For those of us with somewhat old Motorola iDEN Nextel phones (I have the i870 which is at least 2 years old... ) - I have converted the infamous ISB startup . mp3 to a . wav file - which can be assigned as a ringtone. I edited it down to 5 seconds before converting it.
I use a program called "dBpower AMP Music Converter" to transcode all my ringtones (except for MIDI tones... ) into the following format specs:
Wave (. wav)
Bit depth - 8-bit
Sampling rate - 8000Hz
mono - NOT stereo
That is the format which will work on older Motorola iDEN phones. Convert it JUST BEFORE you transfer the files to the phone - if you open/edit the files with Windows Sound Recorder - they will fail to transfer successfully. 8-bit/8kHz/mono audio sounds kinda rough, but it is the only format that will work on these older phones.
You then have to use another program called iDEN WebJAL (made by Motorola) to upload the files using a USB cable.
It is a bit of a convoluted process, but the end result is sweet. To name a few, I have the
Dukes of Hazzard,
A-Team and
CHiPs theme songs for ring tones... I also have Grateful Dead tunes and movie quotes saved as ring tones.
There is a WEALTH of information out there on the WWW on how to convert/transfer and manage ring tones for specific phone models put out by the various carriers.
Have fun!
Matt