What is Ext Rom ? - Upgrading, Modifying and Unlocking

I am a newbie and just bought my first PDA phone - O2 Atom
Trying to learn as much about it so that I can fully utilize it.
Reading the posts in this site is my first step.
I know this may sound stupid to the experienced users but
I've been reading posts asking about unlocking the Ext. Rom
What is the purpose of doing this ? What are the additional things I can do if I can unlock my ext. Rom vs just leaving the device "as is" ?
Anyone care to enlighten me ?

When you unlock the ext-rom you can see what's in it? Also you can turn it writeable, so you can do anything you like with it, make a copy of the content first. As it it persistent storage on most devices the content won't be erased by hard-reset.
On my magician for instances the ext-rom is concatenated to the internal storage folder enlarging it from 7 to 27MB.
Regards, M

Basically, the ext (extended) rom includes extra settings like operator network settings, extra operator programs and operator visual customisations. Really, if you are new to this, it is best to leave as-is, as unlocking only allows you to edit the Ext rom, which you will probs not want to do yet.

Thanks all for the info. I guess I need to find out more before I try this.
There seems to be 3 kinds of memory on my device:
1. Storage
2. Memory Card
3. Device (which itself seems to be broken into 2 ? One for programs and another for program storage ?)
One of the reasons I asked this question is because I encountered a low memory warning but when I checked the Settings/memory 1 & 2 still showed lots but on the General tab it showed Storage as .5KB left not sure how to interprete the info.

The memory on your device is called RAM & is devided dynamically, by the OS, in a storage & a program part. When you install programs Via Act.sync & choose default they end up in ram, program files folder, this will cost precious space to run an application. So try to install to SD or storage folder. that's why BS is nice. You can use cabinstl to choose where you want to install when you install a cab directly on your magician.
Got the idea

You mentioned the operator blah blah.. does that means that i can unlock my simcard by unlocking the ext rom?

no extented rom and sim locks are 2 different things

Actually, oltp is a bit mistaking in his description of the memory regarding your specific phone.
The Atom is Windows Mobile 5 device.
On WM 5 phones there are two physical types of memory:
RAM and FLASH.
Unlike in older models, on WM 5 the RAM also called 'program memory' is only used to run programs, just like RAM in your PC.
The ROM or flash memory (slower, but isn't erased when power is lost) is divided in to 3 partitions:
ROM / OS - locked partition where the operating system resides. Only special tools like ROM upgrade utilities can write to this section.
Ext ROM - a locked partition where the operator / vendor of the phone stores some extras which are automatically installed after hard reset. As you already know you can unlock it and use as regular storage. Any data stored there will not be erased during hard reset.
Storage memory - this is the part of internal memory (flash) where you can install apps and store your documents and other files. Just like a PC hard drive.

...
Is there a sticky or a thread somewhere about editing ROM/Ext.Rom?
Thank you.

It's all in the WiKi!

Related

Install programs on Storage Card (SD)

Hello all,
great efford!!!!!
I have QTEK 9090 WM2K3SE or should I say Blue Angel.
ROM version 1.40.00 WWE
ROM date: 03/10/05
Radio version: 1.15.00
Protocol version 1337.45
ExtROM version 1.40.148 WWE
When you install a new program it is automatically installed on
My Device\Program Files\New program (This is RAM I think.).
You do not have any option of selecting in which folder to install the program
in order to select the Storage Card.
???Is there any way to force new programs to be installed on SD???
Is there another open Thread that contains this information?
Thank you!
If you are installing from the desktop, ActiveSync asks "install program in default location?". Click 'no' and you will be able to choose to install to SD.
If you are installing directly from a cab you will need CabInstl to change the destination.
Thanks
Thank you, I will try both!
Explicit path
Thank you, both of the suggestions worked fine!
But, I have some further questions.
CabInstl allows to specify an exact installation path, e.g. SD\MyPrograms\New Application.
With ActiveSync 3.7 you can select SD but not any subfolders of SD like with CabInstal.
Does the newer version of ActiveSync support an exact path installation definition and not just drive?
Blue Angel has 128 Mb RAM. Under Settings\Memory\Main you can see that.
Settings\Memory\Storage Card\Storage Card is the SD memory card that I have attached.
What is the Settings\Memory\Storage Card\STORAGE which is 40 Mb?
If you want to install any application from ActiveSync it gets also installed on the PC Add/Removes programs and after Sync with PDA you have to Remove it from the PC. Is there any way to avoid the PC permanent installation?
OK:
1) No. ActiveSync only lets you choose the general location. Note that what CabInstl does may cause some programs not to work as PPC programs often expect to be in a specific directory.
2) Main memory is divided in to two parts:
Program - your actual RAM just like on PC which programs use to run.
Storage - on WM 2003 devices (like yours) this is also RAM but it is treated like hard drive. WM 2003 has a slider that lets you repartition the RAM between storage and program. On WM5 device this is internal flash.
3) No. This is just something installers do, they keep a part of themselves on the PC. Unless you have extremely little space on you hard drive, I recommend not removing the apps. It will make them easier to reinstall should you have to preform hard reset.
Thanks again Levenum for the usefull feedback.
Thanks again Levenum for the usefull feedback.
1) I just had this experience yesterday with GSPocketMagic1_32_19
during a restart its .exe file cannot be found. Good to know that it is a more general problem in order to avoid installation on subdirectories.
2) The manual is not describing this very clear and surprisingly if you change the allocation size with the bar in screen main memory the size in storage screen does not change, or if you copy something to Storage again the size of the Memory\Main\Storage -InUse does not change were the Memory\Storage Card\Storage changes, so it was difficult to figure it out. It is like you have 128 RAM + 40 Storage RAM.
There is one other thing I forgot to mention regrading RAM:
No matter what you do with the slide, if the system thinks it needs more running memory or more storage it will repartition by it self. Usually it will divide the free ram 50/50 between programs and storage.
This is why you may copy something to main memory and not see a difference in available storage. You should always look at 'used' values.
Also there is a reg key you can create:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Shell\NeverDorkMemory
Simply creating this key will prevent the system from automatically repartitioning your RAM.

mSD not recognised by Outlook + Extended ROM

Hi,
I installed the LVSW (Pro Style) 15/3/07.
I synchronized it with exchange, and when going through the options to shove all the attachments onto the microSD card.
Although it [options] only displays that there's only 2.76mb free - IT'S 1GB card with over 700MB free. Could this have something to do with Extended Rom being available? [I installed the 3DES.1 ROM before and unlocked Extended Rom].
Question 2:
Now that Extended Rom is open - I want to delete some of the things on there, that I will never use - like Operator specific programs. Although I don't have permissions ?!
romka said:
Hi,
I installed the LVSW (Pro Style) 15/3/07.
I synchronized it with exchange, and when going through the options to shove all the attachments onto the microSD card.
Although it [options] only displays that there's only 2.76mb free - IT'S 1GB card with over 700MB free. Could this have something to do with Extended Rom being available? [I installed the 3DES.1 ROM before and unlocked Extended Rom].
Question 2:
Now that Extended Rom is open - I want to delete some of the things on there, that I will never use - like Operator specific programs. Although I don't have permissions ?!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1. - This can be changed by changing the Ext ROM directory in the Registry to say Storage Card 2... as the inbox application searches for the first available Storage it doesnt give you an option...
2. use HTweakC application to unhide and allow write access to the ext_rom... but you must have either installed Olipro's patched driver or SuperCID'ed your device to have write permissions...
great - thank you.
for now - i've disabled the 'extended', and it's all back to normal - although I'll look into deleting some files off there this weekend.
thanks
Your instructions say:
1. - This can be changed by changing the Ext ROM directory in the Registry to say Storage Card 2... as the inbox application searches for the first available Storage it doesnt give you an option...
I'm using Total Commander to attempt to edit this value in the registry, but can't locate it. Tried searching for "Ext ROM" and "ExtROM". Where in the registry can the Ext ROM directory name be changed to Storage Card 2?
Thanks much!

How to manage RAM without a new ROM?

My Wallaby (with Windows PPC 2002) is too central to my life for me to risk losing it by daring to flash it with a new ROM. This means that new tools, ringtones and things have to go into its mere 32 MB of RAM. On the other hand, this RAM is also cluttered up with "skins", sounds and things (including a version of Windows Media Player that has always resolutely refused to work) that Microsoft, HTC et al. have decided I must have. Mostly if I try to delete them, either using its native File Explorer, or via the cradle with Explorer from my computer (Windows XP Pro SP2, local adminstrator account on the PC), I get an error message, "File in use or write protected", that sort of thing, i.e. I'm not allowed to delete them.
Can anyone help me with the following?
- An explorer tool which will let me see and change attributes and permissions where necessary, and delete unwanted files from RAM?
- Any information on possible Windows PPC 2002 equivalents of accounts, local, administrator, etc.? My unsuccesful attempts to delete files have a distinctly "not local administrator" feel.
Another thing that would be marvellous, would be the option to use the (currently 128 MB) SD card as a sort of hard drive, i.e. to put large executables on to that and start them with something like a shortcut, so that they only load into RAM when they're actually needed. Can anyone tell me any more about whether this is possible, and if so how?
Thanks to all in advance.
you cant delete files in rom of the device and even if you could it would not add more program memory or storage on wallay you can only access the rom at flashtime
and at all other times it's readonly and dont take up any of the ram of your device
Thanks for your reply, Rudegar, but I'm looking to delete things from RAM, for instance \\device\program files\windows media player\*.* Am I wrong to think all this stuff loaded from ROM into RAM after the last cold reset?
Oops, I just discovered I can delete the files mentioned above (and did), from the native File Explorer. However, when I tap and hold \\device\windows\player (the media player executable, presumably player.exe) the "delete" option is greyed out in the context menu.
total commander is way better then file explore
I installed Total Commander, with thanks to Rudegar, and to Lumpistefan for being able to use his site as a hop. It's certainly a better tool for file management, but I'm not yet able to delete files I want to.
Roaring guitar.wav is a sound I particularly hate, and a colleague at work is already using it as his ringtone. Therefore there is no way I want to keep that ringtone in RAM. Total Commander lets me see the attributes, which are Read only, System (and in ROM, grey of course). It seems as if I can "greytick" and untick Read only and System, but when I come back to the file these attributes are there again. If I try to delete Roaring guitar.wav using Total Commander I get the message "Warning! Could not delete 1 file(s)!".
As I said, all this has a very "not local administrator" feel to it.
I tried searching the registry for "roaring" but the string was not found. I also cautiously experimented with switching the values of the following keys between 0 and 1:
HKLM\ControlPanel\AdminPassword\Group
HKLM\ControlPanel\Password\Group
but neither had any discernible effect on the behaviour described. Of course Roaring guitar.wav is just an example (and no offence meant to my colleague), I would like to remove a number of sounds and wallpapers I'll never use, and free up some more of my poor Wallaby's hard-pressed 32 MB RAM for everyday use.
Does anyone know how I could do it?
Hate to tell you this, but if TC says the file is in ROM, its in ROM and you can not delete it.
I am not familiar with Wallaby in particular but I guess the file your are attacking is not copied in to RAM. No reason to do so.
Windows Mobile was never designed for multiple users so no 'local / remote' administrator and stuff. Just trust me when I say this, if you can't delete it - it is in ROM.
There are two programs I can recommend:
MemMaid - it will show you exactly what is clogging up your RAM and automatically clean out what it can.
CabInstl - this little free app will let you choose where to install programs so you can put most of your apps on the SD.
Also in ActiveSync, when asked if to install to default location select 'NO' and you will get an option to install to SD.
One more hint:
You can keep all your themes, including the one you are currently using on the SD. Once you selected and installed the theme the *.tsk file is no longer needed.
When my iPaq was my only and primary PPC I also struggled with 32MB RAM (total). I kept everything on my trusty 512MB SunDisk except what I needed on startup.

Big storage/Standart storage

Hello,
I've a really noob question but can't find any answer as everybody seems to already know it
For some ROMs, there is 2 versions available like on http://lvsw.uo.lv/forum/index.php?showtopic=13
What does "big storage" and "standart storage" means? Which of them should I use on a non modified HTC TyTN (standart I guess)? So why those 2 ROM versions?
Thanks
Normally the windows part of the ROM storage is set to take up a fixed amount of space, even if it does not actually use it all. however, as Rom Chefs are stripping out some of the applications, even more empty but unaccessible space is created.
Tadzio then came up with some tools to reduce the size of the windows block with the extra space being shown as additional storage memory - hence big storage.
Thanks for your very clear and useful explanation!
So as I understand, there is no need to modify anything before installing LVSW big storage, the tool is embedded and there is only benefits in using the big storage version. Fine
That is my (admittdly limited) understanding - see the thread at the top of the forum (by tadzio) for the full info.
I use Black which has the big storage as the only option...

getting rid of extrom

hi,
this might be a stupid question being asked and answered 20 times before but i didn't find anything and that's why i'm asking here in particular:
is there a way to get rid of the extrom?
i did this with my blueangel before and it was easy and since the universal has too little memory for my needs and the programs in my extrom suck, i want to do it with that device too. plus i don't want the extrom to be flashed and compiled into a nbf file, but, again, comparable to the extrom for the blueangel i want it to be pt simply on the sd card, which brings the enormous advantage to be highly customizable and i don't need to carry around cabs (in the moment for programs that i don't want anyway) while i don't have space for the programs i need.
so my actual question would be:
- can i use repart_doc.exe and xda-unlock.cab to resize the extrom to 128kb and put an extrom on the sd card instead?
- does the extrom have the same format as on the blueangel (autorun.exe, cfg.txt, bunch of cabs)?
- can i do that in wm6.1, because on the BA i had to go back to wm2003 and couldn't do it in wm5 and above?
greetz, Chef_Tony
Don't think that by getting rid of extrom you will increase your memory. I think maybe blueangel was able to change amount of memory used between storage and program. This is not possible on uni, and it's set at 64MB a piece.
Perhaps wiki:MemoryStorageTypes will help.
the point is: it is generally possible, i know that from the blueangel, and it has nothing to do with the ratio of "program memory" to "storage memory" because that only exists for ramdisks, like back in the day in wm2003. the extrom is always a part of the storage space, just that it's hidden and locked by default, and with the blueangel you could easily resize it.
to explain a little more, since apparently this is not known to universal users:
the blueangel in wm2003 has:
32mb rom
112mb ram (program memory and ramdisk storage space, dynamically, still both lost in power failure)
44mb storage
16mb extrom
for wm6.5:
32mb rom (nothing changed so far)
112mb ram (ONLY program memory, RAM like known from the pc)
60mb storage (old storage space + old extrom made to one partition, usable for installing programs and storing files.)
don't get me wrong, i appreciate your answer, it just doesn't quite get my point.
and about your link:
let me quote a small passage:
Code:
ExtendedROM
Type: Internal Storage
Size: Is usually 9.96MB
What: Extra memory which doesn't survive a soft-reset.
Use: Anything you don't mind losing :)
eh?: This could be considered as a RAMDrive on a PC (that is, in that it's volatile, but not that it takes up any Program Memory)
+info: I use this for all cache (eg PIExplorer, Opera etc)
NB. Again, this is either made available or wasted space you can't use (see FlashDisk NB).
really? the extrom is lost after a soft reset? and how does it install the system enhancements after a hard reset? /irony
the contents of that article are simply wrong. or maybe something got mixed up...
i will just give it a try with the blueangel's tools, and if it works, i will re-post because it will revolutionize the way to look at roms, like it did in the BA section, although i fairly doubt that it would work since i can impossibly be the first to think of something like this.
thanks for your answer,
cheers,
Chef_Tony
ok, i fugured out how to unhide and unlock the extrom and deleted the contents. if i manage to join the former extrom, now "storage" with the original storage space, i finally can use the full memory potential of the device. if anyone wants to give me a hint, i would really appreciate it. probably then, the extrom can also be installed from the sd card and my original plan, not to carry around useless cab files, finally worked.
You are right, I've changed the wiki. Storage does survive soft rest (I wonder if it survives a hard-reset).
VNint did some tutorial on combined storage - can be found here. And Cotulla made a ROM - can be found here.
Hope this is helpful.
great to have you here at the Universal forum Chef_Tony. Sorry I can't offer any technical assistance, just came to give some encouragement
Keep up the good work!
-Jonny- said:
You are right, I've changed the wiki. Storage does survive soft rest (I wonder if it survives a hard-reset).
VNint did some tutorial on combined storage - can be found here. And Cotulla made a ROM - can be found here.
Hope this is helpful.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Great change -Jonny-!!!
It is getting better every day!

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