Old Phone Preservation

[oldphonepreservation]

Welcome to the Old Phone Preservation Tumblr account!

If posts about all sorts of retro phone goodies interest you, then you're in luck!

Click on each image's alt text to learn what to expect around here!

Other social media accounts and useful links, such as but not limited to the Dumbphone Repo, can be found on the LPCWiki page below. This way if something new gets added, it can be found at said link for the foreseeable future: https://lpcwiki.miraheze.org/wiki/User:Dumbphonepreservation

[oldphonepreservation]

1st post of 2026! The firmware from the Mobile ESPN version of the #Samsung SPH-A900 was dumped. Being that only 2 phones were released on this short-lived MVNO, one can say that every Mobile ESPN device has been dumped!

Link on Dumbphone Repo as always!

[oldphonepreservation]

It feels like not much time has passed since I announced 1000 different pages on LPCwiki, but somehow we're up to over 2000!

Combined with the fact that certain LPCwiki pages have been cited in phone-related videos, it's nice to see what started as a small project to share more detailed system specs about feature phones grow as much as it has.

While I'm here, happy belated three-year birthday to this page's Tumblr account as well!

(yes, I do realize posts have been slow… but the number of phone-related PC software backups and firmware dumps has been moving steadily!)

[oldphonepreservation]

If you watched "The Deplorable Bootleg iPhone." from DankPods and wondered where he got info about a feature phone chipset, it was LPCWiki! Definitely not the first time it has been featured by YouTubers with a large fanbase, but it's always a bit mind-blowing to see this happen.

[oldphonepreservation]

Did You Know: User 1144822034 on GitHub has published an emulator for an MTK MT6252-powered phone called the Flyying IHD316. While I have been unable to get it very far past the idle screen, the fact that such a thing boots at all is no easy feat! The project can be found on GitHub by clicking this link.

[oldphonepreservation]

The #LG VX5300 joins the ranks of BREW phones with the ability to freely sideload unsigned apps!

I have noticed that the AppUI AppManager replacement doesn't play nice with the "Verizon UI" pop-ups on this device, so it's best to stick with the original "Get It Now" interface.

Relevant links for installing the right software and the patched firmware can be found on LPCWiki.

[oldphonepreservation]

checks last post date

…whoops! It sure has been a minute! If you're new around here, be sure to check out the wiki which started this account! LPCwiki has grown massively in size since it started in 2020. Above are some photos I have taken for said wiki :)

In all seriousness, everything has been moving full steam ahead, despite my inactivity! I recently updated my LPCwiki user page detailing new phone firmware dumps which will get their own post in due time.

[oldphonepreservation]

A few months ago, I posted about the closure of thisisarecording.com, a massive telephone intercept archive going far back. I am happy to report that it is back online, thanks to the fine folks who run telephoneworld.org! Visiting the site will take you to something that's more than just a blank screen now :)

[oldphonepreservation]

Recently, Rare Noggin Stuff dumped a Disney Mobile-branded Samsung DM-S105, making it the second device on this MVNO to be dumped! As one would expect, nearly all of the graphics in the phone have been given a coat of paint from characters belonging to the mass media giant.

As always, the firmware and corresponding JTAG pinout used to dump the device are available on the Dumbphone Repo!

[oldphonepreservation]

Hi! It's been a while! Here's some recent firmware dumps courtesy of DG and Rare Noggin Stuff:

Later-firmware Casio G'zOne Ravine 2

LG Rhythm

LG VX3100

LG Accolade

LG Chocolate Spin

Sanyo Incognito (Boost Mobile ver.)

Sanyo Mirro (Boost Mobile ver.)

Sanyo PRO-700 (1.005BM, 1.005WS, 1.107AP)

Sanyo RL-4920

Real sorry about the lack of posts as of late… things have been very busy. Keep checking the Dumbphone Repo's changelog and LPCwiki though - feature phone ROM and content preservation has not slowed down one bit!

[oldphonepreservation]

Thanks to a recent donation from MC4f, the following phones have had their firmwares backed up:

Pantech (O2) Cocoon (M6280A-KLRZ-2.3.5045C)

Samsung SGH-A226 (A26AUZGK3)

Sony Ericsson: ** S001 (20100418124720SSOEU076246) ** W42S (565565W42S_MSM6550_01.0000)

As always, all files are available on the Dumbphone Repo!

[oldphonepreservation]

Once again thanks to yet another phone donation from Rare Noggin Stuff, the following firmware files have been backed up:

Kyocera Brio (1.002SP, Sprint)

Samsung SPH-A900 (YL10, Sprint)

Sanyo Incognito (1.001SP, Sprint)

As always, JTAG pinouts and firmware dumps are available on the dumbphone repo!

[oldphonepreservation]

thisisarecording.com - all sounds safe!

Need to give an update to this before I forget to post again - all of thisisarecording.com 's sounds are safe! A WARC of the former website's content can be found at this archive.org link, and if you aren't interested in playing with WARC extractors, I've prepared a link that contains just the content from the website, crucially with all ~1200 phone recordings.

Put the WARC into https://replayweb.page/ if you want to experience the site as it once was, or grab the .7z archive if you only want the sounds and nothing more.

[oldphonepreservation]

This is a long shot, but I'm making this post here to ask if anyone knows the status of historical telephone message collection thisisarecording.com since its recent shutdown. I've recovered a few things from the blogspot URL but wonder if the OG collection is still out there in full. From the surviving saved blogspot links, I know they were uploaded using DriveToWeb, meaning they are (or… were) on Google Drive or OneDrive. There was a callout made by the @thisisarecordin Twitter account at some point, though it appears they've blanked their profile on there. It would be unfortunate if the familiar (and sometimes strange) sounds from a pre-mobile world were lost to time.

[oldphonepreservation]

A short year-in review

Somehow it's 2025, and I can't possibly summarize the milestones in the feature phone mod and preservation scenes.

I wish I had a grand post ready w/ nearly 4k followers on Twitter (what?!?!?!), but watch this overclocked Motorola V220 vid if you haven't already :)

[oldphonepreservation]

Did You Know...

Hidden inside of BlackBerry App World's data is an unknown, unmarked QR code not known to be visible anywhere inside of the app.

Where does that QR code lead to…?

This RickRoll'D video! (the actual link is http://bit.ly/c0TitE, but the YouTube URL is included for those who don't want to wait for bit.ly) I don't know of any way to trigger this QR code to show up in App World itself, but I wonder who snuck this in the COD file…

[oldphonepreservation]

Two new feature phone firmware dumps thanks to keen456: LG Octane and Kyocera Domino! The S1310 is notable as being late in Kyocera's mobile life, yet was before their merge with Sanyo's mobile division. During this point in time, CDMA Kyocera phones had very close roots to Qualcomm's own phones. As a result, the firmware structure and proprietary libraries look a fair bit different…

Firmware dumps + JTAG pinouts are on the Dumbphone Repo as usual.