Pre Died..can I swap my ESN to another phone?

**mranieri** · 07/21/2011, 08:17 AM

My Pre Minus just died (screen stopped responding) and I was looking on Ebay for another until the 3 comes out..anyway, there are a few Pre's with Bad ESN's . Is it possible to take my ESN and move it to another? Is it as simple as switching out the comm board?

I have had my pre apart several times to fix various issues ( loose screws, volume control, power button) but never really knew what boards did what.

Any advice would be appreciated.

**sledge007** · 07/21/2011, 08:54 AM

I'm pretty sure the answer is no you can't. ESN's are registered to devices for a reason so you can't steal someone else's phone and use it and so if you decide to not pay your bill, the carrier can lock it down. I would keep looking around eBay, I've seen a lot of Pres there.

http://www.ebay.com/ctg/Palm-Pre-8GB...=p3286.c0.m14#

**Greg Mair** · 07/21/2011, 09:27 AM

Yes its very easy. Simply take every from your phone and put it into the other one with the working screen and you are done. Theres nothing crazy about it. Since you have taken the Pre apart many times this should be easy for you.

Best of luck.

**mranieri** · 07/21/2011, 10:18 AM

Originally Posted by sledge007

I'm pretty sure the answer is no you can't. ESN's are registered to devices for a reason so you can't steal someone else's phone and use it and so if you decide to not pay your bill, the carrier can lock it down. I would keep looking around eBay, I've seen a lot of Pres there.

Palm | eBay

Thanks for the link but I am not willing to spend more than 50 bucks on a phone I will hopefully be replacing in a few months.

**mranieri** · 07/21/2011, 10:21 AM

Originally Posted by Greg Mair

Yes its very easy. Simply take every from your phone and put it into the other one with the working screen and you are done. Theres nothing crazy about it. Since you have taken the Pre apart many times this should be easy for you.

Best of luck.

I thought I remember reading that that was all there was to it but wasn't sure. My only concern is that it is not the screen but another part that failed ( motherboard maybe?)

Do you know which piece is actually the Com unit? When I open mine, there is a board behind the keyboard and then another behind the screen ( under battery) do you know if both would need to be swapped?

**bevcraw** · 07/21/2011, 10:21 AM

<<thread moved>>

**KJBlauw** · 07/21/2011, 11:02 AM

the esn is tied to the comm board. You can very easily do a comm board swap and you are done. No activtivation needed as long as the original pre is already activated.

a quick search about comm board swaps should give you many results from these forums.

I would recommend looking into doing a swap with a pre + as it is nearly the same process, with the additional step of some software tinkering. But again, all of the info you need is in these forums

**mranieri** · 07/21/2011, 11:10 AM

Originally Posted by KJBlauw

the esn is tied to the comm board. You can very easily do a comm board swap and you are done. No activtivation needed as long as the original pre is already activated.

a quick search about comm board swaps should give you many results from these forums.

I would recommend looking into doing a swap with a pre + as it is nearly the same process, with the additional step of some software tinkering. But again, all of the info you need is in these forums

Got it...Thanks

**ArchonAdvisors** · 07/21/2011, 11:10 AM

Palm Pre 2 (Unlocked) - eBay (item 280712464033 end time Jul-21-11 08:41:16 PDT)

There's a cheap pre2 on ebay if you can nab it before time is up. Then you swap the comm boards like people are saying.

If you can grab that, then you've got yourself an upgrade for a steal to boot!

**JoshLitwiller** · 07/21/2011, 11:11 AM

The ESN is encoded on to the comm board, so if you swap your comm board into another Pre, that new Pre will have your old ESN. Your provider won't even know the difference.

The comm board is very easy to find. Remove the battery cover and look at the back side. The comm board is now visible, just below the battery. (Not below as in, take out the battery and the comm board is underneath; below as in look at the battery, then look down a bit.) If you go to Main Page - WebOS Internals and click on the "Sprint Pre 2" link at the top, that article has a great photo guide to removing a comm board. Pay particular attention to step 13 when you're putting things back together.

If you're just moving the board from on Pre- to another, you can ignore all the instructions about creating a meta-doctor. Just run the standard WebOS doctor to get the Pre back to factory default once you've done the comm board swap.

**ArchonAdvisors** · 07/21/2011, 11:25 AM

Originally Posted by JoshLitwiller

If you're just moving the board from on Pre- to another, you can ignore all the instructions about creating a meta-doctor. Just run the standard WebOS doctor to get the Pre back to factory default once you've done the comm board swap.

Interesting, how about for a Pre- to Pre+ conversion these days? Is manually copying token files and such still a part of the process? Apparently you don't need to worry about it when upgrading to a Pre2.

**mranieri** · 07/21/2011, 11:26 AM

Thanks guys....much appreciated!

**ArchonAdvisors** · 07/21/2011, 11:31 AM

Sure thing. Let us know how you make out!

**ToniCipriani** · 07/21/2011, 11:31 AM

Originally Posted by JoshLitwiller

The ESN is encoded on to the comm board, so if you swap your comm board into another Pre, that new Pre will have your old ESN. Your provider won't even know the difference.

The comm board is very easy to find. Remove the battery cover and look at the back side. The comm board is now visible, just below the battery. (Not below as in, take out the battery and the comm board is underneath; below as in look at the battery, then look down a bit.) If you go to Main Page - WebOS Internals and click on the "Sprint Pre 2" link at the top, that article has a great photo guide to removing a comm board. Pay particular attention to step 13 when you're putting things back together.

If you're just moving the board from on Pre- to another, you can ignore all the instructions about creating a meta-doctor. Just run the standard WebOS doctor to get the Pre back to factory default once you've done the comm board swap.

Actually you can't. You still need to rewrite the tokens to the right serial numbers and calibrations.

And I agree with the other guys... while you're at it might as well swap it to a Pre Plus or Pre 2. I've seen bad ESN Verizon Pre Pluses going for 70 bucks for two. Rebuild one and keep the other as spares.

**KJBlauw** · 07/21/2011, 11:34 AM

Originally Posted by sq5

Interesting, how about for a Pre- to Pre+ conversion these days? Is manually copying token files and such still a part of the process? Apparently you don't need to worry about it when upgrading to a Pre2.

just took a quick glance at the wiki and it appears the token copying is all still part of the process.

that part isnt too bad though, its basically just copy and pasting, you just have to make sure you paste in the right spot

**KJBlauw** · 07/21/2011, 11:43 AM

Originally Posted by ToniCipriani

Actually you can't. You still need to rewrite the tokens to the right serial numbers and calibrations.

And I agree with the other guys... while you're at it might as well swap it to a Pre Plus or Pre 2. I've seen bad ESN Verizon Pre Pluses going for 70 bucks for two. Rebuild one and keep the other as spares.

if this is the case then definitely go with atleast the pre plus(it will be the same amount of work as getting another pre-), and while you are at it you might as well upgrade to webos 2.1. I wouldn't recommend 2.1 for the pre- though because it doesnt have enough ram to run it well.

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