Recovering the N900 phone lock code...

If you forgot your phone lock code or bought the N900 second-hand and can't seem to locate the seller to ask for the phone lock code. You can now get the phone lock code quickly without sending your phone to a service center.

Before you can follow the instructions below, you will need to access the N900's terminal shall and be able to access root privileges. This can be done by running the Application Manager and installing an application called "rootsh".

You will also need a tool on your computer (I assume you are using Ubuntu) called "John the Ripper", go to a terminal shell and type:

$ sudo apt-get install -y john

On your N900, go to the terminal shell and type in the following:

$ sudo gainroot

# echo root:$(grep -A 13 lock_code /dev/mtd1|tail -1): > /home/user/MyDocs/phone_lock_hash


This will create a file called "phone_lock_hash" at path /home/user/MyDocs which you will need to transfer to your Ubuntu computer where "John the Ripper" is installed. The easiest way to transfer the file is to use the USB cable provided and plug the N900 to your computer in "Mass storage mode". You will find the file "phone_lock_hash" in the "Nokia N900" storage device.

Once you've copied the file, you can then start brute forcing the password. Again, go into a terminal shell and type:

$ john -i:digits phone_lock_hash

Depending on the length of the password and the speed of the processor used, it can take anywhere from a split second to a few hours to crack the hash. The "-i:digits" tells the tool to only use numerical digits since the phone only accepts numerical input for the password (this speeds up the brute force process).

Getting to the root of things...

To do most things on the N900, you will need to have root access for your device. Unlike other devices on the market, you need not do anything fancy or risky to your phone. Just run the built-in Application Manager and install an application called "rootsh".

Once the application is installed, just go to terminal shell (I run the built-in application called "X Terminal") and type:

sudo gainroot

You will notice the prompt changes from a "$" (user access) to a "#" (root access). You now have the power to make the device great or to break it.

The phone that could...

This is my first post on my new blog called "Life with Maemo" which is about my Maemo 5 based Nokia N900. Though the blog is called "Life with Maemo" I will be blogging mainly on Maemo 5.

The N900 is a unique device which I simply describe as a "computer with phone functionality". It is great the way Nokia made it to be and is then made even greater by the many linux developers and open source communities who port many great software to the Maemo 5 platform (you can find the mostly concentrated at talk.maemo.org).

I will post random things about the N900 in this blog as I use and experience this wonderful device. That said, I can safely say that I will focus mostly on the few games and security related stuff that I use and experience daily on my N900. I have prepared quite a few things to post here and have slowly been writing articles since October 2010 and will now post them on this blog.

See you in my next post...