After arguing unsuccessfully with an online classifieds portal about the concept of commerciality, I would like to remind everyone that I do offer a repair service for Nokia N-Gage devices on a completely private basis. Of course, this will continue to be absolutely free of charge and without any intention of making a profit. In other words, in the spirit of the Repair Café initiative.
Your N-Gage shows the Nokia logo at start-up and then goes off again? Or the operating system runs unstably and crashes constantly?
In 99% of these cases the unit suffers from a utilised user space area (phone memory). The result is a so-called WSOD White Screen of Death. Which admittedly sounds a bit harsh, but is understandable since you can't fix the problem without additional hardware.
If you'd like to take it into your own hands, check out my project WSODFix. It's a simple microcontroller circuit based on an STM32F103 blue pill board.
The WSODFix tries to format the user memory via FBus. In most cases, this is sufficient. Unfortunately, it is often not so easy to find a suitable cable with which to connect the N-Gage. Soldering on improvised cables is often undesirable.
The project is completely open source and can be found on GitHub.
Alternatively, the user memory can be formatted via proprietary hardware. However, this is a good opportunity to upgrade the firmware to the latest version 4.60, at least for an N-Gage QD.
Unfortunately, this version only exists with the branding of a Spanish service provider, but it offers the possibility of resetting the user memory itself with the help of a key combination when booting the device.
This is the preferred method in most cases. However, there is unfortunately no German language setting in this firmware, but there is an English one.
If you are willing to pay the shipping and return costs, I will be happy to do so free of charge, as it is unfortunately not easy to find suitable and functioning service hardware.
Just write me an email or get in touch with me via Discord or Telegram.