HTC recently released an updated ROM (version 3.14.110.1) for T-Mobile (UK) HTC HD2 phones (review of the update is here).  Updating to the new version is highly recommended as it makes the mobile more responsive, stable and power efficient.  However, one of the issues you get after upgrading is that HTC Peep stops downloading tweets from your Twitter account and returns a rather unfriendly message: “The account was forbidden to access the Twitter server”.  You might start thinking that something has gone wrong with your Twitter account but fear not, it is not your fault.  It is due to some authentication security changes that Twitter made to their website and HTC Peep included with the update can’t deal with the new mechanism.

Fortunately, there is now a fix for it.  Applying it is simple:

  1. Download the update from here. (No longer valid.  See update below) Make sure you select the right download for your phone at the bottom of the page.
  2. Connect the phone to ActiveSync or Mobile Center and make sure connectivity is established.
  3. Although it is an .exe file, it is not for a desktop machine so don’t try to run it.  Instead, transfer the file to your phone using Windows Explorer.  Make note of the location.
  4. Go to the phone.  Open Settings -> File Explorer.  Find the file that you just transferred and select it.
  5. On the bottom bar, click “Setup”.  The process completes quite quickly and a reboot is requested.  Do the reboot.
  6. Once the device comes back up, go to HTC Peep and login to your account.  Your tweets should start downloading now.

Hope that helps!

Update (30/09/2011): It seems that HTC have not only remodelled their site but have also removed support downloads for older models, which unfortunately, includes HD2 and Touch Pro 2 etc.  So, the link mentioned in the post doesn’t work anymore.  I’ve tried to find the updates on their site but failed.  I’ll keep looking and if I find them, I’ll post the link here.

Update (19/12/2011): The links are back!  Find this and all the other updates on this page.