well (memory card will become “F:/” drive in newer phones like N8) then download this zip file
Remember that the zip file MUST be chosen according to the phone (whether memory card is “E” or “F” drive in your phone).

2. Extract the zip file in PC and open the folder named “Private” (that is inside the zip file). Copy the entire folder “20024113” (that is inside “Private”).

3. Connect the phone with PC (using data cable) in “Mass Storage Mode“. Make sure that DO NOT connect the phone in Nokia Ovi Suite mode plus make sure that neither Nokia PC Suite nor Nokia Suite is running when you connect the phone with PC (because system folders can not be accessed in these modes). Alternatively you may also connect the Memory card with PC via a card reader.

4. Now go to My Computer and open memory card connected to PC (make sure that you are opening memory card and not mass memory in new phones). Now find and open the “Private” folder and paste the above copied “20024113” folder inside it. Now disconnect the phone (or memory card) from PC. If you don’t see “Private” folder in memory card then enable the “Show hidden and System files” option in your PC. If there is no “Private” folder still then create it yourself in the root of Memory Card.

5. Download Dr. Web Anti-virus app from here and install it (select Memory card as the installation location). Run Dr. Web app from menu (cancel the warning) and go to “Options/Quarantine“. Select all three files in Quarantine via “Options/Select All”. Now select “Options/Restore”. Exit Dr.Web

6. Download ROMPatcher+(signed) from here and install it in the phone. Launch ROMPatcher from menu and go to “Options/All Patches/Apply”. On selecting “Apply” the installed patches will become activated.
Bingo! Now your phone is hacked and you can install any unsigned app plus have full access to system folders (read/write to sys/private) via X-plore etc. No need of any damn certificate/key…….. R.I.P. SymbianSigned!!!

However these patches will become deactivated on restarting the phone. If you want to make them permanently “activated” then launch ROM Patcher and go to Options and select “Add to auto” to all the patches one by one.This method is applicable to all Symbian 3rd, 5th ed, Symbian^3 and Symbian Anna phones (but not Belle). You can uninstall Dr. Web app after the process is over. Also note that doing a Hard reset/format will un-hack the phone and you will have to repeat the process again.
For any help or problem feel free to comment and do share your experience here.

UPDATE (1) - It looks like that in older E series phones the above method is not working as good as in newer 5th ed and Symbian^3 devices. Some possible solutions include -
1. Format/hard reset the phone and try again
2. Update the phone to the latest available firmware and then try the hacking method again

UPDATE (2) - If your phone is still giving error during unsigned app installation after successfully applying the above hack (or red cross appears in ROM Patcher on applying the patch) then download this file (contains hacked installservers for all S60 versions) and extract the contents. Now select and copy the correct “installserver.exe” (according to your phone) and paste in phone’s C:/sys/bin folder (use X-plore to do this). Restart the phone and done.

By Symbian hacking we generally mean – full read/write access to system folders and ability to install any unsigned app without any certificate or other error. Besides, many advanced mods are possible only in a hacked phone.

If the above hack does not work for you anyhow then try these similar hacks (described in this post).