Before you start, you need the following:
- 1. the phone! - this tutorial is for the LG Chocolate (VX8500 model), it may work with other models of the Chocolate but I have no idea.. you can check your phone’s model # by removing the battery and reading the manufacturer sticker.
- 2. USB data cable - to connect your phone to your computer. you can buy the Music Essentials Kit from Verizon for 30 bucks, or you can do what I did and get the cable for 3 bucks on eBay :P (it came with all necessary drivers)
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3. USB drivers. - these needed drivers come with the music essentials kit, and most sellers on eBay include them with the cable.. but if you didn’t get a cd with your cable you NEED to download and install these drivers in order for your phone to communicate with your computer.
Free Chocolate USB Drivers HERE
(drivers for “MEK Music Essentials Kit”) - 4. BitPim - this is the program we’ll be using to transfer the ringtones to the phone.
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5. AudaCity - this is the audio editing software we’ll be using to create the ringtones.
Download Audacity HERE
Download the Lame encoder
(to export your ringers as mp3 files)
that’s it! now time to make the ringers..
1. open Audacity and open/import an mp3.
2. now edit, crop, fade out, ect your mp3. final audio should be no longer than 30 seconds!
3. assuming you’ve installed the lame encoder, edit the output settings by pressing Ctrl+P.
3a. on the File Formats tab
3b. go down to MP3 Export Setup, now change the bitrate to 64. (see below)
4. now export the ringtone by clicking File in the toolbar and click Export As MP3…
BAM! you’ve just made your first custom ringtone. congrats. now it’s time to put that motherfunk on your phone.
5. Install the USB drivers BEFORE connecting the phone to the computer.
6. Connect your phone to the computer via the USB cable.
7. Assuming you’ve already installed BitPim, open the program.
8. It should be set to automatically detect your phone, but if not, go to Edit in the toolbar and on the dropdown menu click Detect Phone.
9. Now open the ringers on the menu tree (see below)
10. Once inside the ringer folder, drag and drop your mp3 ringer that you exported in step 4 into the ringer folder.
11. You’ll get a popup to convert the file, use the settings shown below, then click Convert.
12. After you’ve converted the mp3, click ok. now you’ll see this screen below with your ringer in it.. we’re almost done!
13. All that’s left is to send the ringer to your phone by clicking the button (shown below)
14. check the Ringtone box & click Add. then OK.
Your phone will dial a code when you transfer your ringtone, it DOES NOT charge you!
15. enjoy your new custom made FREE ringtone! if it doesn’t show up in your ringers on the phone, you may have to powercycle the phone (remove battery & put it back in).
to import/export wallpapers & images, it’s pretty much the same steps as above only with “images” folder. same thing for full songs, just use the “music” folder.. videos (youtube, myspace, ect..) on the other hand are a bit more tricky.. i’ll write up that tutorial soon :)
For those who have “access blocked by provider” issues with bitpim, please read below.
- Newer phones have a different version of firmware (V05 & V06).
- To find out what version firmware your running on your phone, go to
Menu >> Settings & Tools >> Phone Info >> SW Version >> now right at the top of the list you should see “SW Version”, now right below that you’ll see what version your running.. T85VZ… you’ll either have an 04, 05, or 06 at the end, that’s the version number!
Solution 1: Uninstall Bitpim, then download & install the latest bitpim-test (beta). Then refer to Krans’s comment for further instructions
Solution 2: This involves flashing lower versions of firmware onto your phone (which can brick it!) so I’m kinda hesitant to post it, however, I will type it up if people are still having problems with solution 1.
do the drivers work for macintosh? I tried downloading one and it didnt? if so what should I do?
I just got my LGVX8500. After reading several customer reviews I was affraid I couldn’t dowload my own ringtones and pictures. With the help of this site I was able to do it even without the USB cable but through bluetooth. Thank’s this is a great site.
The ringtones will not delete after trying to erase them and removing the battery….help would be much appreciated!
everything works except that in the end when i try to send the ringtone to my phone, a pop up says “failed to auto-detect the port to use. i couldn’t detect any candidate ports.” what can i do??
i cant find my model number in the list and my company isnt in the list either, is there nothing i can do?
I have v06 sw on my phone. I downloaded the drivers, but my computer doesn’t even detect my phone. I can’t begin to understand what the problem is…
THANK YOU!!! Lots of work you put into this, and it is very much appreciated. Great job!
One thing that ought to be noted, if you don’t have .NET installed (like me) you will have to install the GDI+ component from Microsoft: http://www.microsoft.com/downl.....laylang=en
Of course, XP and later may have this installed by default or some such stuff.
-R
i have a problem the ringtone transfers but not the audio
One question…how do we remove the custom ringtones and mp3s?
Thank you so much I used this website to make ringers for my chocolate and it worked awesome!!!
I am having the same problem. My computer wont detect the drivers. Help?
I couldn’t get bitpim to work and kept getting a msvcp71.dll missing error. So I downloaded the missing file from DLL-files.com and it worked perfectly. Just wanted to share in case someone ran into the same issue. Thanks for the tutorial!!
I looooooooved this! Thanks so much!
=..^..^..=
i’m lookin for a LG Voyager
can you do it with a microsd card and not a usb cable?
i cannot get the lame thing to work. when i try to follow 3b, it ask me to find the lame file and when i click on it it says it’s not a valid image file or something. can you help me?!!
Thanks man thsi really help me out alot thank you very much
This was an awsome little how to. I had no probs understanding and executing these directions. Now I have more ring tones than I know what to do with. Thanx alot and keep it real.
Hey thanks a ton — this works great — does this work for any cellphone besides just lg — my brother wants to use this for his samsung cell phone!! Again, thanks a ton!!
the program works fine but theres only one problem how can i delete the ringtone from the phone?? please help
I had a Chocolate 8500 and was putting free ringtones on it like crazy following this tutorial site (THANKS A BUNCH!!), but now I have a Chocolate 8550, and a box pops up saying that the phone is blocked by the phone carrier after I try to send the ringtone through bitpim!! Do anybody know the verizon code to unblock it??
At first I thought it was hopeless trying to get ringtones for my phone. I called LG and they said, ringtones are only avaible for the new Chocolate 8550. However, I knew there had to be some way to get ringtones on this phone (8500) and now…OMG, I’m so estatic. It works, it really works! At first I had problems getting the hang of the Lame Encoder, but now I’ve got it. It works great with images as well as ringtones. Thanks so much!
Hi!
It dosent work with my phone! BitPim dont seem to recognize my phone (Chocolate LG800) from BELL (Canada). The Version is CX80BL05 and BitPim recognize it as an OTHER CDMA phone on COM6.I cannot get “Phone Info” and when I try to “get data from phone” or “send data to phone” I CANNOT check any box. This really sucks and I dont know what to do!! Someone can help??
bought the cable from ebay and followed all the instructions. Fantastic post! thanks a lot man.