[?]change ROM without flashing - Upgrading, Modifying and Unlocking

I have probably a stupid question, but I ask it.
I would like to know if it is possible to upgrade a pda without flashing ? why it is not enough to install a big cab and load registry ?
I know most of the pda have just 64 Mb memory. and often the rom is 64 Mb, so if we do like that at the end we will have no memory.
But O2 XDA Flame has 2 Gb of memory. so 64 Mb is nothing and I can spend it, if that allows me to upgrade it without the need to cook a rom with complex tools, to find how to be in bootloader, and without the ask to brick it.
Stupid question ?

I can't imagine that no one knows concerning my question in xda- devs.

Not so stupid question. But the answer is simple - because the bootloader was designed in such a way it can only load the OS from its special partition in a special manner.
There are some ways to boot from specially formatted SD, but thats all.

and a cab file is a pocketpc install file
a pocketpc install file cant change the os
because it would mean that the installed things
had to update the system which was running it
think sawing over the branch you are sitting on in the tree

Theoretically, you could overwrite all the non-system files (or at least the ones not needed for initiating the boot) with all the new files and overwrite the hv registry files... but I wonder how well this would work... And how fast it would be if you're not using modules but instead just files... and you couldn't really update it to WM6...

Thanks to all of you.
When I have asked the question, we where not able to flash the Flame. Now we are.
So know I am in the process to port wm6 on the Flame.
I have extracted the xip of the Flame using xipport.
And I have also extracted the xip of the WM6 port to Universal of ranju.
Now I am in the process of merging the 2 xip.
If somebody can give me some advices, I will be glad.
Ranju has started. But I need more info in the process of mixing.

Related

"Not Enough Memory" troubleshooting thread

So, some of you have this error, some dont. So lets try and figure it out. Heres what we know.
The problem affects ALL Artemis WM6 ROMS.
Remember, the issue doesnt appear when just using it normally. Its only under certain circumstances. Heres how you re-create the problem.
Run Tomtom, this causes the error90% of the time.
Create a new word document and try to save anywhere.
Heres my setup and what ive tried to fix it.
Device: MDA Compact III
SD Card: 1gb
Ive tried font cache size, system cache, removing the memory card.
Please dont post "I dont get the error" if you havnt tried running tomtom or saving a word document.
Thanks
To add to the problem re-creation, I was trying to copy a directory with around 15 files in it from the internal memory to the storage card, the message just kept popping up for all the duration of the copy process, I stoppped clicking ok eventually. I looked at the free program mempry available then and it was pretty good at around 22mb.
Device: Orbit XDA
SD Card: 1gb
I too have noticed that looking at the free storage space seems to fix it for tomtom (but not word). There is something else wrong with Excel in that the "Save As" is in the wrong place, infact where it is isnt actually save as.
You're right, I haven't noticed this before with excel. I can't remember if it was like this before, was it? It won't be easy figuring this little memory issue out. I hope someone has a trick up their sleeves.
I have the WM6 emulator running on my pc and the excel thing isnt there. Comparing the registry settings on the emulator with my device. I would love to hear if anyone does actually have Word working without issue.
BREAKTHROUGH!
OK. I installed the original Orbit rom and... IT WORKS!!!! So the question is what did bepe and the guys do when they de-branded it? The orbit rom has an Ext-Rom with a load of branded stuff PLUS! some patches. I bet one of these patches fixes the issue!
These custom roms have NO Ext-Rom at all, hence the increased storage space. however in the process of removing the ext rom they have managed to cause these memory errors.
So guys, any chance of a rom close to the Orbit rom but with the English language and Ext rom left in tack?
Great work mate, it is the removal/merging of the extended rom that's causing the problem then. Maybe it's not even a patch in the extended rom, maybe it's the way the extended rom was merged that's causing it. This surely deserves more looking into.
Great breakthrough
Word FIX!
Thanks to pvdhelm for the tip on this one. Attached is a patch to fix the memory issue with word (and only word). To fix it for other apps you need to view the memory in the control panel and click on "Storage Card". The word fix is pernament but the other memory issue it only until you reset your phone.
Absolutely brilliant, so it looks like missing registry entries!! We need to find out what was in the original extended rom then to find out if we're missing anything else. Looks like only me and you here, you should post this fix in the main threads mate.
Cheers and well done.
I have a copy of the rom, tried isntalling it all but to no avail. It looks like on boot up the system thinks it has a different ammount of ram due to the ext rom being merged. By displaying the ammount of storage it realises it has a different ammount and fixes it. Until the next reboot. So if anyone knows what changes when you view the storage that may be fixing it I would love to know.
Or if somone can make a rom with the ext rom still in place.
EDIT: Heres one just for the MDA Compact III without WiFi users. It applys the Word memory errror fix but also fixes the Comm Manager issue and does so just for the MDA as it removes WiFi from the list.
Maybe this is a clue for you all. I have never had these errors, ands I use Tomtom daily and have tested word for you again with no fault.
The difference? Well I upgraded to WM6.0 the original way before USPL patch and flashed the OS only. I'm assuming you with problems used the ROM installer method. Am I right with my assumption? If so that should narrow down the culprit.
I used Bepes original WM6 WWE OS only upgrade, therefore the Ext ROM on my device is still the old T-Mobile WM5 one and was simply not allowed to run. So it can't be right to assume there is something missing from an EXT ROM patch.
It's most certainly the extended rom being merged then, there's nothing else to it.
gajet, can you give me the exact steps you took. I went from the T-Mobile rom to Black and blue then to the others. I uses USPL first though.
Can you give me a quick set of steps you took i.e Original T-Mobile rom, then ran USPL, then updated to Bepes.
Also, if you used bepe's can you also tell me which rom update util you used? as the one ive tried has errors at the end.
Thanks
dannyoneill said:
I have a copy of the rom, tried isntalling it all but to no avail. It looks like on boot up the system thinks it has a different ammount of ram due to the ext rom being merged. By displaying the ammount of storage it realises it has a different ammount and fixes it. Until the next reboot. So if anyone knows what changes when you view the storage that may be fixing it I would love to know.
Or if somone can make a rom with the ext rom still in place.
EDIT: Heres one just for the MDA Compact III without WiFi users. It applys the Word memory errror fix but also fixes the Comm Manager issue and does so just for the MDA as it removes WiFi from the list.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
VERY interesting reading!
If you move this thread, please drop a link on here for us, thanks. The first one to crack this problem will be worshipped from afar I am sure!!
I think it could be an order of upgrade issue, heres the latest.
1. Downgraded to T-Mobile WM5 rom
2. Ran USPL
3. Upgraded to Bepe WM6 using the EXE version
The word issue is no longer there but the out of memory in Tomtom is. Also no ext rom.
It would be good to know from others and gajet what steps they took and which files they uses to do it. Especially as gajet still has his extended rom.
I've tried:
official t-mobile wm5 to german wm6 to bepe uspl &
official t-mobile wm5 to bepe uspl
Both times I have had the error with tomtom but no problems with word.
Both times temp fix (looking at storage) worked (sorry about font cache red herring - thought I was onto something there).
Just tied chi-tai extended battery plugin with the storage showing on the homepage (as a way to force system to get correct memory) but no joy.
I have htc touch com manager and phone skin but not the home plugin.
Cheers
Matt
I think Ive cracked it. Just doing some final testing but watch out for a new "How to" thread.
go Danny go.
Look forward to seeing it.
Will test and report back once you've posted.
Cheers
Matt
Sadly the original thread was edited to reflect the OS update was repackaged but eddie2k still goes on the reexplain the process in this thread.
eddie2k said:
then use winrar to unpack the (bepe) wm6 wwe rom in this page (written in red). flashed using bootloader method.
after u get german rom installed , run ARTE os flash utility from xda ftp (log in properly) link don't work if not logon properly..
ftp://ftp.xda-developers.com/Uploads/Artemis/arte.zip unpack
copy os.nb from first folder (bepe) wwe rom to arte folder and rename os.nb to windows.nb then run UpgradeRom.bat
hard reset, soft reset done.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Now I didn't bother installing the german O2 release as my MDACIII was CID locked, so I just used ARTE package with Bepes WM6 .nb renamed and flashed the OS only, then after hard resetting, at the point of about to load EXT ROM soft reset.
This thread was also the guide although you could skip the process of extracting the .os from a ROM package as Bepe originally provided us with the raw windows.nb file.
Thanks gajet, Ive just posted the steps. Your post was deffinatly the key. Once I saw you still had your ext rom I knew we could do it.
Answer is here
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=313486

Magellan Triton 2000

First of all I apologies because my thread isn't really phone related. But I saw that some members have experience with magellan gps devices, like Roadmate.
Triton are new GPS handled devices from Magellan. They run WINCE 5.0 Core and have custom shell(similar structure like Roadmate devices).
Issue that I have is that during upgrade of firmware power went down on my Desktop PC and flashing process gone bad. Now I can power up device but there is no connectivity to PC(shell uses special drivers to connect to PC, which now are probably corrupted or what so ever).
So what I would like to now is somebody can explain to me is it possible to change somehow startup process, or something similar. I think that word "cooking" is used to describe process of editing OS image to add, replace, modify OS. I tried some of tools for editing but I'm not sure where I'm making mistakes because I can't even get dump of files from OS image. I again say it is WinCE 5.0 CORE. I tried looking with hex editor but I can't find any reference to mgmShell.exe(that is name of shell exe). I would be very thankful if somebody could explain me these things to me because then I would probably be able to copy files back(I would add FileManCE or MortScript and I figured out way of applying OS image from SD Card) from SD card to internal storage and restore my unit.
If there is anybody interested I will put somewhere whole update package from Magellan. It contains OS image in bin format.
Again I apologies but I'm very desperate to restore my unit , and as I can see this only place with enough knowledge to help me. Sorry.

Can I flash a differnt devices ext rom to my BA

Hey ya'll, I have a simple question.
I want to know if I can flash the ext rom from another HTC device onto my BA ext rom?
I just installed the 142 Tmo Uk rom, and was curious if I can grab the ext rom off of another Tmo USA device, so I have all the right settings and stuff?
TIA!
i wouldn't think so. may be able to do it, i wouldn't attempt it. i stripped my extrom, they don't actually have anything useful in them. just horrible themes and bad software.
you however could probably extract the extended rom from another device and copy the files and manually install them. that'd be easy enough i think.
yeah, flashing a rom from another device is not such a good idea, but since you are using wm2003, you can visit -=this tutorial=- and gain another 16mb of storage space and then just copy cabs that you want to the device or maybe even build you own extrom, to be copied to the sd card and installed automatically. to find out how that is done (actually pretty easy!) just use forum search and look for "cfg.txt" and Chef_Tony. i wrote some pretty long tutorials about that.
basicly it is just making an automated install routine for your most commonly used programs, so whenever you hard reset your device, the programs YOU want are installed, not those ridiculous t-mobile customizations, their pink dialer skin and things like that.
EDIT: btw. you should never take an entire extrom of another device. you never know, if maybe some of the things installed by the extrom are dependant of the display resolution or use device specific interfaces or mess around with device specific hardware buttons or drivers, you should extract the cabs and google their names, if you are not sure, what that actually does, so you can be sure, it will work on your blueangel!
have fun with that.
and @cerjam: don't be offended, your answer is completely right, i agree, just wanted to add a few little things
Perfect answers!
So, chef_tony, your telling me that it's ok to merge my extrom and storage in wm2003se? and then copy my cabs and write a cfg.txt of my own for an sd card?
I realize that I should do all the reading, but I'm the kinda guy who needs a generalized big picture before I start ripping apart all the details, so I'm looking for **** and jane/oversimplified answers.
Thanks, guys (and gals, if you are one)

ASUS R600 GPS rom modification

Hi all,
I have an ASUS R600 GPS running WinCE 5.0 core. I unlocked it using AsusPocket (ASUS customized version of MioPocket to keep things such as bluetooth) and everything seemed fine.
However I'm running against a "low memory" errors when running certain navi software such as Navigon and iGo. The device has 64 Mb of RAM which should be plenty for these, as my cheap Omnitech has the same amount and has no problems.
With help of MioPocket guys, I traced it down to a massive \Windows in this device's ROM. It is like 25 Mb as they dumped not only every dll they could find there, but also eg a lot of big wav and bmp files. Couple wav files are close to 1Mg each! Since according to these folks \Windows just gets copied from ROM to RAM on startup, I end up with far less free memory to play with than I'd like.
I'm new to ROM cooking but with some help I'm sure I could do it. To keep things very simple I was thinking of just replacing these big wav files with a small one. This way the file count and names wouldn't change and I wouldn't run a risk of ever running into a "file not found" condition. I really don't care if on startup the device plays a simple "ding" as opposed to 20 sec sound. Since soft that I want actually runs and only gets into low memory condition on more complex route recalculation or reality view screens, I think this would be enough to get me over the hurdle. Of course, any checksums will need to be regenerated as needed.
So, at this point I have downloaded upgrade ROM images for this device. Is that something that can be disassembled, modified as described above, and put back together? I tired naively unleashing dumprom on one of these .bin files, but got back "unable to determine loading offsets" error. I guess I shouldn't be surprised as at this point I don't know what I'm doing...
Can anybody offer any help to me? With all the amazing things I read on this site people doing with ROM modifications, it looks like what I'm trying to do should be a walk in the park. Am I right trying to go from upgrade .bin file? Or should I get some tools to read off the device? Please help.
Btw. if anybody'd like to peek at this upgrade bin, it can be downloaded here: hxxp://support.asus.com/download/download.aspx?modelname=R600&SLanguage=en-us, in the firmware section, version 4.3.0 and version 4.8.0 for NA users. Unfortunately no direct link.
Thanks in advance
mamon

[Q] flashing windows mobile to android through usb

So I have a broken sd card port, which does not read my sd cards anymore. And I was already on scoot's latest android build, but what do you do when something is broken? Well, you go back to factory settings and for our blessed HTC Kaiser or in my case MDA Vario III, this means going back to the abomination called WM (and to make matters even worse it is tmobile themed). But it seems that this also doesn't fix the problem and the sd card is still not read. It does say it needs to format the sd card for it to work, which I then give the permission to do, but it is never able to finish the format.
So my question is fairly simple: how to flash android on your WM device with usb?
thanks in advance!
( I am really stupid, going back to WM )
**I have looked for other guides, but they all assume you to already have android installed on your phone**
It sounds like the ribbon cable is broken for the SD card. The only fix is to replace it, unless there is some other problem with the main board.
So how am I suppose to replace this "riboon cable" do I need to buy some extinct hardware specifically for the kaiser (which probably is impossible to get?) or can I do it some other way. And is there really no way to flash Android on the kaiser via usb, since I think I can manage with only a couple of apps on the internal storage...
Also I have already tried to flash android on my htc kaiser:
- I dragged and dropped the KAISIMG.NBG over the installer of my original t-mobile rom, but somehow it just installs the original rom again and not the KAISIMG.NBG
AFAIK, the only 2 ways to flash anything to a Kaiser is through the SD card or USB port. Noone (to my knowledge) has ever created a RUU-flashable Android package for the Kaiser or any other device, which would be your only option.
Given the constraints on the RAM built into the Kaiser, you would have to build a pretty small package for the install, maybe 55-60MB, use Oli's NBH creator and (hopefully) build an installable package that can be sent via USB with an unsigned RUU updater.
If someone wants to take on the task of stripping an androidinstall package, extracting it and repacking it into a RUU installable NBH, feel free. I know it can be done with a kernel package, but that is only 3MB and goes to the first partition. All the other files would have to go to the correct partitions as well (/system, /data, /cache, etc.).
So how am I suppose to make an installable package? I have the file to get WM to Android, the kernel, and scoots android install package, which I have stripped down to 67 mb.
What should I do with these files? Do you have some kind of instructions?
You would have to figure out how to not only partition the NAND, but direct the kernel and all files to their appropriate partitions.
Someone must have some info on how to do this...
Sent from this addictive thumb magnet...

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