Signing Error Messages Series 60 (S60) 3rd Edition

If you have been reading discussions at Forum Nokia Developer Discussion Board recently, you may notice there are many questions about signing in S60 3rd Edition. It seems the new security feature in Symbian 9 has led to frustration for some developers.

I would like to share what kind of error messages I have seen when installing signed/unsigned application in S60 3rd Edition phones. There is a hint that explains what may cause a particular message. I may not be able to cover all error messages because I may not have seen all of them.

Read also a nice blog posting from S60 team, Signing applications for S60 3rd Edition.

Message: Certificate error. Contact the application supplier.

Hint: You may have tried installing unsigned application. Note that signing is mandatory S60 3rd Edition. You can use self-signed certificate or developer certificate from Symbian Signed to sign your application.

Message: Unable to install. Constrained by the certificate.

Hint: This message pops up when you attempt to install developer certificate in the unsupported device. The developer certificate from Symbian Signed can only be used in a limited number of devices. Remember that you have to send your IMEIs to Symbian Signed when requesting certificate. You cannot use the certificate in other devices that is not in your IMEIs list.

Message: Required application access not granted

Hint: Check that your certificate can be used to sign all capabilities needed by your application. For example, if you use self-signed certificate, you can only sign basic set capabilities, i.e. NetworkServices, ReadUserData, WriteUserData, LocalServices and UserEnvironment. If your application requires one of the extended capabilities, for example SwEvent, you cannot sign it with self-signed certificate. In this case, apply for developer certificates from Symbian Signed.

Message: Unable to install a protected application from an untrusted supplier

Hint: If you use self-signed certificate, make sure that your application uses unprotected UID, i.e. 0xA0000000 - 0xAFFFFFFF. If you use protected UID (0×20000000 - 0×2FFFFFFF) or legacy UID (0×10000000 - 0×1FFFFFFF), you will get this message.

Message: Unable to install

Hint: This message may come up when your installation file (.sis/.sisx) copies files to other application’s private folder, i.e. \private\uid. Note that Symbian 9 introduces data caging concept, it means you don’t have access to other application’s private folder.

Nokia to open source its mobile browser code

In a bid to encourage the mobile phone industry to standardize on a single Web browser, Nokia on Wednesday released the source code for the mobile phone Web browser it developed last year.

Nokia designed the browser for its S60 line of phones using the same open source frameworks used by Apple Computer for its Safari browser, and adding enhancements designed to improve mobile browsing. Any mobile phone maker or operator can now access the engine that runs the Nokia-developed browser and customize it for their own needs.

Sprint Developers

All the development tools, news, Sprint lingo, links to various Sprint sites, user forums, developer forums. Once you register for free you can upload your applications to the site. Also a listing and specifications of phones and manufacturers that are using Spint PCS.

Cell Phone Hacks

A comprehensive forum of Nokia. Sony Ericsson, Motorola, Siemens, Samsung, LG, Blackberry, etc. Phone Hacks, Service Provider Hacks, Security, Mod Chips, Discussion, Cellphone ring tones and hardware!

A Must Nokia Development

If you are serious about developing anything for any Nokia phone you have to check out the Forum Nokia website. It has all the resourses you need to get you started from all the MIDP SDK's with the accompanying emulators, all the different platform SDK's including Series 40, Series 60, Series 80, development tools, all the tecnical specifications, extensive documentation on all available and upcoming technologies, developer forums where you can drop a question and most probably find what you are looking for has already been answered.
The site caters for game developers, enterprise developers, media developers and just about any other type of developer you can think of.

Change the look of your Mobile Phone

If you are not into writing hundreds or thousands of lines of code and you are more artistic in a audio/visual kinda way you might want to check out some of the themes you can install on your Nokia or Sony Ericsson on the Opera Community website. You can also check out some of my themes I did in early 2004. Let me know what you think ...

If you want to create your own theme you can download the Series 60 Theme Studio if it didn't ship with your from the Forum Nokia web site. Have fun personalising your phone to be an individual like yourselves....