Beginnings of a Noobie Sticky? - 8125, K-JAM, P4300, MDA Vario General

I recently got an i-mate K-Jam after migrating from the Palm OS and found this useful site. Sounds like everyone here is doing some great work. After looking through this site as a guest for the past 2 days I do have a suggestion: someone set up a sticky post with some basic information?
Some initial suggestions:
In addition to the FTP sticky post: ( ftp://xda:[email protected]/ )
Cooked ROMs available/version/developer
Useful programs:
Backup your roms and the directories where they are located
View your rom and extended rom - e.g. Total Commander and the link to download
How-to: backup your rom
http://forum.xda-developers.com/viewtopic.php?t=36574
http://forum.xda-developers.com/viewtopic.php?t=57611&highlight=backup+guide
I haven't been able to find Wizard_Service_Manual.pdf on the FTP site but if you Google that specific file name you can download it.
How-to: backup your extended_rom
Overclocking utilities etc.
I know this post sounds like a noob post but with a sticky post like this most noobs will not have to spend hours/days sifting through all the posts to find some basic stuff before asking questions to which they should know the answer.
Now to my noob question (haha) I haven't been able to figure out: Can/should I update my K-Jam with the new T-mobile mda rom, or will my K-Jam start looking like T-Mobile.
I have a SIM unlocked phone (don't know how to check if the CID? is unlocked?), I like the default theme and colors that come with the K-Jam and WM5, and I'm not with any plan providers as I need to switch sims quite often depending on where I'm travelling.
Thanks,
WnG88

As far as the stickey, that is out of my leauge. As far as loading the new t-mobile ROM, however, it will change to look like T-mobile IF you allow the extended rom to run. The trick I believe is to load the rom, wait for it to boot up. It will show "customizing in 3..." at which point soft reset the device. This stops the extended rom from installing. Now, you can install the extended rom from your other device manually. Before you upgrade your rom, install total commander and use it to copy the extended rom to your pc (based on your previos post I am assuming you know how to do this...) Then once your new rom is up and running simply copy all of the cab files to your device and run them (by going to them in file explorer and clicking on them...) You can also customize by only installing what you want from either rom. Or, a more advanced way to do it would be to create your own rom with its own extended rom, and load that, but that is harder and more technical I believe. Also, it is easy to change the theme of the device, to whatever you want. I use ThemeGen CE on the PC and Schemechanger on the ppc to tweak colors, both are freely available on this board somewhere. If changing the theme is all you want this is much easier, the reason that I would install the other extended rom is for the custom stuff, for example it auto installs t-mobile network ect... However since you change providers all teh time you probably know how to change most of this anyway, and so it may not be as big of a deal to you. So you know, I have T-mobile and I am running the 2.26 ROM, and although I have only had it for a day or two, I like it. Let me know what you decide to do, or if you have any more questions, want to know about the best (In my opinion, of course!) software or settings, ect... Also, sorry for rambeling so much

Thanks for the reply Starcruiser, I'm still doing a bit of reading on the ROM portion of stuff before I do anything. As for keeping track of searches and not having to spend hours trying to repeatedly find the same topics I'm pasting the following useful link as backup info:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/viewtopic.php?t=37386&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0

WnG88: we're trying not to litter the forum with stickies.
We have the Wiki for a much more effective way to distribute this kind of info.
Set up a wiki page, and I'll sticky your wiki if you want
PM me if necessary.
V

Related

and what if someone (me) can not afford to break anything?

Instaead of Hi I say you are great people
So the case is... I just need to have working Qtek 1010 with SOME additional soft on it inside a ROM...
I've read many pages in this forum and I'm able to find too many ways to change my ROM. I'm totaly confused.
I work for extremaly big worldwide company and they gave me q Qtek, told me to use it, gave me one simple application and web link... so I do.
But the Qtek is much powerfull than that so I need to flash my ROM.
Now comes a question: where can I find one document how to prepare for it, what tools do I need, how to do it... I know after some tries I will be confident enough to do such stuff easlily, my problem is I have only one try, they will make me w trouble if I screw my company recource.
I understand you had milion similar questions like that. Basicly I need help how to flash so I can be sure 100% not less that I can recover in case of trouble. I hope you understand I'm afraid to do it because lack of experience and you are able to tell me if I should try to flash...
or maybe it's better for me to ask my boss to by me a 512 MB SD and install all additional soft on it and stop worring about memory?
I'd appreciate any opinion... you are the best and I'm just new to this bussines...
Get an sd card, backup existing rom to sd card, very easy to do by bootloader method. Enter bootloader by holding down power while inserting stylus in the reset hole on the bottom left of pda then press top right function key, then choose ce to sd. Once you have done this you can check if it has in fact backed up your rom by putting sd card in the pda, enter bootloader, it will then give the option to program the rom, just remove the card and push the reset with stylus again, the other method to check a working backup is to put the sd card in the pda, the pda will ask to format it, say no and remove it. Once you have a backup you can either use xdatools to copy it to your pc or keep it in a safe place, no more files must be written to this card otherwise it will be rendered useless, if you wish to reuse the card sometime it will need formatting. Once you have your backup, go to www.yorch.net, cook yourself a rom and download it in the exe format, this will do a normal install from your pc while connected to pda via activesync, if it messes up you always have your backup. Once you become more proficient at using xdatools you might wish to try out lots of different roms until you are happy with the result, you can go on to sd card flashing which is a much better way of programming rom and much less prone to error because it doesnt rely on a pc connection. I would advise you to leave the radio stack alone, if you can make and receive call ok leave it alone. Have a thorough look around the forum before proceeding. Its good fun to program your pda and you can make it a much better tool, but make sure you always have a way out if things go wrong.
www.yorch.net not working... is there a place like that?
Hi!
I read the above post, one of the clearest here, and I almost got the confidence to finally do this ROM update...
But:
1) Can't find the www.yorch.net website where I could "cook myself a rom and dowload it in a .exe format"
2)It's still not very clear to me what exactly cooking a ROM means: it concerns the OS (the version 1.53, 1.72 type of stuff), the extended ROM (the default programs u get starting after and hard reset like the SW for the camera etc) or both?
Thanks!!!
Chris
Another ROM Kitchen
Try the following ROM Kitchen http://lumpistefan.dyndns.org/
I noticed that you have the XDAII. Now, someone please correct me if I'm wrong but the directions above and the ROM kitchens are all for the XDA I or Wallaby version.
Re: www.yorch.net not working... is there a place like that?
cchris said:
Hi!
I read the above post, one of the clearest here, and I almost got the confidence to finally do this ROM update...
But:
1) Can't find the www.yorch.net website where I could "cook myself a rom and dowload it in a .exe format"
2)It's still not very clear to me what exactly cooking a ROM means: it concerns the OS (the version 1.53, 1.72 type of stuff), the extended ROM (the default programs u get starting after and hard reset like the SW for the camera etc) or both?
Thanks!!!
Chris
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Chris,
Those Roms are made for XDA1 beware it's not made for the device you have!!!!!!
What's the kitchen for XDA II
THANK YOU!
I was starting on the wrong foot... :-( :?
Anyway a couple of more question:
1) Is there a place like that for XDA II Kitchen? Is my undestanding of what a kitchen is correct?
2) The process for ROM backup outlined above, is still correct for XDA II?
Thanks!
Chris
I'm in the same boat as you CChris. I've been diligently a daily searching through the numerous topics on this site looking for similar information. I haven't found it yet - or at least nothing not-to-super-technical. I do know that you get to the bootloader by pressing the power button, reset button, and down on the toggle at the same time rather than the Wallaby way of the power and reset buttons only. It also seems that there are issues regarding 'country' and that it requires software to get around this. I haven't found the software yet - the links that I've seen all point to "itsme's" website which is currently down.
You can read the thread here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/viewtopic.php?t=9053&highlight=
Hopefully, someone with a lot more knowledge than me can go over updating the XDA II as clearly as cruisin-thru did for the XDA I.
The instructions on http://wiki.xda-developers.com/wiki/HimalayaRomFlashing are correct.
Unfortunately, there was an issue where the wiki removed the ~ from itsme's website's address. It's been replaced with %7e and now the link works.
If you download a ROM from the same vendor as your device (e.g. Qtek ROM on Qtek device, iMate ROM on iMate device, etc.) you don't need to use these instructions, you can just install the ROM upgrade from your vendor.
If you want to use the latest ROM (from iMate) and your device isn't an iMate, you need to decrypt, change the "country" code, encrypt, and then run the upgrade.
You can also edit the extended ROM when flashing, but it's easier to use itsme's extRom Tools. See http://forum.xda-developers.com/viewtopic.php?t=8422
You do NOT need to flash the ROM if you are not experiencing problems, or if you are experiencing problems which the new ROM also has (for example ugly cleartype fonts, which may be fixed without flashing). Flashing the ROM may void your warrantee. You will lose all your data when you upgrade, and you should not restore a backup, only your my documents folder.
If you are a newbie, it may be best not to flash your ROM. If you typed in itsme in google, you would have found his xs4all address as the third link, and would have quickly found out his site wasn't down at all, but the link was just wrong.
Just a warning: the things that could go wrong when flashing are potentially much worse than a wrong URL, and the answer to those problems won't be the third link in google.
NO MATTER WHAT YOU DO DON'T COME NEAR THE RADIO UPGRADE I QUOTE I FRIEND HERE THAT SAYS
DON'T MESS UP WITH A WORKING RADIO OR YOU'LL END UP WITH A SLIVER BRICK !!!!!!!!!
BEEN THEIR :x :x :x :x
Rabia said:
NO MATTER WHAT YOU DO DON'T COME NEAR THE RADIO UPGRADE I QUOTE I FRIEND HERE THAT SAYS
DON'T MESS UP WITH A WORKING RADIO OR YOU'LL END UP WITH A SLIVER BRICK !!!!!!!!!
BEEN THEIR :x :x :x :x
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Rabia can you tell me how did you get out from there?
never got out of it

Can anyone help figure out how to get back smart dial?

Hi guys,
First of all, I'm really new to this(learning all the time!) as I just got my O2 mini 2days ago from ebay.
I have a problem whereby my phone doesn't have smart dial function. I've spent hours reading the threads and trying but to no avail.
Can anyone kind ppl out there help me pls?
FYI, under "device information/version/ExtROM version" section is BLANK. Is this normal?
Really appreciate anyone that can help me out. Thanks a lot!
You can download and install the cab file attached.
Thx Zerimar!!!
But I toy around more with my phone I realise that my phone doesn't even have the ExtROM installed at all! That's main culprit for those missing functions. I don't even have MMS function installed
Can you kindly share with me a complete ExtROM that has all the preloaded softwares?
And also can you give me so simple instructions on how to put back the ExtROM in the phone (I'm really new...)
Again, really appreciate your help!!! Thx man....
I suggest that you keep your Mini the way it is (with BigStorage ROM). The advantages are;
1. You can choose which customization software from O2 to install.
2. 27MB is gained for installing 3rd party software, ie. Navigationi softare, Destktop enhancements, etc.
Before you upgraded your Mini, did you keep a backup of the original ROM and/or the Extended ROM? If you have a backup of your Extended ROM then all you have to do is to copy the .CAB files you want to the SD card, main memory, or storage and to install the .CAB files just click on them from where it was copied to.
If you don't have your Extended ROM backup, then I suggest you go to this forums ftp or wiki and download what you need. I don't have the complete Extended ROM .CAB files since I only keep what I like/need. Secondly, my unit is a generic since here in Switzerland we can buy the units without any contract, or when we renew our contract, we can get a new phone but usually it is a generic model. Out of the 3 providers here, only Orange SIM locks and makes customization to the units.
If still you prefer to put your Mini back to its original form, then all you have to do is to flash your Mini with your ROM backup (if you have it), otherwise download from the ftp any of the latest ROMs available.
Very good advice here.... makes me understand more now.
Ok, I agree with you to keep it's current status now.
I did not upgrade my mini, I bought it new from ebay, thus there is no backup ROM or ExtROM available.
I'm not able to use this forum's ftp. This is how I try, I paste below link in IE,
ftp://xda:[email protected]/Magician
user:xda
paswd:xda
I'm denied access. Any idea on this?
Thx...
by the way, Switzerland is really a nice & beautiful country... Love it!
In your first post you mentioned that "device information/version/ExtROM version" section is BLANK, this somehow indicates that the Mini is configured with BS.
Check using File Explorer or via Active Sync. If you see a folder called Storage from My Device via File Explorer, or My Pocket PC via Active Sync then it's configured with BS. The other way to find out is to do a hard reset by pressing (and keep pressed) the Camera+Power button while pressing the reset switch. Note: This will eventually erase all your data. Be sue to backup first. If you did a hard reset, then at some point in time you will see that something is being installed automatically, meaning no BS.
For more info and guidance, check out the following threads contributed by very generous and dedicated members.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/viewtopic.php?t=46628
http://forum.xda-developers.com/viewtopic.php?t=33305
As for downloading files from the ftp, you should be logged in. The link you attached works perfectly for me. You could also use a ftp client software like CuteFtp.
ps. yep, CH is a nice country but quite expensive. If my memory serves me right, Zurich is the 3rd most expensive city in the world. I guess the only things cheaper here are the Swiss watches, Swiss knives, Swiss cheese, and Swiss chocolates (yummie) :lol:
Hey... it's working now! Thx to you, hehehe.... :lol:
So far so good after I manage to pull out the ExtROM using cuteFTP. Now in experimental mode to try out different stuffs.... getting more interesting.
If I do encounter any problem, I'll post again and hope you can help me once more
I miss the Swiss chocs.... yummy (especially white ones)... hopefully I can go there again soon. Btw, love the Swiss army too!
You're most welcome. Whenever you need help, continue posting on this thread or pm me.

ROM upgrade - how to create your own rom-questions ???

hi i have been looking through this formu but cannot really find what i am after. sorry in advance but if it was covered in other threads please give links.
i would like to upgrade my rom (current i am using pre-installed tmobile mda pro rom) to something batter. the problem is there is so many things in this forum that makes me conufused.
Is it possible (probably it is- but how) to upgrade my ROM by creating my own ROM eg take the best radio rom and extended rom with the stuff i want eg some application i am using right now - instead of normal keyboard get resco keyboard and instead of file explorer get resco explorer and so on and on and put them to the extended rom .
is there any soft to do it ? can someone provide me with links where i can find out something more about ROM cos wiki isnt really helpful and seems to be out of date.
any help wanted !
cheers, cudo
ps. or put tomtom to the extRom...rom that would feauture all the good stuff.
what a pity nobady is willing to help me..maybe u vac just point me to some accurate threads within this forum, if ther are some.
cheers, cudo
To put another Radio ROM in is trivial.
Take out the other two (ExtROM and OS) ROM images and just flash in the Radio file. I did this and didn't even need a hard reset.
To put TomTom into your ExtROM is easy too.
Once you have done your hard reset with your new ROM images and the ExtROM has loaded, you have 10MB of space that you can reclaim. There are instructions at the top of this forum for unlocking the ExtROM and making it appear as another memory area.
Please use backup software regularly so that you don't have to reflash the unit until the next OS upgrade.
Creating a ROM image is more hard work, and I don't know for sure that all the information is accurate. This is only my understanding of the process.
Install the programs that you want in your ROM to your PDA and make a note of the locations of all files and registry entries that are installed.
Take a recent ROM image and unpack it to your desktop.
Delete the programs that you don't want to install, and then search through the hives for the entries that relate to those programs. Delete those too.
Put the files and registry entries of the programs you are putting into your ROM into their post-installed locations.
Rebuild the ROM image.
Flash it in.
Hopefully this won't break your PDA if you get it wrong, I'm guessing that this is very much a trial and error process.
I haven't tried this.
Use this information at your own risk, it could break your PDA.
how do i separate the rom images from each other..i mean radio, os and extended roms ? when i unzip the UNI_TMUK_130114_130232_11003_WWE_BL101_Ship i am getting loads of files but cannot see the right ones.
cheers, cudo

/extended rom/

how do i get to the extended rom directory? i have a t-mobile mda and have total commander (reg editor) installed. I can't find the /extended rom/ directory and also don't really understand what is or what it is there for. i know this might sound like a remedial question to HTC Wizard experts, but if someone could help me I'd greatly appreciate it. Also, if it matters, I'm running xelecin's custom 2.26 ROM.
Thanks.
You won't see it by browsing.. just type in "/extended_rom" and TC will open it. Don't forget the underscore (_) character..
Gee - my first post!
thanks. i entered "/extended_rom" and it brought me to the directory. now that i know how to find it, what is it exactly there for? What is it's purpose. Also, can you access it from activesync? Thanks again for answering these questions.. i'm a beginner with PPCs, but I'm curious about how they work.
Thanks again.
Use the advanced search feature (under the search option tab) to look within the wizard updating forum for the term "extended rom", and you can start to understand how some of the rom developers utilize it (There are 12 pages of entries). These guys are the real 'wizards' - I could not begin to explain the way they do (I'm too new myself).
Your extended ROM contains all of your customizations. If it is a stock ROM it will have all of your carrier customizations. If you have a cooked Ext ROM it could have lots of things. One of the benefits is that if you have to completely clear out the storage it would re-install all the customizations that were in the ext rom.
barrydavisjr said:
...One of the benefits is that if you have to completely clear out the storage it would re-install all the customizations that were in the ext rom.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
so, in simple terms, if you were doing a hard reset (or clear storage in settings), the extended rom directory retains the files, and installs them if they are .cab files.. am I getting warm? Thanks for the info.
you got it. The carriers put it there so that one wouldn't have to call into tech support if you had to do a hard reset.
ok. i get this now. just a couple more questions..
-Do the .CAB files have to be in the main directory (/extended_rom/) or can they be in any subfolder?
-I was reading somewhere that it's a read-only directory.. is there a way to delete files, if so, can you delete the files one at a time or all once?
-finally, can you access the directory from active sync?
Thanks for all the help. I appreciate it.
As far as I know it is unable to be accessed through Active sync. And yes you can delete them off one by one. I would reccomend reading up on it. Faria has produced a wondrful guide on how to cook your extended ROM. When you delete a cab you also have to change the config settings in the notepad file. I have dabbled a little but Faria's guide will help you more.
!!!WARNING!!! if you delete the files from your ext rom and do a hard reset none of the carrier customizations will be installed.. furthermore.. you will not gain any extra space by deleting the cabs, it is a read only partition.. also with that being said, if you try to delete a file from there or add one you take a great risk of corrupting the ext rom and you will be forced to reflash the rom in order to get them back.
just one more question.. I have xelecin's 2.26 custom rom on my MDA. I'm thinking of switching over to either molski's or faria's latest rom. when i flash those roms, the extended rom from the current rom i'm using gets replaced with the custom rom's extended rom, right? does that make sense? Thanks for putting up with my dumb questions and actually answering them! Oh yeah, when i installed the rom i'm using now it did a CID unlock before flashing, so i assume my phone is still unlocked, right?
Thanks again for all the help. i really appreciate it.
thats right. - you'll get the new extended rom.
Extended Rom Contents
I only install a portion of the T-Mobile customization, which I accomplish by preventing the install of the extended rom. I have copied onto my miniSD the files I want to install, and then I just manually run the cabs from there. (Actually, that would erase them, so I copy them first.)
Then you can experiment with other ROMs, still getting the customizations that you need. Here is my thread on this topic:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=272613
I no longer install MP-Shorcut-MMS1-Voice-CV-TMUS-060404.CAB because that just adds MMS to the Messaging app and a shortcut for making voice tags and I don't use MMS.
By the way, it is really useful to install things like Total Commander, Memmaid, weather programs, RSS readers, Zagat, and so on to the miniSD, because then they don't need to be reinstalled after a hard reset. The only thing I have to do is add the shortcuts back, because shortcuts are erased after a hard reset. These programs will no longer auto-update, since nothing can run automatically from the miniSD, but with memmaid you can create automatic updates if you like.
Your backup program should always run from main memory! Also, programs that affect the today screen should also be run from main memory for increased speed. Pretty much everything else can go on the miniSD.

Schaps rom issue :S

i have a mda vario II , its at wm6 now, with a basic rom, i want to update it to the schaps rom, because the things i hear about are really good, i want to try it, 3 questions
1 do i lose my data, (sms data, contacts enz)
2 can something happen so my phone wont work anymore?
3 where can i download the newest dutch schaps rom
my english is not that good, im dutch....
oh yea, another question, do you get your garantee if you send it back to tmobile?
1. yes
2. possible - install hard SPL V7 1st to reduce risk.
3. Do a search to find if its available.
No, you need to put the Stock rom and SPL back on.
thanks for your answers, but can i make a backup with spb backup for example?
and do my programs on the sd micro card still work?
Yes, just don't format the card. Leave it as is and everything should install as it was before. I know SPB backup has 5 trial backup/restores so you may be able to try it without purchase (I have a licenced copy so I don't know if any limitations have been imposed other than the 5 trial backups).
Cheers...
Not to discourage you at all but schapps roms are fairly old now, if you look in the WM06 part of the Hermes forum you'll find some newer roms. Read the description to find out if you like it, then the last few pages to see any problems with and fixes available.
i have schaps installed now, its really great, but it can be done better in my opinion, which custom rom do you recommend me?
I use PDAViet V27 at the moment but also like PDACorner. Roms are a personal choice though, depends what you want it for, how much extra stuff you want in it and how fast you want it to run.
The I said are WM6.1. They are pretty good for me but depending on the 3rd party apps, I found, can become unstable when the apps are installed together.
I use SPBbackup 2.0.1 so if something does go wrong I can re-install a lot of stuff without a great deal of time being spent.
Cheers...
i use spb backup too, but now my programs that i first installed arent in my programs tab, and on my phone by programmabestanden (dutch for programfiles) i can start it tough
If the apps are in you programs filke on the sd card, use Resco explorer or total commander to create shortcuts of the .exe in the windows directory. windows>start menu>programs. Then they'll appear in the programs director of your phone.
For Resco it says "startmenu as shortcut", I have to move the shortcut manually to the programs directory or soft reset will do the trick too.
Cheers...
thankzz

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