Hack to get early internal Mango update for your WP7 (April fools)

Inspired by the Windows Phone 7 “NoDo” update trick making the rounds this week, Chris Walsh and I have come up with a way to get something even better, an early in-development version of the Mango update. Read and act quickly before Microsoft wises up.

The hack, albeit extremely simple in retrospect, involves overriding the update server which the phone checks to a Microsoft staging server (-int) used for testing. It just so happens the current one is hosting build 7510, an early build of the upcoming Mango release.

Of course not all the features work correctly. For example, Internet Explorer 9 does not work at all. On the other hand, SkyDrive and multitasking appear to work flawlessly. It’s also impossible to test the background download or audio services without any third-party app support.

The update is similar to the NoDo update so it will back up your phone allowing you to revert to NoDo if it’s too unstable for you.

Without a further ado, the directions. Enjoy.

  1. Edit your HOSTS file under “%WinDir%\System32\Drivers\ETC\hosts
  2. Add an entry “updateservices.windowsphone-int.com updateservices.windowsphone.com
  3. Download USAIP and connect to any US-based VPN (ex. USAIP L2TP California)
  4. Use username “demo” and password “demo”
  5. Connect your Windows Phone 7 to the PC and start Zune
  6. Disable WiFi on the phone
  7. Open “phone” settings on the phone
  8. Manually search for an update within Zune
  9. After a few seconds (~15 seconds) disable data connection on the phone
  10. Enjoy the sweet juicy fruits of your labour

23 insightful thoughts

  1. Well. I dont know if its an april fools day prank. The fact is that Microsoft realy owns the domain updateservices.windowsphone-int.com, anyone can check this using any of the thousands Whois utilities online.

    The real question is. If this is true, its worth updating from an stable build to an apha version?

    Anyways, who think is true, just try for yourself.

    See below the Whois data

    Registrant:
    Domain Administrator
    Microsoft Corporation
    One Microsoft Way
    Redmond WA 98052
    US
    +1.4258828080 Fax: +1.4259367329

    Domain Name: windowsphone-int.com

    Registrar Name: Markmonitor.com
    Registrar Whois: whois.markmonitor.com
    Registrar Homepage: http://www.markmonitor.com

    Administrative Contact:
    Domain Administrator
    Microsoft Corporation
    One Microsoft Way
    Redmond WA 98052
    US
    +1.4258828080 Fax: +1.4259367329
    Technical Contact, Zone Contact:
    MSN Hostmaster
    Microsoft Corporation
    One Microsoft Way
    Redmond WA 98052
    US
    +1.4258828080 Fax: +1.4259367329

    Created on…………..: 2009-09-18.
    Expires on…………..: 2011-09-18.
    Record last updated on..: 2010-07-04.

    Domain servers in listed order:

    ns2.msft.net
    ns3.msft.net
    ns1.msft.net
    ns4.msft.net
    ns5.msft.net

  2. Worked for me! The new search button and all! It’s a pity I can’t browse the web anymore though :-/

  3. You guys have ruined it. If you know it’s an April Fools’ joke, just don’t write any comments.

    Far out, you’re all the life of parties I bet.

  4. This is a April fool’s day joke. Its a HOAX guys. Verified, go on, nothing to see here.

  5. darn, I fell for it. Juice all over the phone. Can’t typy anymre, kyboard al gooed up…

    1. In other words, you f….. yourself, right there. Didn’t have to say it myself, you did that for me. 😉

Comments are closed.