Database Users

ExtROM Cab Files

Hi all,
I've had my S100 for a week now. It came with ROM ver 1.06 (I think) and right on the 1st day I upgraded to 1.11 and finally decided to apply Anansky's Big Storage ROM. All work perfectly even with my Jabra BT800. I've been trying many different 3rd party software. As usual, after installing and deinstalling, my unit became unstable and therefore would like to start from scratch.
In XDA's ftp site there is a Qtek 1.11 Ext ROM zip file. At first I installed all, but I think I could do away with some. Based on the filenames, some are self explanatory but I don't know which ones I can do without. Could someone be kind enough to explain?
Delete_vdisk_shortcut_WWE.sa.CAB What does this do?
Caller_ID_Magician_Generic_WWE_RC13.CAB Selft explanatory
SmartDialing_Magician_Generic_WWE_RC13.CAB I've read in other threads that some don't install this when using sw like MSVoice Commands.
PhonePad_Magician_Generic_WWE_RC12.CAB I think this contains T9 and what else? How can I edit this file to remove unwanted languages other stuff?
CAB-ArcsoftMMS-20022-Magician-Generic-ENU-08Mar05.cab I believe this is essential, right?
CV2.41.386_WWE.CAB No clue. Is it essential?
JMM101257_WWE_1004.CAB No clue. Is it essential?
BTHUSB_PATCH_AKU26.CAB Self explanatory
Version_WWE_111129.sa.CAB What is it for? Is it essential?

And does anyone know of how to delete these .cabs? I hit soft reset before it autoloaded all of those above mentioned .cabs. IS it possible to delete them or at least make them non accessible?

johnannie said:
And does anyone know of how to delete these .cabs? I hit soft reset before it autoloaded all of those above mentioned .cabs. IS it possible to delete them or at least make them non accessible?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you have the Anansky ROM installed I don't think you will have the option to install the extended ROM when you do a hard reset, mine doesn't. You have to install the extended ROM seperately. You should have made a backup of your extended ROM before doing the Anansky hack. If you don't have it, maybe you can download it from the XDA ftp site. Remember only install .cab files, don't execute the autorun or you may wipe out your big storage. Even if you install all of the Ext. ROM files, they don't take up much space in the storage area (maybe 1.5 or 2 meg.) depending on your Ext. ROM.

Thanks for the responses but I would like some information from you experts on the following:
1. Which CAB files can I do away with and why?
2. How can I edit the PhonePad.CAB in order to remove unwanted languages? Any special software needed?
The Qtek 1.11 ExtROM found in this forum's FTP site has 9 CAB files. Some of them like the Caller ID is self explanatory, meaning this must definitely be installed if Caller ID is one of the functions one needs.

Unlocking Extrom

I'm trying to unlock the extended rom on my MDA Compact. I've downloaded extrom tools, but whenever I try anything, I get an error saying 'FL_IOCTL_BDTL_HW_PROTECTION'. Is there some sort of hardware jumper perhaps stopping me from unlocking the extended rom?

Echilon said:
I'm trying to unlock the extended rom on my MDA Compact. I've downloaded extrom tools, but whenever I try anything, I get an error saying 'FL_IOCTL_BDTL_HW_PROTECTION'. Is there some sort of hardware jumper perhaps stopping me from unlocking the extended rom?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
hello!
ur MDA compact is it same with xda2 mini ???

What exactly do you mean with unlocking? If you only want to see the contents of the Ext_Rom, you have to do a hard reset and, before adjusting the Touchscreen, a soft reset. After the reboot you should be able to see the files. This might not work for newer Roms. Another possibility would be to use the Vdisk program. Search here in the forum.
If you want to write onto your Ext_Rom, meaning to free its space for additional storage (the files saved in the Ext_Rom will be deleted by this procedure - as I remember also the content of your storage), you have to follow this link

Dandie said:
What exactly do you mean with unlocking? If you only want to see the contents of the Ext_Rom, you have to do a hard reset and, before adjusting the Touchscreen, a soft reset. After the reboot you should be able to see the files. This might not work for newer Roms. Another possibility would be to use the Vdisk program. Search here in the forum.
If you want to write onto your Ext_Rom, meaning to free its space for additional storage (the files saved in the Ext_Rom will be deleted by this procedure - as I remember also the content of your storage), you have to follow this link
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thanks!!!
but i still cant get wat i wan !!! anywhere thanks for ur help if any news things or u get the information for unlock the xda2mini extrom pls tell me !!! thanks u very much !!!!!

Did you read the posts in the link I referred to? There's information about how to make the Ext_Rom writable. Is that what you mean?

Thanks for the link, but I don't want to downgrade just to unlock it. I was thinking I could just delete all of the automatic T-Mobile customization.

Downgrade to unlock it? What do you mean? You can patch every Rom version to the BigStorage one, making the storage of the Ext_Rom writable. If you only want to get rid of the branding and automatic installation of the provider specific software, you have to make a HardReset and, right after the touchscreen calibration, a soft reset. That removes all branding and you can see the Ext_Rom in your file browser.

unlock extrom
Dandie said:
Downgrade to unlock it? What do you mean? You can patch every Rom version to the BigStorage one, making the storage of the Ext_Rom writable. If you only want to get rid of the branding and automatic installation of the provider specific software, you have to make a HardReset and, right after the touchscreen calibration, a soft reset. That removes all branding and you can see the Ext_Rom in your file browser.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
hello !!!
I mean i want to unlock my extrom for delete some useless cab file
and put in some cab file automatic install when im hardreset i can moditfy my config.txt to make it automatic install ! thanks and can u upload BigStorage installer for me ?? i cant download from ftp!!! thanks u very much dandie!!!

XDA2i Guide to cooking the Extended ROM

I finally found a method for backing up and modifying the Extended ROM on an XDA2i device.
http://en.pdamobiz.com/en/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=373&PN=1
Unfortunately, although this method is able to do most of what I want, some of the cab files do not self-extract successfully during the reset process.
Graham. -- Issue resolved. No spaces allowed in Cab file name --
Before you ask, yes the cab files do self-extract successfully if tried manually (i.e. outside of the reset process).
If anyone has any ideas why some cab files work and others do not, please let me know.

I played with the information in the article yesterday.. Some information in the article is incorrect. They state the ext. rom is 24 MB but when following the steps on the website this is incorrect !
Sure, extra drive reports a 24 MB drive but the what's backuped to the SD card doesn't include the whole 24 MB the ext. rom supposedly has !
What I'm typing below is more guess work than knowledge.
"d2s 80000000 3BF0000" probably means "dump to SD card" for a total length of 80000000 hex starting at 3BF0000 hex.
80000000 hex is 2147483648 in decimal. These aren't the amount in bytes that are copied.. I to honest it I have no real idea in what it are but when dividing it by 1024^2/100 you get 20,48. The / 100 is something I made up since that gives me about the amount in MBs I can put in the ext. ROM without having corrupted files. I don't want to experiment with larger values since I haven't studied the tools that are used in the article enough yet.
In short, be sure not to put more than say 20 MB in the ext. ROM and most likely your problems are solved. I personally put an executable sprite backup file in the ext ROM, packaged it in a way it will be copied to storage and run from there. It's the most effective way I could think of to fill an extended ROM. Simply with a fully installed but clean backup of the pocket pc.
Anyhow, that's it for now.

I considered it being a problem with size and reduced the amount of data in the Extended ROM by a huge amount (deleted several of the cab files that I did not need).
This reduced it down to around 13Mb for what it's worth.
All of the files installed to the ROM ok, but when the process which reads the Config.txt file reached the parts regarding two of the cabs I wanted to install, the files failed to self-extract without giving any feedback.
Several other cab files I wanted to install worked fine.
What all this means is that the problem (probably) lies somewhere other than the size of the Extended ROM.
Thanks for the post sparcle and if you find out anything more please let me know.
If anyone else can help here, please feel free to contribute.
Graham.

As above guide:
CE Rom size is 2700000 (hex)
Total backup size is 3BF0000 (hex)
So extended rom size is 3BF0000-2700000 = 14F0000 (hex) or 21,954,560 (dec)
So extended rom size shall not be over than 21,954,560 in total space.
-----------------------
But itsme's document
http://wiki.xda-developers.com/index.php?pagename=AlpineRomStructure
82700000-83f00000 extended rom
So backup range shall be 3F00000. (size = 66060288 (dec) which you can not use 64mb card, you have to use 128mb card to backup)
So sorry, I'll ask my friend ruchonburi to recheck again.

Just a quick note on the sizes you gave above:
83,f00,000 - 82,700,000 = 1,800,000 (hex)
= 25,165,824 (dec) (24Mb) for the extended rom.
83,f00,000 - 80,000,000
= 3,f00,000 (hex) = 63Mb for the whole rom
The document given at the site uses:
80,000,000 to 83,bf0,000 which may miss some of the extended ROM, which may explain my problem.
I will try using the numbers from wiki and see if it works.
Cheers,
Graham.

I tried using d2s 80000000 3f00000 to create the SD Card backup initially and I still had the same problem with some CAB files extracting successfully and some not.
Graham.

Looks like the issue may lie with spaces in the CAB filenames.
If it is I will kick myself for not realising it sooner and then post here to let you know.
Graham.

Ouch, ouch, ouch....
I've finished kicking myself.
The problem was indeed the space in the cab filename.
On the plus side it means that the process works fine.
Graham.

i just want to ask......by cooking Ext Rom....how much free space that can be use after that???? does it effect any upgrade in the future????

The Extended ROM is an area that you cannot normally write to and is not considered part of the memory (as far as I am aware) under Settings/Memory.
By cooking the ROM you can alter what applications get installed when the device is hard reset. The installed applications will take up their normal memory allocation so in that respect it will reduce the amount of memory available to further applications.
It is possible to increase the amount of memory available by cooking the ROM as there may be elements of the Extended ROM that came with the device that you do not actually want installed. This is done either by removing the relevant cab file completely or by removing the relevant entry from the Config.txt file (both should be done, but one or the other will have the same effect).
Hope this helps,
Graham.

gbird, thanks very much for that information. im sorry because asking question just about benefit, not about how and why. thanks again!

Hi fellow alpine owners
I'm keen to follow your tips and do some work in the kitchen.
I have downloaded all the relevant articles from the link provided so thankyou for that.
However i'm reluctant to take the first step with the thought of a unrecoverable disaster on my hands. MY NEW XDA2i!! So before i get started i thought i would consult the experts for any tips and traps for young players.
I've bought myself a large enough quality SD card to dump to.
I guess the aim of the exercise is to a remove unwanted programs and install some of the cool features of Special Edition ROM 1.2 including that really excellent anti theft tool.
Any assistance would be greatly appreciated, with what to remove/ install and how thanks in advance.
Miket
ROM version 1.11.00
ROM date 01/27/05
Radio version 1.03.00
Protocol Version 1337.42
ExtROM version 1.11.162 WWE

First tip, use the process to back up the ROM of the device and keep it very safe.
Since all you will be playing with is the Extended ROM (and not messing with the OS Rom or Radio Rom) the good news is that if you removed all of the files from the Extended Rom you would still be able to boot the device. This gives you an opportunity to remove files to see what they install. If it goes really wrong, you can restore the Extended Rom from the SD card backup.
The XDA2i device does have a lot of room on it for additional items so you can add in extra Cab files or Exe files if you wish. You need to modify the Config.txt file to make the Extended Rom run these extras.
As for which files do what, there is a lot of info available around this site and others and I am afraid I do not have time to go into it at the moment.
I will see if I get some time over the next few days, but work is a little hectic at the moment.
Hope you have fun,
Graham.

Thanks for the speedy reply Graham
Will endevour to make backup this evening and start chopping up extended ROM.
Any thoughts on the instructions provided by this web site.
http://en.pdamobiz.com/en/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=373&PN=1
Obviously a highly regarded PDA hacker.
I will be working through these. It's a bumber that XDA2i is so arkward.
Thanks for now
Miket

The page is pretty good (that's why I pointed at it)
RomUpdate
The only bit that is a bit short on description is the stuff regarding using the romupdate tool at the top.
If you need a more complete description of this tool then I would take a look at:
http://en.pdamobiz.com/en/forum/PDAforum_posts.asp?TID=62&PN=1&TPN=2
Be aware that the addresses for the d2s command are different for the XDA2 and XDA2i
Rom Structure
The memory address information for the Alpine (XDA2i) is available at this site:
http://wiki.xda-developers.com/index.php?pagename=AlpineRomStructure
RomUpdate Commands
There is also a page describing some of the commands available in the romupdate tool:
http://wiki.xda-developers.com/index.php?pagename=HimalayaBootloaderCommands
XDA2 Cab Files
This site has a description of some of the XDA2 cab files which may interest you (though the XDA2i uses different cab files, some of which have similar names):
http://forum.xda-developers.com/viewtopic.php?t=6470
Soft Reset in the Config.txt File
The last bit I'm going to mention here is that the last item in the Config.txt file soft resets the device. If you remove this item for some reason then adding the line "RST: Reset" on the end of the Config.txt file will soft reset the device automatically for you.
Hope these are of use to you, I know they were all of use to me,
Graham.

Absolutely excellent thanks Graham
Have got as far as using the split tool.
Xp is throwing a 16bit error my way, so i will have to resolve that before i can go any further.
Are you suggesting that when i re-build extended ROM to include "RST:Reset" on the last line in config.txt?
Anyway it's time for bed.
Thanks for the great links, will read through these tomorrow.
Miket

With regards to the RST: Reset command, it is sometimes useful to soft reset the device at the end of the configuration.
This is because some of the Cab files will probably modify the registry and most of these changes will not be picked up until the device is soft reset (the device is still usable, just not using the changes).
Most of the builds that you may come across already do this as a last step in one of their Executables so they do not always include the reset line in the config file. Adding this line to the end will ensure that a soft reset always happens so that registry changes will be used.
Be warned, soft resetting the device will halt the configuration build at that point, so anything after the reset command will never happen.
I hope this makes some sense
Graham.

Hi again Graham
Finally sorted 16 bit issues with the PC. Have loaded SPLIT ROM and created the 3 components. Particularly ext.img
I have also created the virtual drive "X" with "ext.img"
File\properties tells me this is a 24MB file. All good until i wish to open. PC asks if i wish to format disk, i'm not able to read contents any ideas.
TA
Mike

I thought i would try downloading the cooked rom off en.pdamobiz.com as a test. The extended rom opened up perfectly in virtual drive creator. Mine however is an exact match size wise but wont open.
HMMM
I guess the next step is work out what i need and dont need in extended ROM. Assuming i can get past this stage.
Any guidance here would be appreciated.
Miket

Hello guys!
I'd like to modify my german extROM too but I have a little problem: when I'm starting the ntrw.exe (it lay in the basement of my HDD, in C:\) it closes itself!
So I mean, I can't use the ntrw.exe from the PDA-Miz guide to write the ROM-image to my HDD!
What can I do?
Thanks in advance
animelover from germany

Unlocking extended ROM

Really sorry - can someone point me in the direction of a tool that unlocks the extended ROM for a Wizard? I'ves searched but I can't find Am I being blind?
I need to free up some space and want to get rid of those imate .tsk files but need to unlock the ROM first.
Thanks
Mat

Try this one
Download this
http://www.ghisler.com/pocketpc.htm
Then type (after install)
“\Extended_Rom\”
and walla
Didi

...
Hi,
can somebody explain how i can delete the files in extended rom ? i tried with TC and the files seemed to be deleted, but after the hardreset they were still there.....I want to get rid of them and install some other programms too.
Thanks and regards
Joachim

...
Hi,
can somebody explain how i can delete the files in extended rom ? i tried with TC and the files seemed to be deleted, but after the hardreset they were still there.....I want to get rid of them and install some other programms too.
Thanks and regards
Joachim

Ok Total commander gives you access to the extended rom using the method just posted above.
But if you want to actually have the extended rom showing all time, then you need this...
http://forum.xda-developers.com/viewtopic.php?t=33680&highlight=extended+rom
The extended rom unlocker will give the actual extended rom as space deginated extended_rom2 and its about 9.85mb size or something with between about 350kb and 2.5mb of .cab files in it depending on whether its a Qtek (Which has the least amount of files), I-mate, o2 or T-Mobile, these last two probably (along with Orange) will have the most 'junk in them.
Once you have ran the exteneded rom unlocker and soft reset your device it will be accesible through file explorer you won't need TC.
You can then go in and delete (be careful to make sure what everything does first) its your own responsibility, and remove what you don't need.
For example on the I-mate Extended Rom you cane remove Backgammon, Skype and the anti virus prog. There wasn't much on the Qtek Rom I just put on mine just clearvue and soemthing else inconsequential, there was no skype or antivirus, but I believe some Qtek roms might have this.
T-Mobile is abother story, there is a shedload of crap in the extended rom, ranging from a today screen toolbar to small progs, there is list knocking about of what each file does. When I changed from T-Mob to I-mate and then Qtek I just transferred the T-Mobile GPRS settings and the GPRS disconnect button .cab and put them in the exteneded Rom myself and let it run.
Also on I-mate Rom there are carrier settings that you can delete which won't apply to you, basically lots fo countries phone settings, like o2 UK, T-Mobile Spain etc etc, depending on where you are in the world.
You can't delete the I-mate .tsk todayscreens as far as I know, they are not in the ExtRom. The Qtek ExtROm doesn't have the extra .tsk's just default and the Guava Bubbles one.
If anyone wants the T-Mobile GPRS .cab and GPRS disconnect button .cab I can send it through msn or email.

that doesn't work either. I treid with the unlocker and deleted the files with TC. If i check the content no files are there, but when i try to copy other files to the ext. Rom it says that the volume is write protected. I softreseted several times also.
Any hint on that ? How have all the others deleted the files in extended rom ?
Regards
Joachim

batman08 said:
that doesn't work either. I treid with the unlocker and deleted the files with TC. If i check the content no files are there, but when i try to copy other files to the ext. Rom it says that the volume is write protected. I softreseted several times also.
Any hint on that ? How have all the others deleted the files in extended rom ?
Regards
Joachim
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Might not work for you but it worked for me and a load of others. Once the extended rom is visible you can delete files easily, you don't need TC like I said. Its easier to put additional cabs into my documents sync them across and just run them.

Yeah, that's a pitty.... I have the Vodafone VPA Compact II, which is the Wizard 100 afaik.
Someone around here has the same model and succeeded in removing the cabs from the extended rom ?

Extended ROM; How can it be made useful?

Hi there,
I made visible the extended ROM of M600 with registry tweaks seen in this forum. I dont use any of the programs on the extended ROM, coz I dont like my phone to be customised for my service provider. (I soft reseted while it was trying to customize after the hard reset).
Now I have a 10MB of Ext ROM on "My Device". My qustions are;
1) Is this Ext ROM just like another 10MB SD Card?
2) WOuld this space make the my handheld run faster? or can this be made available fot programme memory?
3) Is there any advantage of installing programmes on it compared to on th SD Card?
Currently I have about 3MB of Orange CAB files on it. None of them I use.
How can I use this space efficiently?
Thanks in advance for any comments
ps: Another thing I just remembered is that, after I made this Ext ROM visible, I cant save the camera pics to SD card. The options on the camera settings are to save it on Main Memory or Ext ROM! it doesnt recognise SD card! funny! Any way around?

Anyone please..?

I order:
1) Yes it is exactly like a 10MB SD card, you just can't remove it from the device. If you need to hard reset it will become hidden again but the data will not be lost.
2) No. Program memory is RAM and this is FLASH. You can only use it for storage.
3) It is mounted before the SD, so if you have an app that needs to run on start up, you can put it on the ext ROM but not the SD.
4) I suggest you move the Orange cabs to your PC. Having the i-mate variant I had 9MB filled with stuff out of which all I needed were Skype and Voice speed dial. Then use this space for the basic and most needed apps. Also some apps like TCPMP can be used with content from different SD cards so ext ROM would be a good place for them. I try to keep main memory free for outlook stuff.
5) Yea, the camera app only seems to recognize the first storage card it sees. Don't know about a fix for that.

levenum said:
[...]
5) Yea, the camera app only seems to recognize the first storage card it sees. Don't know about a fix for that.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you very much, Levenum!
I finally understood a bunch of things about the ExtROM.
About this 5th point, I would add something.
The same identical problem raises when the \Network path created by Resco Explorer is shown on the main memory root.
The internal camera seems able to access only to the first two objects in the mountpoint list (you can see this list when installing some apps, as the dest options radio button)
So, question comes out: what about hiding ExtROM again after installing startup apps on it ?
I mean: are those apps still runnable, when staying on a hidden mountpoint ?
Thanks for any answer
..._

Sorry to butt in on this topic, but I have also been thinking of doing this.
I would just like to know though once the Extended Rom has been unlocked as described in many past posts, can you lock it again?
I am just asking this because, what happens if I have to return the phone? Surely messing with it would void any warranty?
I would need to restore the CABS back to Extended Rom, and then lock it before returning it.
Thanks

Val3r10 said:
So, question comes out: what about hiding ExtROM again after installing startup apps on it ?
I mean: are those apps still runnable, when staying on a hidden mountpoint ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Interesting, I never tried it. Perhaps if you don't change the MountHidden flag, but only the MountOrder.
NewSPV said:
I would just like to know though once the Extended Rom has been unlocked as described in many past posts, can you lock it again?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't know about other devices, but in case of the Prophet it's just a matter of changing back the registry values and soft resetting.

Thanks for that.
I have already backed up my Extended Rom, as Total Commander let me copy the CABS without unlocking the Extended Rom.
Orange has only added 1.95 MB which seems such a waste of vital memory.
I have heard that approx 10 MB is set aside for this. Is this set physically in manufacture by HTC? Can the extended Rom be merged into main memory like partitions can be merged on a PC?
Thanks

I read somwhere that removing things from the extended rom gives the device more storage available and shown int he memory part of settings. This however is not true, the extended rom is a seperate partition, full or empty the device will work the same.
I use mine to store the cabs of installs I use when I hard reset. Saves me copying them over each time.

Thanks very much Levenum and others who contributed. That was very informative and I am glad many others have benefited with this thread.
Cheers

One note:
I made a little experiment this Friday, which require a me to restore my Jamin to it's original state. (Hard reset + restore ext ROM).
I didn't check the CAB attributes when I copied them so even though the ext ROM was in it's original state all cabs that were used after first hard rest were deleted and didn't install after second hard reset.
So when restoring your ext ROM make sure you mark all CABs 'read only'.

I unlock ExtRom and put mein cab, edit config.txt.
But after HardReset mein cab didn't installiert.
I think, dieses cab need to signen.
Help me please signen mein cab or any cab theoretically.

you also need the modified autorun.exe, the config file isnt read by the default one.

dannyoneill said:
you also need the modified autorun.exe, the config file isnt read by the default one.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
dannyoneill, wie kann man das machen? :shock:
..Sorry, how kan das make?

See this thread for more info
http://forum.xda-developers.com/viewtopic.php?t=38957&highlight=autorun

dannyoneill said:
See this thread for more info
http://forum.xda-developers.com/viewtopic.php?t=38957&highlight=autorun
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have renamed the file so:
my_file.cab -> Default_my_file.cab
All the same it is not installed!
There it is spoken about Wizard, i have O2 Xda Neo.
Where it is possible to take patched file Autorun.exe?
Can somebody to lay out it if it´s have?
Please, help me.

as the thread says, you cant just rename the file as it needs to be signed and designed for wm5 for it to isntall. To do your own cabs you need to have a special autorun.exe that reads a config file.