Related
Hey
I am new to the Universal, very new. Infact, I just got it today! After using an Alpine since it came out, I gotta say this brick is really kewl.
Just one thing, the specs say it has 64mb RAM and 128MB ROM. But looking in control panel, the Storage Memory is 43.50MB (not even close to the 128MB) and the Program Memory is a respectable 49MB. So where's it all gone? Or am I missing something?
Apart from this, I have one other major complaint. If I leave it on for a while doing nothing, it becomes extremely sluggish when I start using it again. I check the memory usage and suddenly I see 20mb of my program memory has 'vanished'. Memory Leak?
Please enlighten me.
Cheers Dudes
Come on People.......Help us newbies out
I really got no idea about WM5. Even a link to explain all this would be helpful
Please......
Cheers Dudes
There was a very good reply about this on MSDN sites. I remember seeing it on a RSS feed.
Anyways the long and short of it is that the OS (+ customisations by the operator) take up between 70 & 80 Mb, the rest is then available as storage.
As for the RAM, the radio and XIP modules are the culprits in this case.
The start of the article could be found on http://blogs.msdn.com/windowsmobile/archive/2005/11/17/494177.aspx
http://blogs.msdn.com/windowsmobile/archive/2005/11/29/498154.aspx
moghisi101 said:
Come on People.......Help us newbies out
I really got no idea about WM5. Even a link to explain all this would be helpful
Please......
Cheers Dudes
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Dude
if you had taken the time to read any of the forums since the release of the device, you will find hundreds of discussions on this, try looking around as some of us have answered these questions just to many time already, given the number of discussions, and your newbie status, you will find 98% of your answers and 90% of the answers you going to ask in the next few weeks, already well and truly discussed and exhausted.
s.
Ok, cheers dudes. I'll have a look around, but the search function on this forums is useless. You have to resort to browsing 100s of pages.
Anyhowz, I aint a complete n00b. I've had an Alpine for ages and had uber customised it to the last byte. Is the way the extended rom works similar to what I had on the Alpine?
Thanks again
Ok, cheers dudes. I'll have a look around, but the search function on this forums is useless. You have to resort to browsing 100s of pages.
Anyhowz, I aint a complete n00b. I've had an Alpine for ages and had uber customised it to the last byte. Is the way the extended rom works similar to what I had on the Alpine?
Thanks again
no, the search function is not useless, but you need to use SENSIBLE and descriptive search terms, otherwise you will get crap.
The Universal comes with 128MB ROM and 64MB RAM as compared to its predecessors who had the exact opposite.
The 128MB ROM is divided into 2 parts:
1) OS + Extended ROM (around 84MB)
2) Storage (remaining 43.5MB as shown above
The 64MB RAM is 90% available to run programs. As with the earlier version of the OS, there is no longer a provision to alter the memory allocated between storage and program memory. Of the 64MB RAM, around 15MB RAM is used for running the OS while the rest (47.93 MB) is left for running installed programs. This is more than enough to do multi-tasking without hiccups.
Hope this helps If you still have any queries about it, please feel free to ask.
Hi all,
just got my new qtek9000 and, after reading some of the excelent posts on this forum, found out that by disabling the cache of the file system (setting EnableCache to 0 in registry for FATFS) concerning both the extended rom and the sd card I could get back some RAM memory which was being taken for that effect - almost 5 MB.
Does anybody know if setting the EnableCache to 0 for the IMGFS can also be done without harming the system? It is taking another 8 MB and I would prefer to have them for running programs rather than for a very small gain in speed with that cache ... the thing is that I am not quite sure what the IMGFS stands for.
Thanks a lot.
Hi, this is my first post on this forum, so feel free to delete it if I obey any rules, which I believe I don't.
I'm absolutely new to the PDA thing, I never had one, I never held one, and according to that, I never used one.
I think about buying one, but I still have too many unasked questions no one yet answered.
I definately don't want to use Windows on this one. So if there is a, let's say, chance higher than 50% that I won't be able to get Linux working on it, I simply won't buy it.
What I searched for and what I still need is an elaborated progress report, of how stable, fast and reasonable a HTC Universal can be used along with Linux. I'm so newbie that I don't even know if it will be able to do phone calls with Linux installed...
My provider is T-Mobile germany, and I could get one (called "MDA Pro" or "MDA IV") for 133€ (about 1:1 dollar, correct me if I am wrong)
I would get the "MDA Vario" for about 1€, but I cannot figure out the real model name, here is a picture:
http://www.audioelektronik.com/images/MDAVario.jpg
But back to my question: Who can offer a progress report? It would be perfect if the author would be at the same provider as me, but it's not really important. I also accept any provider proposals, as well as PDA proposals. I just thought of the Universal because I like the feature list and keyboard, but it won't be a problem to use a touchscreen exclusively.
So how usable is the HTC Universal with Linux? What can I do and what can't I?
You don't have to answer me myself if my questions are, at least partially, covered by a website. If you have any beginner information about installing, using and developing Linux on and for PDAs, I would love to see them.
If anyone prefers to contact me via ICQ, he is welcome to, I listed my number.
My jabber ID is: [email protected]
Hi,
we are doing our best to get Linux working on MDA Pro
http://wiki.xda-developers.com/index.php?pagename=UniversalProgress
Splendid, fast reply and good link. I'm sorry I couldn't find it. Anyone who is capable of it; feel free to delete this thread.
futlib said:
Splendid, fast reply and good link. I'm sorry I couldn't find it. Anyone who is capable of it; feel free to delete this thread.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can watch the detailed progress or help in this Thread
http://forum.xda-developers.com/viewtopic.php?t=35972&start=800
Hm, I would like to get in touch with development, but I cannot find a detailed introduction focused at newcommers in the development forum.
I never used assembler on a PPC, and though I wanted, I never wrote a Linux kernel module.
This is off-topic in this forum, but do you have a link?
Also great would be an universal emulator to try out ROMs and work on them a little. Is anything available/in progress/planned?
futlib said:
Hm, I would like to get in touch with development, but I cannot find a detailed introduction focused at newcommers in the development forum.
I never used assembler on a PPC, and though I wanted, I never wrote a Linux kernel module.
This is off-topic in this forum, but do you have a link?
Also great would be an universal emulator to try out ROMs and work on them a little. Is anything available/in progress/planned?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
First of all, you should go around the corner, find the next T-Mobile shop and by your MDA Pro device :`)
After that, you can follow the instructions installing Linux on a SD Card from the wiki page. The first link, i gave you.
After that, you can ask more questions in the "Linux on Universal" Thread :`)
Maybe if you are familar with Linux, you can help building a rootfs image.
futlib said:
I never used assembler on a PPC, and though I wanted, I never wrote a Linux kernel module.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You don't need to. The main problems are in the hardware
area, wince driver operation, nice wince GUI installer,
nice windows GUI installer, fixing bugs in Qt programs.
Also great would be an universal emulator to try out ROMs and work on them a little.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
We are testing everything on the real hardware.
Creating a device "emulator" is even more complicated
than fully porting Linux.
Okay, I think I'll really buy one.
I added you to ICQ EyeOfTheStorm, since I have some more questions and really don't want to flood the forum. Just greet me if you online, and if it doesn't bother
<edit>
Programming GUI programs is indeed my task at work atm, I think I could be of help in that part. I mainly use C and C++ and python. But I'll first need to buy my PDA, so...
</edit>
futlib said:
Okay, I think I'll really buy one.
I added you to ICQ EyeOfTheStorm, since I have some more questions and really don't want to flood the forum. Just greet me if you online, and if it doesn't bother
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ups, my ICQ is depricated. Will never go online. So, if you have aditional Questions, ask in the Linux on Universal Forum.
Is there an IRC channel?
(this thread is so much of a chat ;D)
So, I'm only one step away from buying my device.
Now I only have some last questions I need answered before I buy it:
The root filesystem HAS to be on SD/MMC Cards <= 1024MB.
How do you guys exchange music etc.? Can I really not install the root filesystem on the internal memory of that device? Would 128 MB be enough?
I'm warned that my device could be damaged. If so, would the providers warranty apply? Or does it expire if I change the operating system?
The mini-howto tells me to do a backup, but I cannot find an explanation of how to do this.
I think it should just be a dd of the device when mounted on my workstation, but I prefer to have an explanation anyway.
Would I be able to reinstall this windows CE whatever thing whenever I want if I do a backup?
futlib said:
So, I'm only one step away from buying my device.
Now I only have some last questions I need answered before I buy it:
The root filesystem HAS to be on SD/MMC Cards <= 1024MB.
How do you guys exchange music etc.? Can I really not install the root filesystem on the internal memory of that device? Would 128 MB be enough?
I'm warned that my device could be damaged. If so, would the providers warranty apply? Or does it expire if I change the operating system?
The mini-howto tells me to do a backup, but I cannot find an explanation of how to do this.
I think it should just be a dd of the device when mounted on my workstation, but I prefer to have an explanation anyway.
Would I be able to reinstall this windows CE whatever thing whenever I want if I do a backup?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As far as I know, we still have the 1GB SD Card limit. Yes, you have to install the rootfs on the SD Card. 128 MB are enough for hosting the basic rootfs image.
Well, I just bought this device. I will get it on the 20. of juni. (It's my birthday, and this is no coincidence ;D)
There is only one thing left of this list I really need to know:
Can I reinstall this windows CE thing?
I will perhaps hit a situation were I need something fully functionaning ASAP, so I'd love to know.
But I allready bought it, this is just important for my decision to install Linux on it. If I can somehow backup or reinstall this windows CE thing, I'll definately follow the guide and help development as good as possible for me.
I got my device, followed the guide, installed opie and gpe on it (first tried opie, didn't like the look and then switched to gpe. Found out that GPE cannot manage the universals monitor-spin and switched back to opie.) and now I have got everything up and running.
Couldn't find anything non-working yet too, though I still need to figure out how to make (at least the keyboard layout) german.
Now I also know that Opie/GPE can coexist with WinCE without problems, which makes me very happy.
But there is one thing that still bothers me:
I cannot go online via GPRS or make/accept phone calls when Linux is booted.
Is this possible at all? Neither Opie nor GPE do seem to have any software for doing a phone call.
Is there a guide on how to set up telephony and GPRS internet?
<edit>
Found some funky new resources:
http://handhelds.org/moin/moin.cgi/Universal
Is the page I have been searching for a while and
#htc-linux (@freenode)
is the channel I have been searching for a while.
The guys just told me that it is not (yet) possible to do phone calls, but they are working on it. I will try to compile and make the winCE installer working now.
</edit>
I've spent a good while looking and i cannot find a file recovery/raw disk access program that's available for mobile devices, could be a nice opportunity for someone!!!
I'd do it myself if i'd got the time lol
No offence but form the title it looks almost like your offering a paying job. Maybe something a little less flashy next time?
Any way have you checked out an app called pocket mechanic?
http://www.pocketgear.com/software_detail.asp?id=12178&associateid=373
It comes pretty close to what you want.
The problem with file recovery is the fact that these devices use RAM or FLASH memory and not hard disks. If it's RAM (WM2002 / 2003) there is no way to recover the file once it has been deleted.
With flash, from what I understand it still might be possible but a lot trickier than with HD.
ooops
No not quite offering a paid job to someone lol
Hmm as for the recovery option obviously i need to learn a lot more about the management of storage on these devices, i'd assumed they followed the usual method of FAT/NTFS rules regarding storage and deletion ?
So once a file is deleted the system automatically defragements the allocated space to reclaim it?
Could use a lot more input on this, as i assumed it was just going to be a case of dumping the content on the device onto a card or via usb to comp using a basic read from location xxxxx write to location yyyyy
Any others care to comment ?
oh and device in question is an 02 XDA Mini-S !
Re: ooops
wp4054 said:
So once a file is deleted the system automatically defragements the allocated space to reclaim it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, because flash "wears out". M$ have written WM5 to spread out the reading/writing randomly (kind of) across the whole of the memory to minimize "wear" and maximize the life of the flash. Defragmenting would negate this by concentrating read/writes to specific areas and because flash is solid state defraging is not needed anyway.
Right now i'm starting to understand, so i guess my question should be when something is deleted can it be recovered?
How long before the data is 'nuked' ?
The device in question has not been used since the deletion occured but i would still like to try and dump the contents of the internal 'drive' to see what if anything remains, is this feasible?
Thanks for all your assistance guys i'm on a learning curve here!
First, you have to tell us exactly what device it is and what OS it is currently running.
Like I said before, if it is a WM2003 device your data was probably in RAM and is lost forever.
Apologies i did state in my previous post that it an 02 XDA Mini-s or magician as it's known on here running windows mobile 5
Ideally all i want to do is read all the raw data from the machine either onto PC or onto a card so that it can then be analysed using a full screen hex editor/ data recoverer, i suspect the messages/data are still there but just with truncated headers/file markers
Actually, I should be the one to apologize, I missed that line.
Unfortunately, as I stated in previous posts, since your device has the WM 2003 OS and its main memory is RAM if the file was in the main memory, once it was deleted it is gone for good.
I think itsme has some tool for dumping memory (check the WiKi for itsutils or look for his posts) but I doubt they will help you.
Sorry.
Thanks will try using those as a start, i suspect that all may not be lost but i won't know till i can dump the affected memory/storage. The unit has not been powered down or used since and i'm hoping that the information i seek is still lurking there somewhere lol
Made me get me C++ hat back on anyway if nothing else !
Daresay i will be needing a lot more help on this one yet, i suspect the SMS raw data is still about somwehere and i'm gonna try find it lol
Moral of the story?
Don't lend your PDA to a friend that hasn't got a clue what they're doing!! (even if they are desperate!!)
wp4054 - investigate Buzz's grabit program on here. This may not be grabbing the memory you need, but it'll give you a good headstart on how to use the memory read/write functions.
You probably want to be reading other partitions, but the idea should still hold.
Frankly, it's likely to be a lot of work for a very small chance of success.
If the memory works like standard FAT, and they were files, it wouldn't be so bad. But the SMS data is stored in a database that is likely to be shuffled around quite a lot for efficiency, and so unlikely to be highly recoverable.
But let us know how you get on.
V
wp4054 said:
Apologies i did state in my previous post that it an 02 XDA Mini-s or magician as it's known on here running windows mobile 5
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's not a Magician, it's a Wizard.
O2 XDA Mini = Magician - runs WM2003SE
O2 XDA Mini S = Wizard - runs WM5
Cheers Vijay i guess i won't know till i try!
I was just thinking that the memory behaved like a disk in that storage was not reallocated immediatley, will let all know what if anything my findings are, i wouldn't normally be bothererd if it was just the odd message but it was everything that was deleted, read messages which i wanted /needed to keep not just the ones in the deleted folder!
Thanks for the help it's appreciated
Glenn (who just realised he's not put a name to any of his previous posts! , oops)
That's not a Magician, it's a Wizard.
O2 XDA Mini = Magician - runs WM2003SE
O2 XDA Mini S = Wizard - runs WM5
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So does that mean i have a better chance of data recovery on this device??
My first post.
First of all to all the seniors, gr8 forum u guys got here.
Second, it's got so much information I cant make head or tail of anything
I am going to be purchasing a HTC P3400i WM 6.0 version soon, most probably in the next week or so.
This is the first time am going to be using a WM device so I was trying to get a feel of things by reading through the posts here.
I have few questions,
1. What exactly is a ROM, why is it called so and will it void my warranty?
2. I understand it is possible to give the p3400i a "touchflow" look can i do it w/o using a "ROM".
3. When using a WM device what are the basic things that one should learn/understand/take care of??
4. Which posts should I go through and what order to understand the whole concept of WM devices, without actually experimenting with my own device.
5 Finally thanks in advance looking forward to your replies and guidance.
P.S: I sincerely hope my post is in the correct section, coz a lot of my questions are of the "General" category.
1. ROM is actually "Read Only files in your pda" ... Its actually the OS and its files running on your gadget........The default OS in p3400i or gene100 comes with lot of junk files and drivers and the RAM will not be sufficient to run all the new Programs....SO dvlpers are cooking faster ROMS than the default one by modifying these files and drivers..... also they make use of files from other faster devices.....YEs it will void your warranty... But normally all the software issues can be rectified.......
2.YEs u can give ur pda touch flo without using by softwares like.......M2D , SPB Mobile shell, Pointui......etc...etc.... But it will faster it will be better if its in a ROM....
3. There are many things.....one advice.....do a research before doing anything stupid on your device,...... Ask lot of questions and doubts...... dont get ur device bricked......
4.Read the Sticky Thread by Sumit before flashing........
Great answer go4thomman Here are my views :
1. A ROM actually is an image, much like images of CDs you create with burning software. It contains the Windows Mobile Operating system, Drivers to run your device as well as Manufacturer made programs to make the best use of device. All these things are packed into a single file, much like you do with zip files. Your phones contains 128 MB of memory for putting things on it. So to provide base functionality to the device, this ROM is written to that memory and that portion is made read only so that things like viruses (and humans ) don't mess around with the important files. The concept of ROM is there only to make this process simpler, as you don't have a CDROM drive in your mobile to pop a cd and install OS into it. Also a phone is expected to come in ready to use condition, not like a computer. So a ROM provides all the software related functionality to your phone. After that, rest of the remaining memory becomes your phone memory.
Device Manufacturers don't allow making custom roms and flashing them to phones as it makes it difficult for them to provide support. So they lock the device using their digital certificates as protection. This locking is done in the special part of the phone called the SPL (Second Program Loader) and the lock is called CID (Carrier IDentifier). SO to unlock the phone, you need to install a SPL that is CID unlocked but this is against the warranty policy of HTC or any other manufacturer for that matter. Plus the process is dangerous and if not done properly can make your device non functional, non booting also called a "Brick" coz the only thing you can then do with it is using it like the one
Fortunately, we have some really good people here who have developed safe unlocking methods as well as unbricking solutions for certain situations (but not all). Two such people that have worked for GENE SPL are Olipro (old gene) and Orefkov (new gene).
For more info regarding this and to know how to do it, ready the sticky post by me.
2. Touchflo refers to two things, Finger scrolling in applications and the Manilla 2D interface. Finger scrolling is something that you will find in recent versions of Windows Mobile OS. So if you upgrade to newer ROMs you will get it. There is also a 3rd party driver available called FTouchFLO but the older versions have problems and newer are not free.
The Manilla 2D interface, which HTC calls TouchFLO in its specs but manilla inside the ROM, is a Today plug in that allows accessing most of the phone functions without going through the usual Windows Mobile OS menus. This plugin is great, looks cool and works nicely. But its disk and ram footprints are quiet large. so HTC only uses it with devices which have 256 MB flash memory and 128 MB of RAM. It is possible to use this plugin on GENE but using it from phone memory is not recommended as it is way too slow that way. When it is cooked into the ROM, it takes half the space as ROM files are compressed and runs smoother. Cons of this plugin are that it acquires all of the screen space so you cant use any other plugin with it, it doesn't even allows to enable any other plugin, It hogs considerable amount of RAM, Decreases the battery backup by 5%, and is not easily customizable.
3. There is not much special you have to do to take care of this baby, its quiet sturdy. But do keep these things in mind:
a. Discharge the battery fully atleast once a week.
b. Use a good quality screen protector with the screen, never ever do cold lamination on the screen, it damages it. Also replace the protector every 6-8 months or so.
c. Avoid hard tapping on the screen, its quiet sensitive and if its not responding, its probably because software is hanging. Dont hit your hardware for that
d. Keep it away from liquids, get cold lamination on the rest of the body to avoid scratches.
e. Keep the volume at a point less than full, speaker sounds good that way.
f. Keep brightness and power settings to the minimum that you prefer, to save battery.
4. This is a forum not a book so i cannot recommend you any particular order, but do read things related to flashing and cooking as well as the threads related to ROMs in the gene section. Wiki is also a good place to learn things, as well as do keep an eye on General Discussions and Development and Hacking section for getting important information and software upgrades.
Always Search before you start a thread or be ready for flaming, respect other members, never demand things as you are not paying for anything and nobody owes you anything, And read thoroughly and between the lines before attempting anything with your phone.
Good luck!
One more thing, rename this thread to "Useful Information for people new to XDA and Windows Mobiles". That way, i guess i wont have to type it all again. You can rename you threads by double cliking besides the title of the thread in the list of threads.
Thanks a lot guys.
Hi guys, I'm new to this forum and it's a pleasure to be a new member! As a brief introduction, I'm completely new to HTC, Windows Mobile and any non-Symbian device! I've used Nokia's, Sony Ericssons & Motorola's all my life and Symbian is all I know, I think you get the picture......
Anyhow, I should be getting my HD2 within the next few days because I fell in love with it as soon as I saw it and I just want to know where to start?! This looks like the most comprehensive forum I've seen on the net and I couldn't think of a better place to start learning. I know it's a bit of a broad question and I have had a look through a number of posts to get my bearings, as such. I've seen posts about Roms, registry modifications, patches...... and it all sounds very interesting and I want to know all the functions and information I can about my new device.
Coming from the Symbian background, everything is pretty straightforward but Windows Mobile sounds a lot more technical and something I'm looking forward to learning about. Any information or tips about what I should & shouldn't do to help improve performance/tweak the device would be much appreciated and I'm a fast learner. PS I've seen this post:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=583638
and will work my way through it when I get the device, but it seems to be aimed at people with some previous experience with this platform. I'm sure you guys see these tpye of 'Help Me!' posts all the time but thanks in advance.
Hello Gargon, welcome aboard!
I too am new to these forums and I've spent a not-insignificant amount of time browsing threads on the HD2 since I made the decision to finally ditch the venerable nokia 6030 that has served me so well all these years. Being a self-confessed techie the HD2 appealed to me the very instant I first caught a glimpse of it in all its Kubrick monolithic glory and as soon as O2 release info on their tariffs I will be seriously weighing up my options.
Now, let's get down to the nitty gritty. As a disclaimer I've only been here a short while so I wouldn't be surprised if I get a few facts wrong. Hopefully someone will correct me if I do!
The HD2 is powered by Windows Mobile 6.5 edition and as you might imagine it's not too dissimilar in how it operates to the PC desktop version. You have a desktop, start menu, program files etc. with all the various settings held by the registry. The beauty of WinMo is that it is far more customisable than the iPhone OS/Symbian in that you can change pretty much everything you see and also how you interact with the device. For example, a developer on these boards has released an application which enables the vibration feature on almost every keypress whereas the default HD2 only goes so far. Another dev has released an app which changes HTC's desktop from a 3x3 grid of shortcuts to 4x4. You can even do away with HTC's superb frontend entirely and install something like SPB Mobile Shell which has a snazzy rotating cube effect desktop and many other alternative enhancements (although you will have to pay for this). And this is only the tip of the iceberg! There are thousands of applications and games out there on the internet, and with Microsoft finally getting into the appstore gig we can expect a well-stocked central repository for software sometime in the near future. Failing that, google is our friend
With the help of the talented and selfless developers here at xda-dev almost anything is possible, including the potential for changing the operating system entirely, so you can't rule out the HD2 one day running Android or WM7 somewhere down the line, however this depends on one crucial bit of software -- the Hard SPL. Without this essential bit of kit, peons such as myself are unable to reflash the device to a different operating system or even a different version of the current OS (e.g. a lite version to save valuable ROM space, or an enhanced version with greater functionality). Everything hinges on this being developed by the code masters behind the scenes however such projects require a lot of skill, time and effort and such is the support of the community here that monetary donations are pledged in gratitude for past endeavours and in the hope of new enterprise.
As for installing applications themselves, I haven't yet delved deep enough to give you a comprehensive answer, however I suspect that there are FAQs on the parent forums which will give you all the information you need. From what I can tell, applications are released in .cab format which are executed from the phone and self-install. I can't wait until I can get my grubby paws on this masterpiece and get busy pushing buttons! I'm sure I've missed a whole lot of information but my lids are getting heavy and my battery needs charging. I hope this wasn't too patronising for you and I'm sure some other people here will gladly fill you in on anything I've missed.
Welcome aboard, great first posting. Showing the threads you read already makes many people want to help you more.
If you come from Symbian, some stuff will be the same, i.e. you use icons for programs.
What differs the most is the customization possibilities and the level of deep control you have over the behaviour of your new machine.
Get to grips with Microsoft Mobile Device Center, (syncing your data).
Do you have an Exchange account or Gmail ? You can setup your device to have pushmail connectivity with GMail or Exchange.
If you don't own an Exchange Server, you can setup your own free
Custom Domain at http://domains.live.com and have your own email adress as a LIVE-ID and have pushmail with it (free).
Then, I would dig in to the many cool free applications around.
Yes, hunt for .cab files as they will install over the air (OTA) and from your device.
Another tip: When you get your device, start at the first Icon, view it, try and dig deeper in the menu's, always. Press and hold the screen/text to see if there are context menu's.
Then work your way through all the settings and icons available. It will take you about 3 days to see all the menu's and options, although the first 80% you will discover the first day
Hope you will enjoy the transition.
Hey guys
First off, this a awesome site with heaps of help. And advice which is great
Secondly I amnew here too and hopefully getting my hd2 soon. Can't wait!!
Thanks a lot for the replies guys, very informative H2D2 and thanks for the tips lucid. It's good to know that there are other people in a similar situation to myself! If anyone can post any relevant links to any apps or roms/cab files that might be useful for a first-timer then it would be much appreciated. In the meantime, I'll keep doing the research and, if I find anything myself, I'll post it here. Thanks again.
Well I'm new as well so hi everyone!
I used to have a wm phone but that was a few years ago and things have changed a lot since then... so have a bit of catching up to do. Been browsing on here the last few days and ordered the HD2 this morning.
Gargon, I'm sure you'll get used to it all in no time, I know it all looks confusing at first but really it's not that bad and I'm sure the nice people on here will help if you're stuck.
Greetings our new community members
I was in the same situation as You guys half year ago when I purchased my first WM device, the Diamond2. And now Im awaiting my HD2 already ordered
As for the Windows Mobile platform, it is the most powerful, sophisticated and versatile mobile platform ever made, and that's why it has always attracted more advanced users. But on the other hand, it is in many ways very similar to Windowses on your PCs At first you may feel a little overwhelmed of all the functions, tips, tricks, registry hacks and so on. But what's great about Windows Mobile platform, is that once you start to "feel" it, then playing around with your phone becomes extremely addictive. I remember my first week with the Diamond2, it was nothing else than playing with it, installing and testing every trick i could possibly find
Moving on to the relevant stuff:
First of all, you should equip your device with a decent file explorer, as the native WM one is a bit clunky. I recommend Resco File Explorer. Second, equip yourself with a registry editor, as you gonna need it for tweaks. Resco Explorer has a plugin for registry editing and there are even desktop PC editors which you can use when device is connected to the PC.
As for application installation, it can be performed in 2 ways:
1).cab files. These are like .sis in Symbian. You run them directly from the device just by executing them from any file manager.
2).exe files. Those can be installed from your PC when the device is connected to it. Sometimes developers make small apps for phones which are in form of exe files which are designed to run directly from the device. This is possible because every app after installation usually has its folder in Program Files where an exe file of the app itsself is stored (exactly the same as on Your PC Windows)
Moving on to the interface. One of the biggest advantages of Windows Mobile is that it enables you to change practically the whole interface with minimum effort. The native WM interface is unfortunately very old and not finger friendly, and thats why every major company designed their own interfaces. On the HD2 it is called Sense. In fact Sense is only a further developement of an interface which was called TouchFlo 3D. And one thing more you should know. Developers on this forum use the code name of this interface, which is Manila. HD2 has the latest Manila v2.5. So basically Manila=TouchFlo=Sense.
Feel free to ask any questions, everyone of us was a newbie at first I personally am very happy to see new people being attracted by new fantastic WM devices. I myself was a Nokia/Symbian fan for many years, untill half a year ago I discovered that I was living in the darkness all these years
The XDA-Developers is one of the greatest, biggest and oldest communities on the whole internet. This makes this community concrete, mature and serious. This means that members are very helpful to each other and they always communicate with a certain level of etiquette, so You surely won't hear any offensive words, swears or any vulgarisms
So enjoy your new devices and this community, as it will bring you many happy moments, i guarantee this to You
the wiki is a great tool (not much on the HD2 in there yet) but background reading on other devices is good.
As long as you're willing to take time to learn to use the search (often searching around the term you're looking for) then you'll solve issues you may have quickly as well..
several of us are happy to discuss stuff on PM as well..
and don't forget if you find something that you think others would find useful,
The WIKI is always there, to be edited at your leisure
Welcome
Very nice attitude from Gargon01 and H2D2.
You are on the right track about the winmo os.
In itself it is clunky on the surface but the structure sits on the registry database which is accessible through a registry editor.
This forum is quite unique and must be the largest of It's kind, that is, a community of smartphone developers/hackers.
I have been dropping in for 4 years but only started flashing recently after buying an HD.
The HD came with an earlier development of Touchflo and I saw rom versions on Youtube etc of more advanced versions from XDA Devs.
I took the plunge in flashing roms and have been addicted ever since.
I am running the latest version of sense on my HD but am awaiting an HD2 from clove tech on the uk for which sense was made.
There are many brilliant people in this community who generously offer their creativity, time and energy.
You are in the right place. More will be revealed.
Thanks a lot for the responses guys, exactly what me and I'm sure a lot of other new users are looking for! I'll look for the Resco File Viewer jgal, there was a similar app called Modo on Symbian that was also used for deep-file exploration/modification purposes.
Also, it's good to know that there are a lot of similarities to the desktop version of Windows. I'd like to think that I'm pretty proficient with that so I'll look forward to taking that knowledge and applying it to the HD2.
A big thanks to all the other users who have contributed to the post as well! I was pretty sure that my thread would fade away into non-existence but it's good to know that people seem genuinely interested in offering help and advice.
I should hopefully be getting the handset on Monday so I'll give it a good examination and keep you all posted should I run into any problems. Keep the tips/links coming though, my brain is like a sponge!! Cheers.