LG Chocolate KG800 phone: free Java games and apps downloaded via PC

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UPDATE: if you want info on the LG Shine KE 970 phone - general review, photos, manual and software download, Gmail access and browser tips, and tips on connectivity and syncing the KE970. There's no Contents Bank hack to transfer Java from PC to the Shine KE970, however; LG have disabled that, and even OTA Java downloads may not work - unless you get it from LG. But transferring Java apps direct via the "mass storage" facility (USB drive to the rest of us) does work for some games etc - see this post for a step by step howto.

Here's how to transfer Java games and apps from your PC to your LG Chocolate KG800 cellphone using LG's Contents Bank software over the USB cable, thanks to an anonymous commenter or two who kindly spelled it out, plus some extra research I did. I tried it, and it worked a treat, so here's a more basic fuller step by step. (Updated 2 Jan 2007)

This post is meant for the LG KG800 Chocolate phone but I gather that a lot of it applies to other LG phones too. UPDATE: thanks to Paul Ancap for confirming that they work with the KG 320 too. I've not tested that personally so if you want to try it with another model of LG mobile phone, do so at your own risk. The Contents Bank software (and manuals) for the main LG phone models in the UK, like the KG320, KG810, KG920 etc, can be downloaded from the uk.lgmobile.com site. Note that you must install the modem driver software too, see this post.

(You can supposedly download compatible Java apps to the phone via its Web browser, OTA (over the air), but that doesn't always work for me, plus you may get charged by your network/carrier for the data download. So I like this way better!)

Install the LG software

You must have already installed the LG software including modem driver (see this post on how, it's trickier than it should be). Contents Bank won't work without it. Sorry Mac owners, it's PC-only. That link was for the software for the UK model, I can't guarantee that it will work if you bought your Chocolate phone elsewhere so on your own head be it if you try it and it doesn't work for you.

It's vital that you install the software properly and take the correct steps as mentioned in this post, or else the phone won't talk properly to the Contents Bank program which is responsible for transferring Java and other files to the phone.

Where to get Java software for your Chocolate mobile phone

A good source of free Java games and other Java apps that should hopefully work on the LG Chocolate cell phone is this page on Getjar.com.

(UPDATED 8 APR 2007) What Java software will work on the Chocolate?

It's Java MIDP 2.0. Runs J2ME Java software only, and not all Java apps are compatible, according to the manual.

Also, Brad has reported that it will only compile files that are less than 512MB in size. For bigger files, it seems it's tough luck, they won't work on the Chocolate.

Download Java software to Contents Bank

On your PC, using your file manager such as Windows Explorer or My Computer, in C:\Program Files/LGGSM/LGContentsBank/Contents create a new folder inside the Contents folder, and call it Java. (The Contents folder will then contain 3 folders called Java, Picture and RingTone.)

Download and save into that new Java folder the Java software you want for your Chocolate mobile. You must put the downloaded Java files in that folder, or it won't work.

Java software often comes as a duo - a .jar file and a corresponding .jad file. Both files need to be in that Java folder.

If, as with WidSets, there's only a .jad file available, then unfortunately the following steps will NOT work as it's the .jar file which is recognised by the LG software.

If you only downloaded a .jar file, you should be fine provided you make the corresponding JAD file first. Use Mango's excellent free JadMaker software which can even batch process multiple JAR files. Note that the JadMaker makes a jad file in the same folder as the original jad file, so don't be fazed if you drag and drop and can't seem to see anything happening - just check in the folder. Make sure both JAD and JAR files are copied to the C:\Program Files/LGGSM/LGContentsBank/Contents/Java folder.

Edit configuration and transfer to Chocolate phone

Then, follow these steps:

1. Making sure that the Contents Bank program is not open (close it first if it is), in a text editor like Notepad open the config.ini file (on my PC at least, that file is located in C:/Program Files/LGGSM/LGContentsBank). Save a backup first just in case, e.g. save it as backup.ini or config.bak, whatever you wish. Remember in the File Open window you may have to change "Files of type" to "All Files" to open the .ini file.

For more on that file, e.g. to see the typical full contents of that file and other possible configuration tweaks, see this post. (If your own config.ini file is missing a section like PROG_SETTING you could try copy/pasting into your own file, but do so at your own risk as there may be a good reason why in your country it's been deleted!)

2. Find the line in the PROG_SETTING section that reads "EXIST_JAVA=N" and change it to "EXIST_JAVA=Y" (without the quotation marks, but still uppercase).

3. Find the line that reads "MODEL_NAME=XXXX" (where XXXX is something, on my system it was L3100, yours may be different), and change it to "MODEL_NAME=KG800" (again without the quotes) or =whatever is the model number of your LG phone (though note my warning above that I don't know how well this works for other phones).

4. Now "File Save as" the edited file, remembering to change "Text Documents (*.txt)" in the "Save as type" line of the "Save as" box to "All Files" before you hit Save. (Or else it'll save it as "config.ini.txt" which will stop it from working).

5. In Notepad or other text editor again, open the downloaded .jad file (or the JAD file you made from the JAR with JadMaker, above) and at the end of that file in the last line paste the following line in:
MIDletX-LG-Contents: KG800

(or instead of KG800 whatever is the model number of your LG phone, though note my warning above that I don't know how well this works for other LG phones). Important: the model number here must match the model number in step 3, or it won't work.

6. "Save as" the edited file, again remembering to save it as "All Files" so it will save as a .jad file and not a .jad.txt file (as per step 4).
(To restore your backup later, just make sure you're disconnected, delete your edited config.ini file and rename your backup.ini or whatever you called it to config.ini.)

7. The order of the following is very important: if you change the order in which you do these things, it may not work. Do NOT launch LG Contents Bank yet, do NOT connect your Chocolate phone to your computer with the USB cable yet.

8. Instead first turn the phone on, and as mentioned in my previous post, keeping the phone slider open at all times, activate the modem (menu Settings, Connectivity, Modem, Activate modem, Yes, then the back button a few times to get back to the standard "home" screen on the phone, what it looks like when you first turn it on. UPDATED 8 Apr 2007: Alan reports that, on his phone anyway, backing up turns his modem off; in his case he connects to the PC straight after activating the modem and it works. Do whatever works for your phone, obviously, and if one way doesn't work try the other). Do NOT close the phone slider, always leave it open.

9. Now you can connect the phone to the PC via the USB cable.

10. Then, and only then, open LG Contents Bank on your PC. You'll see a new Java icon pic underneath the music and pic buttons (thanks to what you did in steps 1 to 4 above):

11. Click that icon (there's also a Java option now in the View menu, but it just doesn't always work for me so I don't use it). You'll see that the bottom left hand of the window now lists the .jar files which you'd previously put in the Contents Bank/Java folder (in the example below, tobitrislq, a Tetris game):


12. In the Contents Bank Tool menu, pick Option and under Setting, Port, pick "LG USB Cable" and OK. Then click the Connect button in the middle/bottom right of the window.

13. Once it's connected (there's nothing to confirm this really, just give it a couple of seconds), in the bottom left quarter of the window click on the name of the Java file you want to transfer to the Chocolate phone to select it. Then click the Download button in the middle of the window to start the transfer, and let PC and phone do their stuff.

Troubleshooting problems

As mentioned above the first thing to make sure you followed the instructions in this post in relation to installing the Contents Bank software and modem driver. Also take a look at this post on troubleshooting and improving connectivity by tweaking the config.ini file further.

If you've followed them and all the above steps and you still have problems, I'm afraid there's little that I can suggest.

I've seen one suggestion that in the JAD file if there's a line saying "MIDlet-Vendor : Nokia" (or Motorola or possibly others) you should change it to "MIDlet-Vendor : 851510" (for LG). That site also shows the MIDletX line that you add to the end of the JAD file as "MIDletX-LG-Contents : Running". I've not seen that anywhere else at all, everyone else seems to think the usual "MIDletX-LG-Contents: KG800" (or your LG model number) works. If you're really desperate you could try that 851510 or Running change and see, but on your own head be it! (and make sure you saved a backup of the ini file first).

Another site seems to say something about "MIDletX-LG-Contents : L3100 (plus his MIDletX-LG-Contents when necessary : True)" - but that's from a Google word for word translation of the original Chinese and I've no idea if the writer meant to suggest adding a line saying"MIDletX-LG-Contents: True" or they were saying that you need to change the model number to your own phone's! If anyone else can make sense of the Chinese please let me know.

You also might try asking for help in mobile phone forums like Mobile Review or Mobile9.

Using the downloaded Java software

Once the Java software has been copied to your phone, to access it go to menu My Stuff, Games & apps. There should now be a list of your downloaded apps, just select the one you want to open it, and there you go.

UPDATE May 2007: if you want info on the LG Shine KE 970 phone - general review, photos, manual and software download, Gmail access and browser tips, and tips on connectivity and syncing the KE970. There's no Contents Bank hack to transfer Java from PC to the Shine, however; LG have disabled that, and even OTA Java downloads may not work - unless you get it from LG.

Tags: Chocolate, Chocolate phone, LG Chocolate, mobile phone, mobile phones, mobiles, phones, cellphones, cell phones, KG800, Java, jar, jad, games, free software, Improbulus, Consuming Experience, A Consuming Experience