“How to: Overclock the Nokia N900 - PhoneReport”

How to: Overclock the Nokia N900 - PhoneReport

Posted: 04 Apr 2010 06:23 AM PDT

The Nokia N900 was proven to be capable of being overclocked to up to 1GHz clockspeed. Most experts, including engineers from Nokia and TI, and PhoneReport itself, do not advise this hack. The guide should be used as an educational insight on how this is achieved.

Processors are limited to a certain clockspeed by certified engineers who test their limits in terms of stability and temperature. Computer enthusiasts, mainly gamers, attempt to overclock processors in order to play games with more advanced graphics, or simply to take their computers to the "next level". The same is now being done on several mobile phones, and the Nokia N900, with its Linux-based Maemo operating system, offers a gateway to modify its internal settings.

Experts on Maemo forums have discovered ways to gradually overclock the N900. Once again, many don't advise N900 owners to do so, as it could potentially "brick" the handset. Some users at the forum report that PlayStation emulators and certain games ran quite well while the N900 was overclocked, while others actually seriously damaged their units.

In order to overclock the Nokia N900, one would have to reflash it with another kernel. The following kernels are available: 825MHz, 800MHz, 750MHz, 700MHz, and 600MHz.

One of the experts also provided important information on the kernels:

1. They will make the about page say <unknown> for the hardware and software.
2. There is an additional speed step down from 250mhz. So instead of 250mhz idle it now sits @ 125mhz idle with lower voltage.
125/250/500/550/xxx
instead of
250/500/550/600

3. You're sacrificing machine lifetime by running it overclocked and stressing it at 100% for longer periods of time.

4. Everything will feel faster and is faster.

5. The fastest kernels might not work on your phone, this is purely down to luck of how good chip you've got in your phone. Climate affects it also along with many other variables.

How to flash the Nokia N900:

Make sure the battery is full.
The Maemo SDK must be installed. Download it here.
The kernel file must be in the same folder as the Maemo folder. On Windows it is usually at "C:/Program Files/Maemo/Flash3.5".
The phone must be put into update mode: switch it off, press and hold 'u' in USB cable, and then run Maemo flasher as admin.
Run the command "flasher-3.5.exe -k zImage-800mhz -f -R" where "zImage-800mhz" will depend on the name of the relevant kernel.
To reverse it, type "apt-get --reinstall install kernel kernel-flasher" on the N900's terminal (command line).

PhoneReport assumes no responsibility over broken or damaged devices. This is a dangerous modification which may seriously damage the handset.