If you're a Windows Phone 7 owner, you're likely a little annoyed at Microsoft this month because you haven't received the "NoDo" update for your phone yet. Today, we have good news for you.
Chris Walsh, one of the original hackers who put together "ChevronWP7," the first Windows Phone homebrew solution has pulled apart the Windows Phone Upgrade "Support Tools" which were made available online today. The tool attempts to help troubleshoot failed updates on devices, and can even "unbrick" phones.
Chris has discovered a way to update any phone running Windows Phone 7 to any version of the software that is publicaly released by Microsoft. The tool helps get around waiting for carriers, and allows those with any device to update, even if tied to a carrier such as AT&T (who are still "testing" both the February and March updates). The tool allows you to flash any update, provided it has been made available by Microsoft, and allows the user to update any device, no matter what the carrier is.
According to Chris, "All you need to do is run the ChevronWP7.Updater.exe console app and follow the prompts." Sounds pretty easy. Neowin is yet to test the procedure, but we're confident it works from feedback we've gotten. It's worth noting that if you're updating from the RTM build (7004), you'll need to do the process twice, once for the February update, and once for the March update.
The tool is now available in Chris' post, at this link. Flash at your own risk, there's no going back. The full source for the application will be available tomorrow.
Let us know if the update process works for you!
Update: Good news, the update process retains all save games, and does not delete any data from the device.
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