Rogers MP3 Ringtone Lock Bypass and Workarounds

Quite frankly I was upset when I dished out over 200 bux for my last phone and brought it home only to find out that there is a lock on adding custom mp3 ringtones. It has been the first phone I've gotten in a few years and I guess they are becoming strict about giving customers access to these features so they can monopolize on sales.

I thought starting a thread on this topic might get people thinking. Personally I think the user should have a choice, especially if the device supports it and they are paying for that device.


Does anyone know any workarounds and bypasses? I know the Sony Ericsson has a program that can bypass it. I guess there is a header or prefix in the music files you download that authenticate as a purchased song but don't know the full details.

Lets hear your solutions!

Seems like Rogers only bothered to restrict the use of side-loaded mp3's. wma's work fine, so all u need is an mp3-wma converter (Free Mp3 Wma Converter Ripper Cutter 1.6.1). There is a limit to the size of a ringtone, im not sure what it is and if its the same for all nokia phones, but this is easily solved by simply cutting out part of the ringtone (or reducing quality).
I tried this on my 5300 yesterday and it worked fine.

Tried this out and works like a charm, thanks! The app works great too, was able to try different samples bitrates and compression. The sweet spot is somewhere between 510kb and 680kb... I am guessing the limit on the ringtone on the 5300 is 600kb.

That's pretty respectable I guess, you could fit a whole minute or two on a low enough bitrate if you wanted to at 64 kbps.

Keep em coming!

I tried this on my Samsung a706 and it did not work This is driving me insane.

After trying lots of things such as Sound Taxi and DRM removal, nothing seem to work. I think at this time the only way IS to convert mp3 ringtones into WMA files. Granted I've been successful using .wav files as ringtones but of course using .wav files takes up a lot of room if you don't have a big enough m2 card. Thankfully Rogers was nice enough to mail me an 8 GB card. I will continue to try different programs and write back with a successful MP3 ringtone. I guess the only other options is to open an MP3 in a binary format and compare an MP3 that's been purchased via Rogers and compare it to one of your own (same song of course).

Ok so I tried this for my Rogers motorola KRZR K1S and it didnt work, i put it on my memory card and then transfered it onto my phone and it still will not work.........grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr, any ideas as to why?

Hello,
I'm just brand new in this mobile phone forum & my first post. I'm using Samsung A516 set having the same problem. Can't set MP3 as a ringer tone. However could make it as "alarm" tone. Can anyone help me for it?
Someone said once I unlock it it's gonna allow of doing that someone did say no. If u have any idea,,,ur help will be appreciated.

wow thanks for your help

After attempting to use the DRM to no avail, I converted the MP3 to a WAV file and now my Sony Ericsson W580i works like a charm with my custom ringtone.

I also have a w580i with rogers and i cant get a ringtone to work!!
when converting to wav,is there a maximum length/filesize?do you transfer it to your phone with the sony ericcson cord onto your memory card?is there a specific folder it should go in so it works?
someone please help me out with this...much appreciated

What Rogers phone did you buy? If it was the RAZR2 V9 then the problem is that you need to convert the MP3's into MP4's in order to be able to Apply them as ringtones.

Normally, Rogers does not disable the user's ability to apply their own ringtones (only Telus does that), with the exception of the iPhone 3G (most likely an Apple stipulation) which needs to be Jailbroken in order to apply your own ringers.

Why don't u guys go for unbranded,unlocked phone other than subsidesed garbage handset. I've now bought a Asian Nokia 3110c got all my problem solved no Samsung A516 is a garbage thing of past. No one could do anything for that.

ok i knew when when I had my samsung, the ringtone can't be more than 20-25 seconds long. so try making them about that short and see if that will work for you. gimme so feed back if it works. write me a PR message.

gully_creature,
Do u think I didn't try that? I did try that 100 times shorter as possible but the software/firmware used in samsung phone doesn't let u do it. So it's a phone issue. In my Asian Nokia the whole mp3 song can be set as ringtune doesn't need to be short or limited. So, for this issue samsung is garbage as it limits user's customization. However Asian or MiddleEast samsung sets might be good that way as they aren 't avaiable through providers,,,so no garbage subsidised phone.

I have a Samsung sgh-a436. I think I can't plug it to my computer. It's my first cellphone ever, so I guess I got screwed over. But as for all of you, I can't set a mp3 ringtone. I read in many places on the net that it's not possible to unlock it. Still, I wanted to know if any of you guys could give me some tips about that matter. It's friggin' annoying. I don't want to buy a ringtone of a damn pop song that Rogers sells for 3 dollars each I think.