XDA2i Guide to cooking the Extended ROM - PDA2, XDA IIi, 2020i Software Upgrading

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

Related

ROMkitchen are out of date..... Who wants to change????

Hello XDA users....
I think you know it all, that the ROMkitchen is a fine application to get our device nearly perfect.
But the ROMkitchen is out of date. This means many applications aren´t not in the actual version. Therefore Auburnham and I thought to update the applications.
The problem is, that the amount of added applications to the kitchen is to big to make this happen by us two. Because of this problem I´m searching for some people, which wants to help.
Another problem is, that you need for this a device that haven´t got installed that piece of software. This means that when you want to help me with Phonext for example, you must have a device without any version of Phonext installed.
So, if you are going to help me make a snapshot of your device with the ssnap - Application.
Install the software.
Make again an Snapshot of your device with the ssnap - Application.
Send these two files to [email protected] with inforamtion about the program you have installed and the exact Version you have installed.
When I´ve got analyzed the two files i will reply to you with a wishlist of files that have been created on your device. After sending me the files, i can update the kitchen....
IF there are any quesions or anything else, feel free to contact me....
Regards
Stefan
Good Idea :
I'd be happy to contribute.
Tell me which application you want me to install and I'll do it provided that I find the procedure (that I've seen being posted elsewere in this forum).
NB : I'm using XDA I with a Frenchy 3.16 and be stuck with it :evil: ; so there is no chance for me to re-build a new a geniun 3.16 Rom again.
My XDA is all up and running.
I've overcome my Language FRA error message after purchasing a SD card reader and loading the ROM through the bootloader. 8)
Now, I'm about to install ttn 3 on my XDA. Do you want list it in your kitchen ?
What do you need exactly ?
I would be happpy to help. I am a regular user of your site and appreciate the effort that has been put into it.
I understand the effort needed to keep things working and up to date.
Pierre
I'm in!!
Just let me know what you need and when and I will maker every endevour to help.
Thanks for all you do
macudc
Check out
http://lumpistefan.dyndns.org/update.html
Select and download the programs you want to take and send an email to me, that i can remove the files.
Follow the instructions.
If there are any questions ----> Email me....
Thx for Helping.
Stefan
Tanguy said:
Now, I'm about to install ttn 3 on my XDA. Do you want list it in your kitchen ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Tomtom wouldn´t fit in the free space. Already didn´t work for TomTom 2.
Maybe i can include the Gps part....
Stefan
LumpiStefan,
OK on the priniple for GPS. How to best handeled tha case of a sotfware GPS 3.0 on (CD's) that has an upgrade GPS 3.03 to be dowloaded from the web site.
Does the snapshot comes at the end of the 2nd install ?
Tanguy
Howdy all,
I just noticed we had a thread started on this project. I've been working on updates over the weekend and noticed there have already been quite a few. So here are my contributions, including updates and additions:
Upgrades:
Converter CE 1.8c
StorageTools 1.9
PocketNav 2.73 (no snapshot necessary, executable only)
EzWAP 2.5
Polyphonic Ringtone Support (no snapshot necessary, additional files for \Windows directory only)
New Addtions:
Resco File Explorer 2003 * http://www.resco-net.com/explorer.asp
Resco Picture Viewer 4.11 * http://www.resco-net.com/picview.asp
Pocket Player 2.5 * http://www.conduits.com/ce/player/default.asp
Pocket Music 3.0 * http://www.pocketmind.com/pocketmusic.htm
Microsoft Money 2003 http://www.microsoft.com/windowsmobile/downloads/money.mspx
Olive Tree BibleReader 2.31e051 http://www.olivetree.com/handheld/WinCE/WinCEBible.html
AOL Instant Messanger 2.0 http://www.aim.com/get_aim/win_ce/latest_wince.adp
WESTTEK ClearVue Suite * http://www.westtek.com/pocketpc/suite/
QuickTasks 2.8 * http://www.scarybearsoftware.com/ppc_qt_overview.html
InkSpot Newsgroup reader * http://www.dejavusoftware.com/inkce/index.html
Macromedia Flash player 6 http://www.macromedia.com/software/flashplayer/pocketpc/2002.html
Animated Today 2002 (not necessary, requires flash player) * http://www.gigabytesol.com/anitoday.htm
* Trial version, must be registered
I've sent these snapshots off to Stefan, along with the files that I thought might be necessary for these programs. This is going to be great for all of us, but a lot of work for Stefan. We all owe him a great deal, so take him out for a nice meal the next time you see him.
Shawn
LumpiStefan said:
Tomtom wouldn´t fit in the free space. Already didn´t work for TomTom 2.
Maybe i can include the Gps part....
Stefan
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't want to make this any more complicated than it is, but for some programs, it just doesn't make any sense to install to the XDA memory. Most of the media players and "Misc" programs just take up too much unnecessary device memory when they would work just as well on the SD Card (if that's available).
The problem is that those huge programs require just a few small files to be placed on the device itself. So after installing a few of these types of programs, you've used up a lot of device memory from these small files, even though you installed the program to your SD Card.
Is there a way to alter the kitchen a bit to allow cooking of the necessary device files only, and allow the user to later install the program to the SD Card (being careful not to overwrite the files in ROM with files in RAM)?
For instance, with the TomTom program, if you start with a clean ROM and SD card, take a snapshot, then install the program to your SD card, then take another snapshot, you could determine what files need to be on the device, and what files don't need to be on the device, and allow users to either cook the entire program or just the necessary files in the ROM. (Note: This is a good example of a run-on sentence). Would this be a difficult feature to add to the kitchen?
Shawn
auburnham said:
For instance, with the TomTom program, if you start with a clean ROM and SD card, take a snapshot, then install the program to your SD card, then take another snapshot, you could determine what files need to be on the device, and what files don't need to be on the device, and allow users to either cook the entire program or just the necessary files in the ROM. (Note: This is a good example of a run-on sentence). Would this be a difficult feature to add to the kitchen?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Maybe the esiest Option is adding a new Select Point for the kitchen like "misc", "System Tools", "Phone" ....
This means having the programs double in the kitchen, but how cares.
I don't know exactly, but when you install a program to the SD-Card, could you select the part where to place it?
If yes, this could be a big problem. Many of the programs store the path in the registry.
If no, i could also provide a ZIP-file, where the rest of the programfiles are in, hust to unzip to the Storagecard.....
auburnham said:
We all owe him a great deal, so take him out for a nice meal the next time you see him.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sounds good. I'm hungry all the time.... ;-)
Stefan
LumpiStefan said:
I don't know exactly, but when you install a program to the SD-Card, could you select the part where to place it?
If yes, this could be a big problem. Many of the programs store the path in the registry.
If no, i could also provide a ZIP-file, where the rest of the programfiles are in, hust to unzip to the Storagecard.....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I believe this really depends on (1) how well the program was written, and (2) if you can install the program with CabInst (i.e. has a cab installation).
For example, I try to keep my SD Card organized and tidy so if I use CabInst I install the program to an appropriate folder on the SD Card. If I have to install the program from the desktop, I install the program to the SD Card root, then try to move the program to an appropriate folder and update the shortcut. Most of the time this works without even changing any registry entries, but sometimes it doesn't. Two examples from the above list of applications are AOL Instant Messenger 2.0 and Pocketmind PocketMusic 3.0. To function correctly, they both need to be in their original installation folders on the SD Card.
But perhaps the best solution would be to have an associated .zip file to go on the SD Card, as you suggested.
Shawn
Now the kitchen should be up 2 date again.
Only missing is PocketConsole and the Part "Software that needs to register"
So happy cooking and again Thx a lot to all users that helped me.....
Stefan
A Windows-way for cooking a ROM would be great for two reasons: 1) Don't hassle your server with lots of traffic and 2) Practical. Advanced users could cook a ROM without having a PC with Unix.
For example I tried cooking the Spanish version of the ROM and not all the programs I chose were installed and the worst thing is that the boot logo was just garbage, it was showing program code on the screen as a logo
Regards,
Marton
Marton said:
For example I tried cooking the Spanish version of the ROM and not all the programs I chose were installed and the worst thing is that the boot logo was just garbage, it was showing program code on the screen as a logo
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok. Fixed the problem with the bootscreen.....
Tried also adding as much application, and all have been installed.
Can you tell me, what files / programs are missing?
No one else told me that there have been a problem wirth this ROM. I think it's because of the situation that most of the useres are using WM2003 ROMS....
You can also use the kitchen under "Windows" just have to set up a Cyguin environment on your system....
Also i didn't know how many Kitchen's are implemented by other users, but mine one is the only "official". You can't believe that everyone would be able to set it up.......
Stefan
Thanks Stefan!!!!!!
Now it seems to work but if EzWAP is selected, it throws a Log error when trying to cook...
Cheers,
Marton
P.S.: Do you know if a Spanish WM2003 exists?
Edit: This is the error:
Cannot fit files in given sections
Error splitting files
Just cooked a ROM... I selected the "Windows Mobile XDA" Boot Screen and now it is not garbage anymore but now it shows mirrored and upside down...
Any ideas?
Marton said:
Just cooked a ROM... I selected the "Windows Mobile XDA" Boot Screen and now it is not garbage anymore but now it shows mirrored and upside down...
Any ideas?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hello Marton.
I relaised that this is a problem with the Image.
This Image have been sent to me, and i ithink it's created wih the wrong parameters....
Stefan

Big Hack help required

I did the Big Hack successfully and gained 27 mb of space on my O2 mini (I was a happy man). Prior to this, at the time of Big Hack I stored a copy of my original rom and my extended rom.
Subsequently, in about 2 weeks time I accidentally deleted some key files while using SK Tools. Due to this the ‘close button’ at the top corner was not visible even after soft reset. The “running programs” application was also missing. Because of this I did a hard reset.
When I tried to load programs into the new storage gained, I found that the storage area is full (total storage memory 26.72 MB, free 0.00 MB. No programs are being written on to this area. I did another hard reset. Still no luck. My active sync is working fine with contacts, calendar etc. getting synced very fine. Only, I cannot install programs to my new big storage area as it shows the full area as full.
Total Main Memory is - 57.41
Storage Program
Allocated 24.39 MB Allocated 33.02 MB
In use 2.08 MB In use 10.63 MB
Free 22.31MB Free 22.39 MB
Please help me. What should I do ? Do I need to visit the Service Centre in Mumbai and ask them to restore my device back to the level at which I purchased it ? Do I flash the BIG ROM once again ? Do I flash the saved, original RoM. Somehow, when I try to flash in boot loader, the screen only shows “Serial 1.0”, but it is not prompting me to Press power to flash.
sorry, im not to good wid my magician, how do i do a big hack, and what does it do?
Galahad: I would suggest re-flashing with your bigstorage'd ROM. That should re-partition everything hopefully back to bigstorage status. If that doesn't work, reflash with a normal rom, and then start from scratch.
Mark - I presume by "Big Hack" Galahad means the BigStorage hack, and not just playing with his dangly bits. Have a look on the wiki and various threads. Olt's guide here is a good one:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/viewtopic.php?t=37914&highlight=bigstorage
and this is my preferred technique:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/vie...t=0&postdays=0&postorder=asc&highlight=bigrom
What this does is:
by default the Magician is set up to have a "storage" area for user use of about 7mb, and an "extended" area that we can really use, containing a bunch of operator stuff that you might or might not need.
The hack turns the extended area into storage, so you get 27mb, to do with as you please. It's well worth doing if you use a wifi card for example, but if you have a large sd card anyway, and never remove it, you're not losing much.
V
Vijay thanks for your reply and notes. I have visited your links and taken hard copies for Note reference.
I did a romupdate and thru that I tricked my device to prompt me to flash my SD Card with the saved Big Rom. Once everything was done I got my 27mb space. I notes that it already had 5 mb written. I ignored that and went on to reinstall all my programs to this area.
One more help that I need [don'nt know if I should start a new thread] is how to get to install the application "O2 connect". I installed individual cab files from the saved EXT ROM. After installing 4 to 5 O2 connect cab files whenever I click on O2 connect I still get the message "O2 connect can only run on O2 devices"
The links that you gave me "how do I search for these links"? I do not get the search results for what I want to search in the search dialog box.
Galahad: it's not a piece of software I've ever used, but you have to remember to search for the cracked version. Have you tried the ftp? It's likely to be on there. However, many people seem to suggest it's not very good... I reserve judgement!
Remember to formulate your searches with correct boolean terms etc, it does work if you know what you're looking for and are very careful...
V
These are the files i used to get the o2 connect to work.
Thanks buddies for the replies and the tips.
Nash: I read your post. Did you mean to put a link for me to look up the files that you talked about ? Cause I don't see any files. Maybe I am missing something :?
Buddy these are CAB files in a RaR zipped
Tried using the individual cab files in the RAR file. Installed the same. It did not help me one bit. Got the same error "O2 connect is meant to work with O2 devices only"
I guess if I need the latest ROM I will pickup the same from the XDA forum.

ROM upgrade - how to create your own rom-questions ???

hi i have been looking through this formu but cannot really find what i am after. sorry in advance but if it was covered in other threads please give links.
i would like to upgrade my rom (current i am using pre-installed tmobile mda pro rom) to something batter. the problem is there is so many things in this forum that makes me conufused.
Is it possible (probably it is- but how) to upgrade my ROM by creating my own ROM eg take the best radio rom and extended rom with the stuff i want eg some application i am using right now - instead of normal keyboard get resco keyboard and instead of file explorer get resco explorer and so on and on and put them to the extended rom .
is there any soft to do it ? can someone provide me with links where i can find out something more about ROM cos wiki isnt really helpful and seems to be out of date.
any help wanted !
cheers, cudo
ps. or put tomtom to the extRom...rom that would feauture all the good stuff.
what a pity nobady is willing to help me..maybe u vac just point me to some accurate threads within this forum, if ther are some.
cheers, cudo
To put another Radio ROM in is trivial.
Take out the other two (ExtROM and OS) ROM images and just flash in the Radio file. I did this and didn't even need a hard reset.
To put TomTom into your ExtROM is easy too.
Once you have done your hard reset with your new ROM images and the ExtROM has loaded, you have 10MB of space that you can reclaim. There are instructions at the top of this forum for unlocking the ExtROM and making it appear as another memory area.
Please use backup software regularly so that you don't have to reflash the unit until the next OS upgrade.
Creating a ROM image is more hard work, and I don't know for sure that all the information is accurate. This is only my understanding of the process.
Install the programs that you want in your ROM to your PDA and make a note of the locations of all files and registry entries that are installed.
Take a recent ROM image and unpack it to your desktop.
Delete the programs that you don't want to install, and then search through the hives for the entries that relate to those programs. Delete those too.
Put the files and registry entries of the programs you are putting into your ROM into their post-installed locations.
Rebuild the ROM image.
Flash it in.
Hopefully this won't break your PDA if you get it wrong, I'm guessing that this is very much a trial and error process.
I haven't tried this.
Use this information at your own risk, it could break your PDA.
how do i separate the rom images from each other..i mean radio, os and extended roms ? when i unzip the UNI_TMUK_130114_130232_11003_WWE_BL101_Ship i am getting loads of files but cannot see the right ones.
cheers, cudo

regarding the extrom...

hello everyone!
i am running wm06 for a while now and have to admit, its fckng great!
i upgraded from wm2003 directly to wm06, so its like two different worlds...
but when i was upgrading, i did not manage to merge the extrom with the rest of the storage, the unhide and unlock thing just didn't work!
but as i am now sure, that i wont need to roll back to 2003 again, merging the extrom with the rest of the storage would only make it better, no disadvantages, am i right?
or am i needing the extrom in wm06?
how is it used in wm06?
or is it just wasted space....?
as u can easily see, i am still a little confused about all that....
here are some specs from my device:
ROM Version: 5.60.00 WWE
ROM Date: 03/02/05
Radio Version: 1.15.00
Protocol Version: 1337.45
ExtROM Version: - (nothing here...??? is that bad??)
STORAGE:
total: 42,92MB
in use: 28,26MB
free: 14,66MB
PROGRAM:
total: 109,12MB
in use: 40,23MB
free: 68,90MB
thx for any help,
regards,
krz
ExtROM: Extended ROM - is the section of the ROM which the distributor of the phone (eg O2, T-Mobile, iMate, etc) store their customization (eg Today theme, ring tones, extra software) data.
In WM2003 you may found your phone having hardreset quite often - thats because WM2003 use RAM as program-storage (RAM lose everything when battery is drained)
In WM5/6 you are not using RAM as a storage anymore thus not performing hardreset often (typically once during flash)
By performing ExtROM merge, you're going to have extra MB in storage. There is NO DISADVANTAGE.
Those who prefer to have an ExtROM for whatever reason (they may HardReset their phone quite often because of testing/developing/whatever) place the "ExtROM" folder in Storage Card (Memory card/SD/MMC) and after HR it gets installed as usual. Or you can install fixes and addons "one by one".
Read more information here : http://wiki.xda-developers.com/index.php?pagename=BA_ERK_Understand
----
To sum it up :
You dont need to merge your ExtROM (it cost you some MB)
* How to merge / is here : http://wiki.xda-developers.com/index.php?pagename=HTC_Blueangel_WM6_WizzardMain
thx a lot for your answer, kerio...!!
if i understood you right, the EXTROM is of NO USE at all in WM06.
so if not merged before upgrading, it will be just invisible and unused space.... am i right?
if so, i would of course prefer to merge the EXTROM with the rest of the storage to gain more free megabytes....
will the total storage size be 60,3MB after merging, like i have seen in this thread: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=326515 ?!?
is it possible to merge the EXTROM after having WM06 installed?
can i merge EXTROM without reinstalling WM06 and all programs?
btw: unhiding and unlocking is NOT working on my device....
when clicking UNHIDE, nothing happens,
when clicking UNLOCK i get the following error:
Code:
ERROR: FL_IOCTL_BDTL_HW_PROTECTION - The parameter is incorrect.
what am i doing wrong??
i know, that are a lot of questions, but i would be very thankful if someone could help me with that...
thx in advance!
regards,
krz
bump bump
I would also be interested if somebody suuggests new solutions for "big storage" as my device does accept unlock and unhide, but when using "repart_DOC.exe" it gives me errors and eosn't repartition the ROM...
Downgrade to WM2003 , play da game and flash to wm6
Xeon's got the idea. You will need to to downgrade to WM2003, unlock, unhide and repartition the extrom. Once complete then flash up to the WM6.
I had to do the same thing, as I had not correctly repartitioned the extrom when I moved up too WM5. Good luck.
hello and thx a lot for all your ansers!
how many MBs will I gain from merging EXTROM?
and is there a way to use that space without merging?
anyone knows??
i have wm2003 and i can't unhide , unlock, or format doc, cos everytime i'm trying i can see , FL_IOCTL_BDTL_HW_PROTECTION the parameter is incorrect, can anyone help me?
Nicolfa said:
Xeon's got the idea. You will need to to downgrade to WM2003, unlock, unhide and repartition the extrom. Once complete then flash up to the WM6.
I had to do the same thing, as I had not correctly repartitioned the extrom when I moved up too WM5. Good luck.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
We got the point now.
Advise the wiki should be revised as so many people are confusing about the ExtROM.
Thanks
Dear tangwd898,
lol
Have you ever read the wiki? Could you give me the parts where "you must revert back to WM2003" is missing?
kerio said:
Dear tangwd898,
lol
Have you ever read the wiki? Could you give me the parts where "you must revert back to WM2003" is missing?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Dear kerio,
I did read the Wiki regarding the ExtROM for more than 3 three times, I can't get any informations that we can't modify the ExtROM in OS wm5.0 or wm6.0 from the thread - Understanding the Blue Angle Extended ROM:-
http://wiki.xda-developers.com/index.php?pagename=BA_ERK_Understand
Understanding the Blue Angle Extended ROM
The Extended ROM is shipped as ms_.nbf and loaded with the BaUpgradeUt.exe
The ms_.nbf is extracted during the Upgrade and written to folder \Extended_Rom
The \Extended_Rom folder is hidden and read only
The Extended ROM can un hidden with the following tool Unlock tool
The Extended ROM is limited to 16MB in size
The Numbering of the Extended ROM is operator dependent:
Thus a QTEK version 1.22.225 might or might not have higher patches than a I-Mate version 1.22.62
Extended ROMs are built around the major OS release (1.22, 1.31)
It is NOT advisable to install cabs from a Extended ROM if the Windows Mobile 2003 Version are not the same
It is NOT advisable to install patches if the CE versions (1.22, 1.31) are different.
(They might have already been included in that CE version.)
Execution of the Extended ROM
CheckAutorun.exe (which is started from \Windows\Startup\CheckAutorun.lnk) executes the AutoRun.exe
AutoRun.exe is found in the \Extended_Rom Folder
AutoRun.exe reads the \Extended_Rom\Config.txt and executes the commnands in that file
The pointer for AutoRun.exe HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Comm\AutoRun is set to \Extended_ROM\AutoRun
The pointer for Config.txt HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Comm\AutoRunCFG is set to \Extended_ROM\AutoRunCFG
The Touch screen is disabled by the first command (TPDisable.exe)in the Config.txt
The Touch screen is enabled by the 2nd to last command (TPEnable.exe)in the Config.txt
The last Command of the config.txt (RST) performs a soft reset
Content of the Extended ROM
The Extended ROM consists of System files (TPDisable.exe, TPEnable.exe, AutoRun.exe, Config.txt)
The Extended ROM consists of *.CAB installation files
The installation files fall into the following types
Applications: Album, Fax, Zip
Patches for the Hardware: Button9 on the Hardware Keyboard
Patches for the software: Blue tooth upgrade
Provider specific files and programs: Splash screen, Internet Explorer defaults, telco settings, etc.
Effects of a Hard Reset
A Hard Reset will NOT re-extract the ms_.nbf
A Hard Reset will reload the contents of the \Extended_Rom folder
A Hard Reset will reload the OS and thus also clean the registry
Why is this of interest to me?
The Extended ROM can be cooked (Customize the ROM to your own liking)
What ever you put in the \Extended_Rom folder will remain even after a Hard Reset
The \Storage will not be overwritten on a Hard Reset
Thus one is able to keep CAB files on \Storage for automatic reinstallation after a Hard Reset
You can keep your "customized" Extended ROM and only perform a OS or Radio Upgrade
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
"you must revert back to WM2003" - may be found at other threads but i think this thread "Understanding the Blue Angle Extended ROM" should include this message.
Thank you.
I dont think so
When performing upgrade you should follow the instruction (WM5 and WM6 pages) when you dont - then you may find yourself in trouble.
1. The main page is only for WM2003
2. Error message -> google -> sollution (30sec)
3. You can add it to the wiki (anyone can)
Effects of a Hard Reset
A Hard Reset will NOT re-extract the ms_.nbf
A Hard Reset will reload the contents of the \Extended_Rom folder
A Hard Reset will reload the OS and thus also clean the registry
Why is this of interest to me?
The Extended ROM can be cooked (Customize the ROM to your own liking)
What ever you put in the \Extended_Rom folder will remain even after a Hard Reset The \Storage will not be overwritten on a Hard Reset
Thus one is able to keep CAB files on \Storage for automatic reinstallation after a Hard Reset
You can keep your "customized" Extended ROM and only perform a OS or Radio Upgrade
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I still have some questions:-
- Why my *.cab files in the extROM folder all missing after i done a hard Reset?
- How to keep all *.cab files in the ExtROM folder after the hard reset?
Thank you.
Guys and Gals
The BA Wiki was started over 2 years or more ago by a new guy on the forum who trying to work out how to get his German MDAIII flashed with an English rom.
He wrote it in order that the information was found in one place as he found it hard to find it in all the threads, this finding problem is still true today.
Well as you see times have changed and the porblems of WM5 and WM6 were not know at that time and as you also see not many people have bothered to invest time back into documneting in wiki. Its become more of a get and ***** about wiki not being updated than a give back some of the time in searching the threads and update wiki for the next person.
Some were in the begining it says if you don't like what you read then fix it.
This is best done by those people that are going through the learning curve as they read Wiki and they should beable to correct / add / embelish on what is written and what needs to be said.
Its a thought.
tangwd898 said:
I still have some questions:-
- Why my *.cab files in the extROM folder all missing after i done a hard Reset?
- How to keep all *.cab files in the ExtROM folder after the hard reset?
Thank you.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Misson impossible is that type of Cab file that is no longer there after a hard reset (or when they are executed) as they delete themselves.
Change the properties to read only will solve that.
Check out the kitchen
http://wiki.xda-developers.com/index.php?pagename=BA_ERK_Things2know

[Q] Solution to delete cabs/other files that are part of (original) ROM?

Hello,
I am currently using an xda touch diamond that I have been configuring and
maintaining etc. with much devotion over the last ~two years... For that reason, I understandably fear flashing. However, I am running into the hardly-any-space-on-internal-storage-left-problem, and subsequently have been heavily searching for solutions that might enable the deletion of individual rom-files. I think I read twenty times, no, it's not possible. So my question is: Would it be possible to clone the complete device without any data/config loss whatsoever into a file (simililar to what sprite backup does), and in advance of flashing/whatever you will call the complete restore process actually DELETE certain files that used to be undeletable on the device itself.
Thanks for answering this....
Matthias
me1235 said:
Hello,
I am currently using an xda touch diamond that I have been configuring and
maintaining etc. with much devotion over the last ~two years... For that reason, I understandably fear flashing. However, I am running into the hardly-any-space-on-internal-storage-left-problem, and subsequently have been heavily searching for solutions that might enable the deletion of individual rom-files. I think I read twenty times, no, it's not possible. So my question is: Would it be possible to clone the complete device without any data/config loss whatsoever into a file (simililar to what sprite backup does), and in advance of flashing/whatever you will call the complete restore process actually DELETE certain files that used to be undeletable on the device itself.
Thanks for answering this....
Matthias
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You yourself are describing a 'playful' method of building a new ROM!
This is what ROM cooks do when a ROM is made. They remove or edit - files or folders that are inbuilt and add their custom folders to it and 'cook' it. So in a sense the answer is 'YES' you can remove what you don't like in your ROM. But NO you can't do it by your suggested method. You can cook a ROM yourself or ask a cook on forum to do you a favour and delete unwanted files from your ROM and you can flash custom ROM with better space on it - Flashing is not that bad to be honest! I have done it on my WinMo - uncountable times! More than the number of times you might have changed your wallpaper!
So just make sure you read instructions on how to do it. Back up all your data on storage card and contacts too! - there you are ready to go!
After first flash of new ROM you won't take more than 2 hours making your phone as it is! (and you get faster with each flash!)
yes, drupad2drupad is right,
what I would add, I know what you mean, been facing the same decision. Spend year customizing and didn't want to loose it, on the other hand phone become slow and full. Well if there was a simple solution to this, this forum would be 95% smaller. there isn't any universal solution.
you will loose something. some settings, (registry or config files), some customizing. etc.
by using different backup programs or by setting them differently, you can trigger how much to backup, and how much to revert. BUT if you backup everything, (all registry and all files) after flashing you are right where you was. no big change.
what I do is I copy all int.memory to SD card, export all registry, backup only messages (contacts and calendar are in file pim.vol, if you end all programs and disable today plugins, you should be able to copy there and back this too, not loosing nothing by backup converting)
then flashing new rom, restore messages, copy pim.vol back and then slowly, restoring setting for each program I care to do so.
it's either a file in \program files or in \windows or a part of registry. there you open your big exported reg file, search for a name of program and cut,paste to empty reg file and import.
I made a backup script to do this automatically, but it's not possible to make it universal, it will backup only those programs it's set to backup.
back to you question about deleting rom files. you can, after a fashion, but deleting such will only add info to ignore this rom file. which means, rom file stays, but is not visible. thought, you can clean your int memory. removing temp and accumulated useless files, moving programs you use rarely to SD, but this is very time consuming and advance thing to do.
thanks
first of all, thanks to the two of you for such devoted answers! thanks a lot , really.
My guess is it will take me (I'm quite obsessive) 6-10 hours -- research etc. to make sure everything will definitely go fine and finally restore everything to the prior state. Never having messed around with flashing etc., I think it's too much effort to gain some lousy 20 mb.
I still really appreciate your answers. It's a shame there is no universal method to do this is a few steps, with some utility, for everyone...
So I was wondering, what do you think, on a system like the touch diamond, running windows mobile 6.1, with I think ~100 mb internal storage, how many mb should in your opinion at any point in time be free space, to ensure things are running smooth? (And, I suppose/hope flash memory deterioration due to little space left is not that much of an issue...)
Else I'd go as far as "donating" some chrismas bucks to some kindred spirit in guiding me through the process, I just don't have the nerve to do this, for 10 mb... never again will I buy a device that has too small internal storage!
thanks to everyone...
matthias
(edit) ps.: I find it funny that the files in rom can store data (like the 16 MB mxip initdb.vol which is said to carry contacs I believe) - for the novice, like myself, it's kind of difficult to understand why files can be written to, but not decreased in size to free up memory somehow - or do they have a "size limit" / "fixed size"?) but anyway, you need not comment on this.
There is a way that you can reduce your file storage size quite easily....
Thanks to AnDim, see here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=377514.
Do the following steps:
1. Use a back-up tool such as Resco Backup and make a back-up on your storage card.
2. Use Total Commander and copy all of the files in your Windows directory that are NOT part of the ROM. You can do this quite easily by chosing the "Hide files in Rom" part. Then copy and save these files on your desktop.
3. Use AnDim's HTC ROM Image Editor. Open your original rom with this (I hope you have it).
4. Add the files you copied from your desktop to the rom you opened with AnDim's tool.
5. Delete any duplicate files that were in the original rom from the ones you just copied.
6. Save the new rom and flash it.
7. Use Resco Back-up to restore your original rom.
8. Use Total Commander to delete the files created by Resco Back-Up in your Windows folder that you had previously added to the rom.
After all of this, you will find you have much more storage space and a quicker rom because all of the files you added that overwrote a rom file will no longer have duplicate files and also rom files take up less storage space.
Good luck!
hi mitsi,
thanks for that post, highly appreciated! this looks like a solution to the problem I described -- After doing some time-consuming cleanup, I now have some ~10 MB free, so I think I'll wait for this to decrease down to let's say 5MB in the future, and then follow your steps -- which seem to be advanced, but feasible. This is really a great hint. Hope others who run into the same problem will find this thread helpful too. I'm really impressed with quality and helpfulness in this forum, outstanding. Will have to go out and help others where I can now to compensate for my bad conscience
Grüße nach Berlin aus dem Schwarzwald!
M.
I recommend using SPB backup.
I used that program to do what you wanted to do ever since I used Axim x5 (currently TP2).
I have it set up so it automatically make a backup every week on Sunday, so just in case if something goes wrong (bad cab or driver) I can have most of important changes and not LOSE a thing.
So, good luck : )

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