Database Users

Why do people keep upgrading ROMS?

I know I am going to cause some trouble by asking this but why?
On taking my new Orange SPV M600 out of the box, I have to agree a bit sluggish, but this was mainly due to Windows.
After a little tweaking with the registry and some third party software it is now flying.
I originally thought that putting third party software over the top of the system would slow it even more, but know, the opposite was true. Using the standard windows task bar and start menu was dreadful. I tried a number of third party softwares such as True Toolbar, Handyswitcher etc, finally settling on Wisbar deluxe.
Everything now opens as soon as it is selected no nasty lag like windows. With some skinning and removal of Customised Today the phone looks great and is performing great. That is apart from my wired hands free. I can now answer and close calls with the button, but it does not activate voice dial when pressed, so I can't dial out hands free. All prevoius phones, Nokia and SE did this no problem, so why not this phone?
Anyway, back to the point of ROMS, why keep flashing?

I just got me one of those SPV M600 things and its not that slow, but I havent added anything else to it yet. Would you care to elaborate on "registry tweaks"? Im new to XDA/phones and havent started messing about yet.

I can not remember all of the tweaks I used, but there is a big section somewhere in here listing them. I have them somewhere on the computer but my filing is a mess and I can't remember what I called the text file or where I put it.
Basically the tweaks are just simple things like increasing cache size for fonts, programs etc. Moving file storage off main memory to SD card, disabling and enabling etc. It is claimed by doing this that the system will speed up a little. I am not sure if any of these actually did anything or if it is just down to Wisbar. All I can say is that when I click on a program it fires up straight away, before it could take a second or two.

Spenner said:
I just got me one of those SPV M600 things and its not that slow, but I havent added anything else to it yet. Would you care to elaborate on "registry tweaks"? Im new to XDA/phones and havent started messing about yet.
Click to expand...
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check out this tread and application
http://forum.xda-developers.com/viewtopic.php?t=39725&highlight=easy+tweaking
good luck
R

Actually, the rule about flashing is: If it's not broken don't fix it.
People upgrade because they want to get rid of bugs or add features like AKU 2.0 that includes push mail and some other stuff.
Also some brands are better that others in some ways, and worse in other ways. There are several ROMs for the Prophet: Dopod, i-mate, Qtek, Orange. Finally some people cook their own ROMs throwing out useless stuff and adding apps they 'must have'.
All in all if you are pleased with your phone there is no need to change the ROM. When I got my Jamin it had the i-mate 1.xx ROM so I upgraded to 2.13 to get the AKU 2.0 goodies.

I always belive the latest is the greatest, even if its not. I still run the latest. While the release notes say "Added this, fixed that" they also contain a lot of fixes and changes not documented.

Hi all.
Thats actually a very good question. From my experience you dont really need to change anything. Maybe as you said some registry tweaking or some basic settings. However as someone already said, the golden rule should be if it is not broken dont try to fix it.
On the other hand you might want to change things with no reason, just because you can.. and I have to admit that it is hard not to do. Then you have to make sure that you know what you are doing cause otherwise you might end up spending your day in forums try to fix whatever you &^%$ up..
Take care.

Thanks for the replies.
I have to admit, when I first got the phone I started tweaking, then I found this forum and others. Once I discovered unlocking and flashing ROMS, I was very close to doing it. Then I remembered what I used to be like on my PC. With old systems like Win ME, I used to spend about 70% of my time tweaking and fixing, and only 30% actually using the damn thing. Not what I want out of a phone.
Just by messing around with skins, I have already managed to lose my phone dialer all together, I was left with a blank screen, so I had a phone that could not phone. I have it nicely skinned and running now, but I was never able to get the Orange dialer back.
Guess the only time I will flash my ROM is when there is a genuine update and it is covered by warranty, that way if the ROM is bad, Orange can give me another phone.
Thanks

I look at it same way as i look at windows.
My windows isn't broke but I always use Windows Update.
Why do YOU update windows, if you do at all. I guess im not sure if this is advisable, but that's just the way i do it.
Regarding upgrading ROM, MOST of the time, it makes the device faster and adds more features ( i never install extended ROM ) so I always upgrade when there is a new one.
I've downgraded ONCE. And only the RADIO because 1.11 didn't agree with my device.
There are ways to Backup the device, change to a different BRAND/VERISON of ROM then restore the backup. This makes changing ROM very easy.
Anyway, I have nothing better to do with my time so i upgrade whenever a new ROM comes out.

Sorry to but in again but I simply must disagree with the Windows update analogy.
I have my PC set to auto update as well, but Windows XP runs updates in the background and doesn't delete you data in the process.
ROM upgrade means HARD RESET, and unless you have a good backup a long restore process.
Also there is the danger of communication / power interrupt during the flashing and a bricked device as a result.
Finlay, like with your radio ROM, some OS updates have new bugs as well as fixes for the old.
But I do wish it was as simple as updating windows - then I would say, update away, couldn't hurt.

My analogy was based only on the reason for updating, not the process itself that you are stating.
What I mean is if your windows works, why update?.... This thinking... Not the "ritual"...
Sorry i did not explain that clearly. The guy just asked why update if you are content with what you have.... It has nothing to do with "I would update only if the process were simpler" like what you stated.
Sorry for the misunderstanding

I upgrade because I can cook my own ROM with better application suite

Jorgee said:
What I mean is if your windows works, why update?.... This thinking... Not the "ritual"...
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Because it's full of holes and most of the updates are plugging them.

I think the main point is you dont have to upgrade, you can if you want, its a matter of choice.
I like to always update, some like to keep the same and have never hard reset in their life. Im on my 9th this week :S but it is a new device and im still figuring it all out.

TheBrit said:
Jorgee said:
What I mean is if your windows works, why update?.... This thinking... Not the "ritual"...
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Because it's full of holes and most of the updates are plugging them.
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Hmm, then i guess your advice to NewSPV is to upgrade.
Me too, as i said in earlier post, i will always upgrade to the newest ROM, then just downgrade if i don't like the changes. Unfortunately it isn't as easy to downgrade from Windows SP2 hehehe

Jorgee said:
TheBrit said:
Jorgee said:
What I mean is if your windows works, why update?.... This thinking... Not the "ritual"...
Click to expand...
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Because it's full of holes and most of the updates are plugging them.
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Hmm, then i guess your advice to NewSPV is to upgrade.
Me too, as i said in earlier post, i will always upgrade to the newest ROM, then just downgrade if i don't like the changes. Unfortunately it isn't as easy to downgrade from Windows SP2 hehehe
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I was talking about Windows, not WM5.
My phone came shipped with an AKU2 rom and it's fine - after a little tweaking. I'm not going to risk bricking my pride and joy with a rom upgrade - as so many people have done already on this forum. :wink:

Can anyone name some good places to read about how to flash your device with a new ROM?
Also, I was wondering about what the "extended ROM" is. Is it basically partitioning part of your storage card for use as "internal memory" ?
Thanks for the info guys!

brounstoun said:
Can anyone name some good places to read about how to flash your device with a new ROM?
Also, I was wondering about what the "extended ROM" is. Is it basically partitioning part of your storage card for use as "internal memory" ?
Thanks for the info guys!
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Look at the top left of this very page and you will see a link to the wiki section of this site. How to flash is in there.
The extended rom is where the operator adds thier own customisations (over and above what M$ provide) to the device, for example Orange and O2 add their own options in there and they install when the device is powered up for the first time or when it's hard reset. If you get access to the extended rom (again look in the wiki) you can manipulate what gets installed and if you're really clever, add some of your own stuff.
Don't ask me how to do these things as I have not tried myself, the risk of bricking the device is too great for my liking.

cool, thanks paul

TheBrit said:
Don't ask me how to do these things as I have not tried myself, the risk of bricking the device is too great for my liking.
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Actually, it is virtually impossible to brick your device by manipulating the contents of the extended ROM. It is only accessed once, during first boot, and event that can be avoided by quickly soft resetting the device.
Basically it acts exactly like "file store" used to on WM 2003 devices, the only difference being it is hidden so ordinary users won't get rid of the operator junk.
In my case it was very nice of i-mate to provide various goodies there like voice dial (should be in ROM) anti virus (not only useless but damaging crap) Skype (could have just downloaded from their site, but nice thought) and backgammon (toys are always welcome).
But now ofter the initial installation it makes all the sense in the world to save these cabs (9MB~) to my PC and have extra 10 MB storage on the device.

Steal Files Over Bluetooth

Am currently using a Mda Vario 2. my friend has the same handset and is able to take files from my device.
How can I stop this any bug fixes
and 2 what's the program used any ideas. He is able to brows content of my whole device and copy. don't know if he is able to delete

slidingsideways said:
Am currently using a Mda Vario 2. my friend has the same handset and is able to take files from my device.
How can I stop this any bug fixes
and 2 what's the program used any ideas. He is able to brows content of my whole device and copy. don't know if he is able to delete
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Check this article out... it has information on the methods used to hack bluetooth enabled devices.
The easiest way to avoid this is 1) Turn your BT off if/when you're not using it 2) Set your device to "Not Discoverable by other devices." 3) Smash your friends PDA to bits...J/K
Even so, those clever hackers always seem to find a way around an obstacle, if they didn't we wouldn't have the useful wealth of information found on this website... Not all of em are bad.

hi just see what software thay got or hows he doing it as i would like to try it out could some let me now two thanks .

iain_2006 said:
hi just see what software thay got or hows he doing it as i would like to try it out could some let me now two thanks .
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he keeps it locked and hidden from eyes sight. like its some massive secret

Ok I am not an expert on this but while various bluetooth attacks may allow access to phone records an such (particularly on older phones) non of them should allow complete browsing of the file system an a brand new WM5 device. Your device is a TyTN equivalent correct?
I think what has happened is that at some point your friend had a chance to pare the two devices so now he has complete access. Check your bluetooth settings and delete any devices listed there. Also delete any incoming ports and uncheck 'make device discoverable'. This should solve your problem. (If not I would very much like to hear about the technique used - out of sheer scientific curiosity of course)
And by the way, if he does this to you more that once to prove that he can, he is not much of a friend...

if he does this to you more that once to prove that he can, he is not much of a friend
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Sounds like the kinda arguments guys use about, um, doing it the "other way".
V

vijay555 said:
Sounds like the kinda arguments guys use about, um, doing it the "other way".
V
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Not exactly sure what you mean by this.
What I was trying to say is that a friend might do it once or twice to show off his knowledge and not keep bugging you.

Levenum, I was trying to make a delicate joke about anal sex.
No offence meant!
V

Non taken, my brain is just a bit underclocked at the moment, its been along day.
Any way I am waiting for someone to jump in and tell me that i am not up to date and there is a way to hack in to any WM5 device by BT without users consent and get full control of file system.

V.
I am offended.... but only as I did not get it.... Oh forget it, get it?

. Your device is a TyTN equivalent correct?
[/QUOTE]
yeah its an mda vario 2.have taken device off discoverable. that's sorted it. would like to know how he's able to do this for to satisfy my own curiosity of course

its a pipe dream give it up.
BT "hacking" will never be anything more than an urban myth, sure there is some cool apps available with a snarfing button that will show some cool CIDs but geezee anything can do that

TouchFlo,cab gets Installed,doesn't start,needs some attention

I installed the touchflo, it gets installed , but doesn't start etc. it needs somebody to get it working ,it doesn't seem all that far fetched like wm5 or wm6.it needs somebody from this forum to get it going . like they have done it on prophet, wizard,artemis, with some tweaking and alteration of biotouch file etc.cmon give some respect to the forgotten hero who started this transition from window mobile of being brick sized pda's to mainstream phone

Where did u download TouchFlo,cab?

ATZatz said:
Where did u download TouchFlo,cab?
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There is one posted by Xplode in the WM6 BlueAngel forums if you are interested. But it wont work, not even on a WM5 much less a 2003SE.

WIMP - Where Is My Phone

Hey Guys,
I posted this in the Kaiser thread. It works brilliantly on my Ameo too.
Here's the first post from:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=332324
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I’ve found a mint piece of software that no Kaiser owner should be without.
It comes with a trial period and u should check it out.
I was looking for some software that would help secure my phone and came across this. http://www.wimp-software.co.uk)
It’s supposedly designed to help you find your phone (yeh right, I aint gonna lose my £500 phone) but me and my mate have had a **** load of fun with it.
It’s pretty cool.
If you read the instructions, you can basically text the phone, but the other person doesn’t get the text message. The software grabs this coded text message and sends you back the gps position of the phone. It also gives you a link to google maps which is great if you’ve got Opera installed on your phone. (Don’t try PIE, it doesn’t work)
I gotta say, I’ve seen a lot of cool software around, but this one is SO cool. I only wish my girlfriend had a Kaiser. I could have so much fun with this.
The only thing I would add to the software though, is to know I was being WIMPED. Maybe a little SMS noise, or the icon changed or something, but I do suppose that it was written for phone theft. I haven’t tried it yet, but it also claims that if you change the SIM card in the phone it’ll SMS you with the number of the new SIM card.

this is a great find. thanks

Yes, this is a fantastic idea. However, the implication on our privacy is something to think about very seriously. Yes, it does protect our phone from theft and lost.
Can it be uninstalled or removed by a hard reset.?

Yes, it can be uninstalled, and yes it will be removed by a hard reset.
HOWEVER, pop it into your External Rom and the above two things become insignificant.

That's very true.

or cook it into a rom, doesnt help if they re-flash though...

Mobile Justice
http://sourceforge.net/projects/mjustice
Does the same, is freeware, works without problems on My athena WITHOUT bottom bar at 128 DPI (WINP shows no ICON)
The easiest way could be to cook it into a ROM and put the config file into an unlocked EXTERNAL ROM.
This is needed because a config file is requested, so, even if you cook mobile justice into the rom, you can't cook the config file (it needs your password, your SIM number and your phone number to report at..)
Then you can config your phone and even in case of an hard reset, without the thieft knowledge of the SW, it will restart and it reads the config file into the external ROM

Midget_1990 said:
or cook it into a rom, doesnt help if they re-flash though...
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We would have to assume that 99.9% of the guy having our phones does not know anything about flashing. This is a reasonable assumption I think.
Having even 80% chances of getting back a lost phone is already not bad.

eaglesteve said:
We would have to assume that 99.9% of the guy having our phones does not know anything about flashing. This is a reasonable assumption I think.
Having even 80% chances of getting back a lost phone is already not bad.
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Agree with this. Even having the config file on the MicroDrive might work, if this could be built into the ROM to look there by default. Don't know if that's possible. Yes, you could erase the Microdrive but this would take more research than the usual thief might be willing to make...
WIMP says it will send a Google Maps link, will Mobile Justice do that? Seems like MJ is actually more configurable.

wgary said:
Agree with this. Even having the config file on the MicroDrive might work, if this could be built into the ROM to look there by default. Don't know if that's possible. Yes, you could erase the Microdrive but this would take more research than the usual thief might be willing to make...
WIMP says it will send a Google Maps link, will Mobile Justice do that? Seems like MJ is actually more configurable.
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MJ send GPS info in some formats, and have NO ICON on home screen. And a guy having in his hands a phone like this the first thing he search on google is HOW TO HARD RESET THE DEVICE Without a config file in ROM (on on microdrive I agree, but when you hard reset the ATHENA he asks "do you want to format the microdrive?" Having a stolen one the answer will be always YES!
Moreover is FREE, so I think no problems, asking to author, to put it into the ROM and to modify the registry key for config file to have it on external rom. The problem is.. could we have a PK3.0 with External Rom unocked as default?

sergiopi said:
MJ send GPS info in some formats, and have NO ICON on home screen. And a guy having in his hands a phone like the first thing he search on google is HOW TO HARD RESET THE DEVICE Without a config file in ROM (on on microdrive I agree, but when you hard reset the ATHENA he asks "do you want to format the microdrive?" Having a stolen one the answer will be always YES!
Moreover is FREE, so I think no problems, asking to author, to put it into the ROM and to modify the registry key for config file to have it on external rom. The problem is.. could we have a PK3.0 with External Rom unocked as default?
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I don't recall being asked about reformatting the MicroDrive on hard reset... But having it in external rom would certainly be a viable approach. This would be a nice feature for PK3.0

Has anyone got MobileJustice working??
I can send a message but the GPS feature doesn't work. Anyone??

I tried mobileJustice and it didnt work for me either

wgary said:
I can send a message but the GPS feature doesn't work. Anyone??
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So... I also tried WIMP and no love there, either. Even "heated up" GPS first. Thoughts, anyone?

wgary said:
So... I also tried WIMP and no love there, either. Even "heated up" GPS first. Thoughts, anyone?
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WIMP worked for me second time out - had to increase the GPS timeout from 3 mins to 10 (I haven't yet tried any intermediate settings).

apd said:
WIMP worked for me second time out - had to increase the GPS timeout from 3 mins to 10 (I haven't yet tried any intermediate settings).
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What settings did you use? I have x7500... Thanks!

wgary said:
What settings did you use? I have x7500... Thanks!
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COM4, 38400, GPS TImeout 10, Max Satellites 6

The only way to works well it's integrating it in the rom, cause if its stolen the first thing that can do is change the rom

New Version on their website.
V1.2 includes various stealth options.

Wouldn't it be great if we could tell the program to draw the thiefs attention (eg an alarm) and when the person reacts to this alarm have it make a photograph with the front camera, which could be send through mms or e-mail... Then you would know who to look for when you arrive at the GPS coordinates with your baseball bat...

HTC home screen for WM 5

I keep seeing the fancy looking home screen plug in for WM 6. Is there a similar home screen plug in from HTC for WM 5 that I can use with my 8525? If so how can I get it? Is it free? How do I install it? And I do not know how to do what you guys refer to as reg hacks - so should I just stay away from the topic? I did do some searching and everything comes up under WM 6, or it is not clear if it is WM 5 or 6. Also, I do not want to do anything that will void my warranty - will it? I appreciate any responses. Sorry for being the worlds biggest newbie.

I can't tell you too much about the HTC Home Screen because of I am not using it!
However, 'hacking' the registry will not avoid your warranty! In case you do something wrong: simply hard reset your device and everything should be back to normal and factory default!
If you want to be able to access your PDA's registry you will need a REGISTRY EDITOR installed on your PDA. There are plenty good ones out there! I personally use RESCO EXPLORER 2007 + REGISTRY ADD-IN. You can find a trial version here: http://www.resco.net/pocketpc/explorer/default.asp
To get your HOME SCREEN fancy looking: even here you can find lots of stuff without having to hack anything! One really good application which changes not only your TODAY SCREEN is SPB MOBILE SHELL - more info here: http://spbsoftwarehouse.com/products/mobileshell/?en
Both application I mentioned above are commercial products but trial versions are available as free download! There are hundreds of free application all over the web which will help you to personalize your PDA - just search Google and see what it comes up with!
Hope that helps?

Thanks. A couple quick questions. I can not tell if it is free or not. It has me agree to a bunch of legal stuff, but I do not see any mention of it being free/trial or what a charge would be? Do I do the CAB file?

JBA said:
Thanks. A couple quick questions. I can not tell if it is free or not. It has me agree to a bunch of legal stuff, but I do not see any mention of it being free/trial or what a charge would be? Do I do the CAB file?
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Its free, dont know if it will work on wm5 havent seen a version working yet on wm5. I suggest just reading the forum for the next two weeks or so. After about a good 20 you will nolonger be a noob. At that time I would suggest upgrading to wm6 and you will have no issues getting this on your phone.

Thanks again for the help on this. If there is not a high degree of knowing that will work on WM 5 does anyone of on that will work?

JBA said:
Thanks again for the help on this. If there is not a high degree of knowing that will work on WM 5 does anyone of on that will work?
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Did a quick google search...See this htchome wm5 thread (posted on prophet device but for wm5):
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=322439

JBA said:
Thanks. A couple quick questions. I can not tell if it is free or not. It has me agree to a bunch of legal stuff, but I do not see any mention of it being free/trial or what a charge would be? Do I do the CAB file?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can do the cab or the exe - what ever you prefer!
The cab file needs to be copied to the PPC, the setup you run directly on your desktop while your PPC is connected via ActiveSync or MDC.
Both programs I mentioned are running fine under Windows Mobile 5. I used them for more than a year on my T-Mobile MDA WM5 and later on my Hermes.