Related
There's been s much talk of late about the release of WM5 on the BA. I've got my BA still running original rom WM2003 and am undecided if I need to upgrade to WM5.
Can we use this thread to list the basic benefits o the rom upgrade please? I've read page after page about problems and fixes but what will I actually gain from the upgrade?
1. More stable WLAN when it's on (at least for me).
2. No loss of data if the battery runs out.
3. It's cool to have the latest stuff! :twisted:
4. Better looking dialpad.
5. More stable MMS. On 2003SE I had to soft reset the unit after every second to every third MMS sendt to be able to send more. On WM5 I haven't had that problem at all.
6. The softbuttons at the bottom of the screen always has a handy shortcut to whatever's needed at the moment.
this is a topic i'm quite interested aswell.
i've been reading a few topics related to the WM5, and i'm still not sure if i should upgrade or not.
a few more replies with some feedback would be nice.
thanks Mastiff for the reply, and thanks anyone else who gives his feedback on this.
What Mastiff said plus:
Nick Name for contacts which Micrsoft Voice Command picks up on [rather than say First/Last Name]
Nice Personal Picture/Ring Tone that is set from the WM5 Contacts.
To add more :
- Increased battery life
- Overall stability of OS as now it is on ROM and not in RAM.
- Improved driver database, improved quality of audio
Thanks for the input guys, i'm starting to think it may be upgrade time!
Please keep 'em coming...
According to some promise-stuff by Microsoft. WM2005 finally adds support to synchronize SMS/MMS with Outlook.
Too bad, I couldn't do that when I tested WM2005 BA.
Maybe it's too early... Maybe it requires some pluging for Outlook, I'm not sure.
Wonderful work by mamaich is still in its infancy. I hope the patched WM2005 ROM will get faster, better and badder :twisted:
Or hopefully HTC will make up their mind and do official BA 2005 bussiness.
I use jeyo mobile extender to sync SMS mesages with outlook. It is a bit buggy, but is compatible with WM5.
odie3 said:
What Mastiff said plus:
Nick Name for contacts which Micrsoft Voice Command picks up on [rather than say First/Last Name]
Nice Personal Picture/Ring Tone that is set from the WM5 Contacts.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can also say "call [nickname]" - That's new with WM5.
that is what I meant...
Mastiff said:
1. More stable WLAN when it's on (at least for me).
2. No loss of data if the battery runs out.
3. It's cool to have the latest stuff! :twisted:
4. Better looking dialpad.
5. More stable MMS. On 2003SE I had to soft reset the unit after every second to every third MMS sendt to be able to send more. On WM5 I haven't had that problem at all.
6. The softbuttons at the bottom of the screen always has a handy shortcut to whatever's needed at the moment.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Unfortunately I found three main problems which has forced me to return to 2003SE:
1. Much slower than 2003SE, did try the prog to up CPU speed but that only made my M2000 hang often, could live with it except for 2.
2. Email accounts lost if you remove battery (even for only a few seconds).
3. Netfront Access doesn't work!
1. Slower, yes. So much slower that it outweighs the benefits? Hell, no!
2. I have no idea why you have that problem. I just took out the battery and waited for a minute or so, and nothing happened to my mail account. Maybe something has gone wrong during your upgrade?
Well i did the upgrade to wm2005 yesterday. So far it works fine. In fact I see little difference to 2003 version except a few missing apps and wifi has to be switched on manually every time you turn on, pain in the a**e.
Mastiff said:
2. I have no idea why you have that problem. I just took out the battery and waited for a minute or so, and nothing happened to my mail account. Maybe something has gone wrong during your upgrade?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Have upgraded twice and same problem, also it would seem I'm not the only person who has this problem
Yeah, i had the email problem. Plus I downgraded because it kept losing my GPRS settings at random moments which was a pain. I really like WM5 and can't wait til next year when i can upgrade to an O2 Exec or similar.
I liked it but found it waaaaaaaay too slow, keyboard lag made it impossible.
And yes, same after resets.
For does who are intressted in my WM5 experience
I have spent my weekend upgrading my XDA IIs to WM5. With all the comments in this forum and Wicki I was able to do this in a painless and strait forward way. But after 3 days of daily usage I came to the the conclusion that WM5 on my XDA IIs is not ready now for real business use. There are too many bugs which are very disturbing if you are depending on this tool. So I have downgraded to 1.40 and restored my datas with Sprite Backup.
Anyway WM5 looks very good to me and I will be back and install it again when the time is right.
Thank you very much for all the support placed in this forum by you guys!
I've installed it about 2-3 days ago so far, and I'm loving it, I've had a few minor issues but I've managed to work around them. The installation for Windows 2005 was very simple and to the point which I liked, it didn't give me any wonder off questions like "How do I do this part?" it was all done through a nice application. I'm sticking to Windows Mobile 2005. ;-)
FACT: WM5 is maybe ready for freaks, programmers and "wannabe cool guys". But for real business it's definitely NOT ready.
I work in a very hard business and need that thing very often, and it was much better with the WM2003SE, trust me. WM2003SE is a bit faster with my PH20B1 device, but it has definitely less bugs than WM5.
But it's just fair to say, that our WM5 version is just a beta version and for nothing (money). I already have it on my device, I'm not sure to downgrade. May when I have some time. :wink:
WM5 is a love hate friendship.
What gets me the most about this is the fact that if you buy a PC with 2000 on it you can LEGALY upgrade to XP or Server 2003.
If you buy the same machine in a GERMAN version you can LEGALY change the language to what ever you want.
We have paid good wonga for a device which was shipped with a licence for the CE. Here we are stuck as we can't change the language nor version without creative means (lets not get into that).
As a communaty I would say that XDA is a great source of information and has found many ways to fix issues that are both Carrier and OS based. Many of us have spent hours fumbelling in the dark to inprove our very expensive toys and passed on this info via the forum and wiki.
We all know that BIG Brother is watching us. We all know the so called gods of Richmond have flexed thier mussels on this site.
What I just fail to understand is the simple fact that in the long run we all want to better our devices and inprove the issues of perfromance and stabilaty. Whether this is from the side of us users or the manufactures.
So Microsoft make our day and leak a newer Build of the WM5 for the BA and I promise you that we will again documnet the issues, problems, incompatabilaties, faults and general messups.
Would a controlled beta testing by a bunch of Geeks that give a damm and use the device daily not be better than some lab rats that just see if the icons are color matched?
Will I go back to 2003, think I will have to and it pisses me off big time. Would I stay with wm5, well if I could charge my device and then answer a incoming call with out haveing to reset the bugger it would help.
Well - no additional comments. I agree with you :wink:
Agree
I agree with all of your views. As Saisoku-R i am also using my XDA very heavely every day. I do not have the time to play around bugs. But anyway I think WM5 will be a great OS and I may try to upgarde in some more weeks again. Thanks to the great work of all you guys out there!
Thanks!
I agree with the argument in this thread. I use the XDA for non-business purposes, and am enjoying WM5 and its improved verstality no end. I specially love the contextual soft buttons below, the enhanced office and the improved quality of sound. But I do realize that for serious business users, it would be smarter to stick to 2003SE for the moment, and hope a more stable version of WM5 is released.
I have had the version2 with all appropriate patches installed since it was released. I am fortunate to say the I can hear/answer all incoming calls and all SMS features. I don't care much for MMS and taking pictures on low quality imaging product so I have not tested it to a great extent. The only gripe I have with WM5 is that it is slow. Much slower than I can handle compared to WM2003. Even the overclock patch by Mamaich has it's limitations.
Mamaich and Buzz has done a great service to us and I personally would like to thank them for giving me first hand experience in using WM5. Unfortunately, WM5 on a BA is still in it's infancy and I await the day when they tame it. For now, I am on my way back to 2003 and will weight my options when a mature WM5 or a Linux Stable is available.
Downgrading
i have been using the WM5 for weeks now and it is not stable, i can't use bluetooth, wireless is bad, does not ring when i am getting a call, it might ring during the last ring and stuff, so i will downgrade and stay till bluetooth and stuff is fixed. Thank you guys for making WM5 possible, it looks nice but thats all it is so far, looks. I would love to upgrade again if u guys get it stable, thank you very much.
I really wonder why there are so many different problems that some have, but other haven't got. The WLAN and BT turning itself off when the unit is suspended is common for all. But the problems you mention are rare, and I have none of them. Maybe it comes down to other, third party applications that are installed, or perhaps a bad upgrade?
no real problems
I have to say that I have had no real problems since installing wm5.
I have had no reason to soft reset and I have been using for about a week. I must say that at times it goes a bit slow but if you run the mamaich overclock again it seem to rectify for a day or so.
everything works BT, MMS, EMAIL, pocket msn, spb weather, spb clock, Agile messenger, Fax. Oh and phone with no sound issues at all.
To me it is far more stable than 2003se ever was.
Cheers gang
I have been using WM5 for about 6 days now, and it is much more stable (if slower) than 2003 was for me.
Some things don't work
1. Spb Diary
2. Spd Today Plus
Windows Media Player doesn't play Windows Media streams (32k) that TCMP can play.
Overall I am happy with WM 5, it would be nice if Microsoft could figure out how to write code that executes faster though.
I'm back on WM5... I had serious problems with WM2003SE, it softresets itself every 5-10 min. That's right, WM5 is much more stable, even the splash image doesn't nerve me, because with WM5 I don't have to softreset 1time every day :lol:
Where can I get the overclock util from mamaich ? Couldn't find it. Are there any cons concering the overclock util ? My BA is just 3 months old, I don't wanna crack it. :wink:
2 things that isn't as good as it was in WM2003SE: WLAN/BT and performance.
Oh, I found another problem: I have the german keyboard fix for the hard keyboard, and when I type emails or whatever, the buttons sometimes "hang". i.e.: I push the "E" button and it types 60 times the "E". When I press backspace, it deletes the whole text till the beginning. :?
MDAIIIUser said:
So Microsoft make our day and leak a newer Build of the WM5 for the BA and I promise you that we will again documnet the issues, problems, incompatabilaties, faults and general messups.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That´s part of HTC and not MS. MS only delivers the PB and some extensions for WM5.
So go and ask your carrier for changes, so they can order something at htc.
In WM2003 a lot of problems may have been fixed a long time before you got it, but it was to expensive to create a new version,test it and deliver it...
I had WM5 for about 2 weeks on the BA. I thought it was very stable, just WAY TO SLOW. Loading a program like Resco Explorer normally takes <1 second on WM2003 but about 5 or 6 on WM2005. Now before you think, "well that isn't that big a deal", remember everything is going slow like this. I just could not take it anymore.
That being said, I believe BUZZ, (maybe mamaich as well?) is looking into making a version without persistent memory, (basically going back to using RAM for storage and program) like the XDA2 builds.
If that was made then the speed would no longer be the issue, (though persistence would be lost )
I cannot agree with you, my PocketPlus 2.5 loads very fast, ALL games I've installed on my device are much faster with WM5 than with WM2003SE. Just if you re-activate the BA it is slower than WM2003.
And I was just sick and tired of doing almost all 2 days a softreset with WM2003SE... I don't have this issue with WM2005.
All in all, it's like MDAIIIuser said, it's a love-hate story.
I'm a network consultant and I use my BA entirely for business, which is the biggest reason I was SO happy for the work that Buzz, mamaich, ramram, cdaly1970 and the others on WM5 for the BA. Being as that my email, like my clients, is entirely through Exchange 2003 I really don't use text messaging, MSN and such. My only real problem has been with the BT, which I can live with for a while as I need the other things that do work, like my Pocket PC actually syncing to my Exchange server in the cradle, tasks syncing over the internet, contacts containg photo's, setting importance in outgoing emails, etc. I reset in the morning before I get in the car and maybe once more during the day. Yes it opens emails, Word, etc slower.... but the Outlook email and Contacts are just SO much better!
I've gone back to 2003 twice .... and now I just can't imagine going back. Just my experiences....
Steven
^^ hey, what else could I say... this is exact my situation !!! :wink:
hello all I have been using it since the gurus figure it out, and gone trough all the patches and fixes and stuff, after removing the camera stuff, I never had a problem again, and with the overclock app, it works great, its fast, reliable, get all phone calls use it for business everyday its just great, exept for the album, I cant get that to work, other than that its great! thanks to all the geniouses!
win2003 is good still
Well i have used WM5, it is slow, i thought about using hte overclock tool but i would rather not damage my device and be stuck with dead weight. I was really really upset about the bluetooth issue and not being able to use my ear peice, i bought it for a lot of money and i would prefer to use it, cause it is safer and i cannot really hold the MDAIII between my head and shoulder like a regular phone. WM5 looks really good, no doubt, but so far since i went back to 2003SE, it is fast, i have not missed any call and bluetooth is a hell lot more stable. I have happy we have WM5 but i think i will not go back to it till it is well fixed
i have read the postings on the upgrade of WM5 on the Blue Angel device..
what i would like to know is what will WM5 do for me that WM 2003SE won't... are there any real benefits.. and do all the functions still work... wifi, gprs, phone etc..
i'm using the 1.40 ROM and don't really have that many problems..
every now and then the device resets by itself.. if i open the inbox, or change the phone on/off... otherwise it seems to run great.
is there any speed increase in using WM5 ??
any benefits in wifi or GPRS and emails ??
thanks..
hi
I had the opportunity to test WM5 in my himalaya device...
It wont be so different than yours but here is my 2 cents:
-Slower than WM2003SE
like 80% of WM2003 speed
-sometimes the cellphone rings once but for the other party is the 3rd or 4th ring.
-Lot of software bugs and incompatibilities.
bugs with camera and MMS
Camera= worse than the WM2003 one
MMS= I can send but when I receive, the page is blank (no objects, sounds, pics)
I just return to WM2003SE
Yes, is ugly than WM5 but is better, bug-less
hope this helps you.
Anyway, you can try WM5 and If you dont like it, go back to WM2003SE again, well at least work for me that way.
Same 2 Me...
I just get back to 2003SE...
But I miss the look of WM5
I'm back to 2003SE too!
The only thing i miss of WM5 is the Persistance Storage.
2003 gets my vote for now
I'm back to 2003, I ran several versions of the WM5 roms from Maimach. I can say that WM5 is fun, cool and all that but I didn't see any reason to stay with it. The persistent storage thing can be solved for me by backing up my contacts and appointments to a SD card along with the main apps I use on a daily basis on my SD card. Then when I lose power, I just reload the backup of my contacts database, re-load the apps from my SD card and I'm back up and running in just a few minutes. The speed and reliability were the two main reasons I came back. I ran WM5 for at least 6 weeks so I know I gave it a fair shot. I've found that I only use my phone for a few things:
1. Email
2. Phone (duh!)
3. Mp3 player (TCPMP)
4. Limited internet (google/froogle/weather/movie times/news/etc)
5. A few games when I'm stuck in traffic. =)
None of these functions were necessarily performed better in WM5, most of them actually were quite a bit slower but I decided to live with it because I was on WM5!!!
After going back to 2003 (1.42 rom) I was SHOCKED at how much faster it was. I had gotten so used to the sluggish performance of WM5 that I had forgotten what it was like to answer the phone on the first ring, watch outlook email open immediately instead of "within a few seconds" and not have skips when I listen to mp3's. Don't get me wrong, I TRULY appreciate the work Maimach and others are doing to get wm5 on our devices but it's more of a developers toy right now than an actual OS replacement for our devices. When they get a version of WM5 that's written for the xScale processor I think we'll see a HUGE difference.
For now, I'm back to 2k3 and not dissappointed at all.
Me 2
I am also back to 2k3 three weeks ago after 1 morning running 2k5.
Re: 2003 gets my vote for now
dmelton75 said:
For now, I'm back to 2k3 and not dissappointed at all.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Which version of ROM 2k3SE did you use...
I'm using 1.42.... Some times when someone call me, the name not show...even that number already in my phone book....
Thanks
i have used windos mobile 5 since the first version on this forum (yep with all bugs and no camera) i have tried all upgrades and versions. and i have all most satisfied with the wizard version (v2) its really more faster. but i onlgy have no problems if i dont use my BA . some times i don´t have fone, other time don´t have sms, mms. lots off crash, with gps and tomtom navigator very instability, every time i put some software in today screen, the BA crash.. etc. etc..
now i have finaly go back to 2003 (version 1.42) and use wall memory (like wb5) use the wisbar advance 2 and my Ba its great.. but i still come here to see if there is some advance in stability on the wb5 .
when the ppl off this forum "bill" a windows mobil 5 running at 95% i reflash my rom again
thanks guys for everything
Updates are in BLUE
Okay, time for a long post... (and please remember this is all subjective, and personal experiences, your's may be different!)
Preamble:
I've had my BA for a couple of months now, prior to that it has always been PalmO OS devices which I loved, but I wanted a phone enabled device and the Treo was just too expensive to justify it... so ebay beckoned and £100 later I was a proud owner of an O2 XDA IIs...
I'm a fairly heavy user of my PDA's I use them for all my network admin, work documentation, mail on the move, a heavily laden calendar and everything else a busy professional with a family does... with loads, and loads, of travel!!
First thoughts:
I was, to be honest, dreading the move to M$, I have always been a promoter of opensource, Palm, and anything other than the big M, but I was pleasantly surprised... with relativley little pain I got into the WM2003SE way of things, and after a quick read of the Wiki, I cooked my own ROM and had an O2 device which worked really well... I could use my BT headset as stereo headphones or a headset, while connecting to my GPS, I had my Gmail, O2, Hotmail and other accounts set up, I could chat with Skype, GoogleTalk, MSN and ICQ, I had a WiFi sniffer, and all the other trappings as well as a GPRS connection for TomTom Traffic etc... and the media capability was cool, TCPMP worked really well, and with a 1Gig SD card I could take a couple of movies/TV episodes for the journey... in short, I no longer had to worry about taking a laptop on the road.
But that wasn't enough, I was reading about these WM5 ROMS and felt that, after being pleasantly surprised with WM2003SE, it was worth a shot... over the last few days I have tried several ROM's and they all have up/down sides... what follows is a (not so brief) summary of my experiences...
I load up my BA fairly heavily, and I had specific requirements... speed, callerid, space, preferrably A2DP, and again, speed!!
TuMa 1.4 (MS BT Stack):
Some see this as the 'Daddy' of the WM5 ports and I must admit, with one major bugbear, this is an impressive ROM... it includes a lot of stuff in the build which some might prefer was left out, but for the basic user it's helpful to have some of these...
(A Really COOL Boot Logo!!)
TotalCommander
PocketRAR
Extra Games
Cyberon Voice Dialler
GB-Soft Tweak
vBar
pShutXP
IP Utilities
Pocket FTP
SMS Name Notify
ClearVue PDF
BT Headset Today Plugin
BT Stereo Control
Device Lock Today Plugin
and other bits and bobs...
This may well be considered as a 'bloated' ROM (but remember they are all installed in ROM, so no space is taken up from your 'own' space), there is an Ext_ROM option, from SD Card, in this ROM so the memory works out like this... 60MB Storage (- whatever you set up as an Ext_ROM) and 91MB Program Memory... you also get a 32MB Temp_Drive ( I assume this is like a RAMDISK?)... available on a clean install is:
Storage: 57.62MB
Program: 72.53MB
TEMP_Drive: 31.85MB
Total: 162MB (Storage & TEMP_Disk available for app install = 89.47MB)
Out of the Box:
BT: Works very well... including A2DP, I had no problems, whatsoever with this BT Stack/Setup.
WiFi: Again no problems and no reset once I'd applied the Reg Hack.
Base OS: This is where, for me, it all falls apart... even with eveything else working like a dream, the 'Pictures & Videos' app in this build just does not work, at all! This means that the CallerID functionality is kaput... I can't live with this, I love the ability to 'see' who is calling, I have many, many numbers in the work category, and being able to put a face to a number beats having only a name any day... other than that this ROM works really well, and the additional install space means I can have all my apps installed without the 'critical' low storage warning... in addition to this another glitch I have come across is 'sticky' buttons... both the D-Pad and the hardware keyboard can result in stuck keys/repeated entries... BT Voice Dialling works with Cyberon, and even better with MS Voice Command (if you hack a little), and with the A2DP profile the MS option works through the BT headset rather than the PDA speaker,,,
Ivan V4 R3 (WidComm BT Stack):
Built as a 'clean' ROM, this one really comes with no bells or whistles, included are:
BT Headset Today Plugin
Cyberon Voice Dialler (I Think!)
and apart from the Base OS stuff, that's about it!
This is a relatively speedy ROM on first impressions, but it slows dramatically down when loaded with apps... you can setup an Ext_ROM with this one, or use the full 60MB as storage... there is no Ramdisk or Temp_Drive option so you get 60MB Storage (- whatever you set up as an Ext_ROM) and 123MB Program Memory... available on a clean install is...
Storage: 57.64MB
Program: 98.40MB
Total: 156.04MB (Storage available for app install = 57.64MB)
Out of the box:
BT: works okay, although there is no A2DP functionality,but I can connect to my headset and my GPS... (which is a big thumbs-up for me). I have experienced a few of the system restarting glitches, but not the BT not restarting/dropping out with this ROM so that's an upside.
WiFi: Connectivity is okay (typical BA signal strength) and once you apply the 'ResetOnResume' Reg hack then it works very well, I have had no dropouts or non-restarts with it at all.
Base OS: A big upside for this is the Pictures & Video, it works! This means I can use the CallerID function on the WM5 dialler, which I do, extensively!!
Logout V5.4.03 (WidComm BT Stack):
Read great reviews of this on the forum, so thought I'd give it a bash... included are (if you install the Ext_ROM):
Cyberon Voice Dial
ResInfo
Task Manager
Device Lock Today Plugin
TuMa Keyboard (I think, although it looks nicer!)
Just installed this one today... first impressions weren't very good as many of the apps which were meant to be there couldn't be found on startup... then I realised I hadn't cleaned my Registry Hive before the Flash!! The speed in this one is blinding! Compared to both of the others this one is as fast as 2003SE, again, it uses a Ramdisk so you have added space for installs, and it can also use an Ext_ROM, so you have your choice... so you get 60MB Storage (- whatever you use for Ext_ROM), 93MB Program Memory and a 32MB Ramdisk... available on a clean(ish) install (I installed the MMS/Album/Voice Dial and Resinfo Cabs) is...
Storage: 52.8MB
Program: 71.9MB
RAMDISK: 31.8MB
Total: 156.6MB (Storage available for app install = 84.6MB)
Out of the Box:
BT: What there is available works fine... but no A2DP... not experienced any restart issues yet, but it's ealry days
WiFi: Again, all seems fine
Base OS: As stated above this one is blindingly fast... so much so that I actually forget it's a ported WM5 ROM at times, the Pictures & Videos app works, so that's a biggy on the plus side for me, everything seems to be ticking along quite sweetly...
UPDATE 1: Logout ROM seems to lag for a while after installs of S/W... but it settles down again, had one occurrence of s-s-s-stuttering keyboard, but nothing major, and no 3s delay on phone ring, even without reg hack
Artz (WM5_ArtZ_upgrade_WWE_1.7.1.3400_SDCard)
Iloved this ROM at first sight, it had the Stereo Audio BT profile without any updating, it was clean, smooth and fast, but then I tried using it... I'm not sure what went wrong but it just didn't 'gel':
BT: As stated this looked good from the outside, and it did recognise both my GPS and my headset, and it would connect with both, but, andit's a huge but! It wouldn't get any services from my headset on reconnection, it wouldn't recognise my headset as stereo (even though it though it would recognise the profile?) and as vor a 'normal' BT headset, it just sent my i.Tech headset haywire, beeping, pinging and ringing constantly... I couldn't stop it!
WiFi: Again, issues with this... no matter what I did, this ROM would not reconnect to my AP after a reset or power down...
Base OS: At face value this ROM was excellent, it had all I needed to start setting up my BA, and the option for Ext_ROM from an SD card is great... but with the issues above, and the spped at which it 'slowed down' with apps added it was unworkable
Obviously I will update each of these as I continue to 'tinker'... and wait for Logout 5.4.5 or TuMa 1.5, if either of these fix the little issues I've mentioned (A2DP for Logout and P&V for TuMa) then I'll be in BA WM5 Nirvana!
In summary, heres a little overview (TuMa, Ivan, Logout):
Speed: 3, 2, 1 (And then some!)
Apps: 1, 3, 2
A2DP: Y, N, N
P&V: N, Y, Y
Voice Dial: Y*, Y, Y
Available Mem: 162/89, 156/57, 156/84
*TuMa's is the only ROM I tested with MS Voice command, so BT Mic+PDA speaker for the other two, complete headset for TuMa.
So there you have it... a 'brief' insight into a few days of WM5 experience, personally I'm going to stay with Logout's ROM, the speed is unsurpassed, it has ample space for installs, I get my CallerID due to P&V working, and if there's one thing about TuMa's ROM I could do without it's the 'free' installed apps... I don't use TtlCmd, I don't use Pocket FTP and I don't use Pocket RAR (Resco Explorer covers those 3 and then some), I use Tweaks2k2 to apply most of my hacks, so the GB-Soft Tweak is mostly redundant, and I use Wisbar instead of vBar... but it's a personal preference thing... in the end, it's up to you... (I now use Total Commander loads Thx TuMa)
I'll update this as I try other ROM's or find other benefits/problems/fixes...
*** See my other post in this thread dated 23/06/06 for other issues which I have come across with WM5...***
Logout 5.4.05
I had high hopes for this ROM, 5.4.03 was nearly there, and built on the best of TuMa and Ivan's ROM's...
Out of the Box
An incredibly fast ROM, by far the fastest in basic form compared to all the others available... there are many little tweaks in the software and add-ons included as standard which are useful, such as the SMS Alert Fix etc. It's up to you to make the Ext_ROM, but this is good for 'tweakers' as you can build it to your liking.
BT: Basically, a nightmare! I believe this uses the WidComm stack and as such I can't get the A2DP to work, yes it recognises my Headset, and yes it says there is a 'Wireless Stereo' capability, but when you try to enable that profile it says 'No Device Found'... in addition, and I'm not sure if this is due to the BT switching off fix, my device was switching on at least once every two minutes!!
WiFi: I didn't get round to test this for the reason above, and also the power up issue causing me major headaches.
Issues: I had too many issues with this ROM to detail them all, a short list would be:
No A2DP
Random Power Ons
Software Not Installing Correctly
Software Not Removing Correctly
Software Not Running (Tweaks2K2, WiFiFoFum and others)
BT Dropping Out (While Powered Up)
OS Locks Out (Random, No Common Factor)
And the speed once a few 'heavy' apps are installed deteriorates dramatically...
I have now resorted to TuMa 1.4... I know I have stated previously that I couldn't use it, but I have found a workaround to the Caller ID issue, and the BT works very well (including A2DP), with both 1.13 and 1.15 Radio ROM's, and I have not experienced one unwanted power up, and the BT has stayed on for ages regardless, in addition as long as I don't install WisBar the speed of this ROM beats all the others hands down once all my other apps are loaded. Also, I have had the BA on for 7 hours now, using bluetooth for 1 hour solid in the gym for music, making several calls, setting up my software etc and the battery is still at 75%... not bad at all in my books.
As I said earlier, bring on TuMa 1.5!
Now this is useful! Thanks for sharing and I give my thumbs up for updating the first post as you go on trying.
I'm very happy to read your review.
I'm surprised you did not mention the battery drain (false indications that your battery is dead, when in fact it is not) with TuMa 1.4
Great Work!!!!
G8 work. Good detailed description which i am sure a lot of people will appreciate. i
Logout Rom = Speaker phone icon does not disappear after call
WMP 10 crackling noise for first 30 -60 sec of song
@snapper - Can't say I noticed it, but then again, whenever I sit down for more than 30mins, my brick goes on to power anyhow...
Why does everybody forget about ArtZ's ROM? :/
http://forum.xda-developers.com/viewtopic.php?t=48215
Not forgotten, just not used,,,
If you read the last couple of para's I do state that I'll get round to Artz's and update the post...
Yup, missed that (was in hurry, checked only the explicitly enumerated ROMs :| )
The Artz of ROM's
Hmm, d/l'ing this one now... expect an update over the next day ot two... encountered a few 'glitches' with the Logout ROM tday, nothing too major, but enough to get my goat!
Is there any reason why, with certain ROM's, certain apps decide my BA is a VGA device? This has cased me no end of trouble today, and I can't for the life of me, work out the reason...
Anyway, expecting good things from the Artz ROM, just read the forum a few mins ago and notice it's a 'clean' ROM with the BT stack! Could be I get my wishlist... let's just see if P&V works...
Mad props for a very well written article.
I've gone down the wm5 road the last week as well. I tried tuma 1.3, tuma 1.4, ivan, and now i'm on logout. I was wondering how extensively you tested the wifi? I have had problems with it on all the roms.
The issue happens when wifi is ON and the device shuts off after 1 minute. Then the device powers back up when i press the power button and the wifi will continually try to reconnect to the AP that it was just on but will never make a connection. Clearing the settings on the connection doesn't work and it inhibits the ability of the device to detect any new networks.
I was wondering if you had any problems like this and if resetonresume fixes this?
Also i'm a little confused about the location of the storage memory and the programs memory in the file structure of wm5. Could someone explain this or send me in the right direction? (aka. search terms or thread link)
willpower102 said:
Mad props for a very well written article.
I've gone down the wm5 road the last week as well. I tried tuma 1.3, tuma 1.4, ivan, and now i'm on logout. I was wondering how extensively you tested the wifi? I have had problems with it on all the roms.
The issue happens when wifi is ON and the device shuts off after 1 minute. Then the device powers back up when i press the power button and the wifi will continually try to reconnect to the AP that it was just on but will never make a connection. Clearing the settings on the connection doesn't work and it inhibits the ability of the device to detect any new networks.
I was wondering if you had any problems like this and if resetonresume fixes this?
Also i'm a little confused about the location of the storage memory and the programs memory in the file structure of wm5. Could someone explain this or send me in the right direction? (aka. search terms or thread link)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I had this problem on my BA with 03se just a couple days ago so I don't think its related to just 05. I used the vx ip utility to release and renew the IP and I believe that fixed it.. I think it has something to do with the DHCP reservation
Great guide, very handy for begginers. Should be sticked :idea:
willpower102 said:
Mad props for a very well written article.
I've gone down the wm5 road the last week as well. I tried tuma 1.3, tuma 1.4, ivan, and now i'm on logout. I was wondering how extensively you tested the wifi? I have had problems with it on all the roms.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Using wifi on my BA for over a wk everyday @ work & home, no such problems faced with Ivans ROM, have not tested logout, but will do that this wkend.
Guess its a hardware issue! again, thats just a guess
Yaantra
Great info!
This is great info and was very useful to me. I am on WM2003 and have not yet upgraded. With 2003, my only issues are that MS voice command won't work via the BT headset, the 80211b wireless requires a reboot to turn on and off, and the phone requires a reboot perhaps once a week. Otherwise it works well and I want my 2005 to be equal or better. I thin TuMA 1.5 will be it.
Has anyone actually got a working MMS Client primarily for Logout's new ROM
WiFi Issues...
@ will...
Yes, I noticed on first flashing that, even though I had entered the settings for my AP, when the system resumed then it would not reconect, after using the resetonresume reg hack all was well...
I also noticed this on Artz's ROM which I will be adding to my first post over the next day or two, as well as a few other points/comparisons...
All I will say at the moment is that all has not been a bed of roses in my WM5 world and backward steps may be ahead... (unless Logout 5.4.0.5 or TuMa 1.5 are here soon... and they deliver on our expectations!!)
Tuma / Logout roms
sounds to me that you will be heading back to wm2003. main reason for saying this is how you use your pda. Your demands are high (as they should be) and you use your pda very heavily (wifi, bluetooth etc) hence functionality and speed are your highest priorities.
having said all this i think and hope tuma/logouts new roms will hit the spot (i have faith).
FYI just upgraded to 1.15 radio and the sound quality is good!!!!!!
Issues, concerns and resolutions...
Well, the first post will be updated later today, but just as a heads up, I experienced BT issues with all ROM's except the TuMa 1.4, and various other 'niggles'... issues which I couldn't live with unfortunately:
BT: I like the A2DP functionality, I use GPS heavily and need them to work every time, with the other 3 ROM's I've tried I experienced various problems such as BT not reconnecting to paired devices, BT connecting but causing mayhem with my headset (in Artz' update later), crackly sound, dropouts, no phone, no voice dial, ad infinitum...
WiFi: This worked fairly well in all the ROMs, I managed to get all 4 tested to reconnect after standby/soft reset/battery change etc.
Battery: The experiences I had with battery life weren't actually that bad, yes it was heavier than 2003SE, but that's to be expected... my main issue was that on a couple of the ROM's I experienced the 'no Radio ROM' syndrome after a battery change, not major, but a pain in the butt anyway!
Usage: These are all ROM's that are designed for 'newer' machines at their hearts, and as such, as soon as you load up some heavy apps the whole system starts to drag, I cannot afford to wait over 1 minute for my PDA to boot after soft reset, or 30 secs for an app to open... and I certainly don't like it to be 'hit or miss' if an app opens when I ask it to!
Summary: I really love the WM5 interface, the smoother way that notifications are dealt with, the 'soft-menu' buttons are a godsend, the built in GPS management, and any of the other 'tweaks' MS have included make it a PDA users dream, unfortunately, at the moment it's just that, a dream... the BA is not 'Designed for Windows Mobile 5' and until TuMa, Logout, or Artz [I believe Ivan has left for a new device ] manage to get it 'right' (and major kudos to them all for their perseverence in what must be a most frustrating endeavour) I, as an everyday, heavy, PDA user will remain with WM2003SE... I'm not happy about it, but needs must
Re: Issues, concerns and resolutions...
spkr4thdd said:
Usage: These are all ROM's that are designed for 'newer' machines at their hearts
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just FYI that is incorrect, Artz and Ivan's ROMS are based on an actual BA BEAT build of WM5 that was made by microsoft, that has been patched and edited with later versions of the components, whereas TuMa and Logout's Rom are based on a Wizard ROM.
spkr4thdd said:
the BA is not 'Designed for Windows Mobile 5'
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Read up, Basically every WM2003SE device has a WM5 Version made for it, however the operators in thier infinate wisdom decided that they didnt want people having WM5 on thier 'old' phones and would rather that people brought new ones.
Re: Issues, concerns and resolutions...
Midget_1990 said:
Just FYI that is incorrect, Artz and Ivan's ROMS are based on an actual BA BEAT build of WM5 that was made by microsoft, that has been patched and edited with later versions of the components, whereas TuMa and Logout's Rom are based on a Wizard ROM.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I stand corrected... I was under the impression that all the ROM's were 'ported' from different devices, I believe that was the case originally wasn't it?
Midget_1990 said:
Read up, Basically every WM2003SE device has a WM5 Version made for it, however the operators in thier infinate wisdom decided that they didnt want people having WM5 on thier 'old' phones and would rather that people brought new ones.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Read my post!! WM5 wasn't released when the BA came out, so it was built around WM2003SE, the fact that a ROM became available, albeit not publicly, doesn't mean they redesigned the handset!
Hi all,
Just got myself an O2 XDA(ii). I have heard people banging on about WM5 and how I should upgrade the OS.
However, one question - why do it?
What will I gain by doing the upgrade?
Will it consume more system resources and therefore have an overhead performance?
What woes will be introduced by upgrading - will it break anything?
Is WM5 really as stable as WM3?
I hope I can get answers to these questions!!
Many thanks!
why use windows when dos works fine?
Windows is a GUI, dos is a CLI.
Both human interfaces are radically different.
The questions I posed are reasonable.
Try this..
borrow a WM5 device from someone for a day and dont use ur WM2003 device.
If u like something in that device, install WM5 on your BA and test it, try it
I thought that this was a technical website for developers - I had hoped for some slightly more in depth answers, like contrasting for example:
consumption of system resources
bugs
reliability
speed
new system features
security
power management
etc...
WM5 VS WM3
Hi,
It is a true question,
- I have just used WM5 a week. So I hope my experience will be useful for you.
Fist, the WM5 store all data on it's ROM so you won't lost you data example: instaled program in device, contacts, SMS, MMS... if it run out of energy, hard reset... But, that causes the speed is slower than official WM2003 Version 1.42.
It still remain some bugs example: sometime freeze when you turn it on, BT and wifi sometime need a softreset to turn on.
The energy consumsion is the same (waiting phone mode). Others depend on backlight, % CPU usage.
Certainly WM5 have much more feature. I really don't known what I should advice you now because I still often reset 1-2 time/day like my laptop. But I don't like thing which is the same forever expecialy softwares.
I hope you can have your answer.
Daeljan said:
I thought that this was a technical website for developers - I had hoped for some slightly more in depth answers, like contrasting for example:
consumption of system resources
bugs
reliability
speed
new system features
security
power management
etc...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you very much for that answer!
To be honest, I got the XDA because I need something to keep me organised time-wise, so I'm more interested in stability than eye-candy. I don't want to fall behind the times either, but I may hold out untill WM 5 matures a little more. What you said about hanging when you switch on is off-putting enough - I had heard similar things about WM5 related to connectivity, but I've never had the chance to hear about it first-hand.
If anyone else would like to add something of similar content to this thread, I'd be very happy to read about it.
Cheers.
This is xda-developers so the question of why use WM5 on BA sort of answers itself by the simple fact that M$ has not given it to us in the first place (well this could also not be true as M$ did make a copy but none of the providers gave us a rom so that we all go out and by a new WM5 Device).
So why not? In the long run its more of a matter of taste, some have gone for and stayed with the WM5 on a BA, others have gone back and others have gone and brought a REAL WM5 device.
Its up to you, if you read the threads (of which there are many) you will find reasons to stay away and reasons to install it. Like I say its sort of personal.
Oh yes DOS was and is cool, still to this day I use it.
Dude
why don't you just flash to WM5 try it out
Dude
why don't you just flash to WM5 try it out, and if you don't like it go back 2k3, makes the most sense. You seem like a smart chap i'm sure you can figure it out, no harm to the device, and you'll get all your answers bra
My two cents if you like command line and stability learn linux, bash away!
Daeljan said:
I thought that this was a technical website for developers - I had hoped for some slightly more in depth answers, like contrasting for example:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi Daeljan,
Welcome to the community! I'm sorry if some of the guys answered like that, but you have to understand that this question pops in from newbies every couple days "Why shall I do it?", "What's the difference", etc... So some of us just get tired of answering!
I am sure however, that you'll find many extremely interesting, highly technical threads.
So, to answer your question: WM2K+3 vs WM5
- I believe that part of doing it was actually to try to see it could be done, I mean the operators left us with an exceptional device (the BlueAngel) without upgrade, so many of us felt "betrayed" and wanted to get the latest, and greatest despite the lack of official support for a release.
- The LATEST version of WM5 (Helmi v3.2) is much more stable that the early versions, I'm currently running it and never think about downgrading back to WM2K3. Amongst the things I find interesting:
- The OS is almost as fast as WM2K3, in fact I run all most of the new versions of software flawlessly.
- WM5 has flat memory and no sharing between the "Storage" and "Execution" spaces (Which is something you will immediately notice on your old OS), so you get more running memory for your applications.
- Because of the above, WM5 has "resilient" storage, i.e. a reset will not erase your data, that alone is a great advantage.
- Some apps that do not run anymore on WM2K3 are now accessible for our community.
- Some applications are natively available on WM5 (Like Mobile PowerPoint) for example, and are not there on WM2K3.
- Better synchronization with your desktop device (You can, for example see your contact pictures directly synchronized, whereas with WM2K3, you can't).
On the other hand, we have a few issues (That are getting fixed with every new release), like:
- Slightly higher power consumption.
- A very, very ugly bluetooth protocol stack... People are doing an amazing job there, and the problem is almost over.
- Other minor issues that you'll discover while browsing the links.
Hope this helps,
Cheers,
W.
1) click search, type an abbrevieted version of your first post in it.
2) be swamped with a massive amount of posts ABOUT THE SAME THING.
3) repeat in future.
(sorry if im being a bit harsh but i myself have awnserwed this question many times before, just search in future!)
Thank you all for your answers, and sorry for making you repeat yourselves.
I suppose that this is an obvious topic for discussion that many people naturally want to know about.
So why not post a summary of it all somewhere where people can find it without having to mine the forums? I searched the FAQ for WM5, Upgrade, Windows Mobile 5, in various combinations and nothing came up.
The bluetooth problems are a little scary though if the XDA is to be used as a GPS, connected to the antenna via bluetooth.
Anyhow, thanks again.
Hic
You can try, it is easy to downgrade, not compelex as in the instruction.
1. Change to bootloader mode, connect USB run Ship file,
2. After the instaltion procces finished, softreset your BA.
3. The first start maybe get mistake, cause ExtraRom could be changed, softreset again, your BA will run in a pure state, unhide ExtraROM-softreset, copy all files in the ExtraROM of Ship file (extract from Ship file) to the ExtraROM, you can also change ExtraRom as you want.
4. Hardreset---everything is OK.
Wzaatar
Very nice post you did there old chap, thanks. You almost got me to try it all over again.
I use the ROM in my signature and I find it great apart from the odd problem but that could be from the 50+ apps I have on it.
Go for it...
Daeljan said:
Thank you very much for that answer!
To be honest, I got the XDA because I need something to keep me organised time-wise, so I'm more interested in stability than eye-candy. I don't want to fall behind the times either, but I may hold out untill WM 5 matures a little more. What you said about hanging when you switch on is off-putting enough - I had heard similar things about WM5 related to connectivity, but I've never had the chance to hear about it first-hand.
If anyone else would like to add something of similar content to this thread, I'd be very happy to read about it.
Cheers.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OK, I'll try to give you a different slant on things....
WM5 utilises persistent storage (as stated above) which means that, should you find yourself in the unfortunate position that your BA has run out of juice you'll retain all your data (even the RAMDisk contents contrary to some other peoples posts). This is not the case in WM2003SE. If you let the battery run down in WM2003SE it's adios amigo! And start all over again.
WM2003SE while quite stable, is not perfect, especially once you have several apps installed and use it aggressively. WM5, while technically only in beta for this device (as they are mostly hacked/patched/ported ROM's) can prove to be a very stable platform. I have used nearly every version of WM5 on this forum to try and find the 'right' one... and I use my BA constantly, for business purposes and satnav guidance.
Comparing the 2 OS's is like comparing Windows XP and Vista... XP is a proven system, Vista is not, so direct comparison would be unfair to either... as for performance, with the tweaks now found in the newer WM5 ROM's I find my BA responds as well, if not better, than with WM2003SE, battery consumption is a little higher but that can be resloved with any of the CPU throttling apps available...
I wholeheartedly recommend the AKU 2.6 version of Helmi's ROM. I went away on business recently with WM2003SE installed and while away flashed this version of the ROM. My reason for being back with WM2003SE prior to this was the sluggishness of my BA after a while of running WM5. During my absence the Page Pool fix reared its head and all seemed to be good in the world. While AKU3.2 is the newest version of WM5 it has inherent compatability issues with much of the software available for WM5, even Microsoft's own such as Voice Command (an app I actually make use of!). The AKU2.6 ROM doesn't have these issues, and with the paging fix does not become sluggish at all.
9 weeks on and my system has only frozen once, and that was with a 'hacked' piece of software so I don't blame the system... I have not had to reflash once, and I honestly don't remember having to soft reset... I have yet to find a WM5 compatible app which doesn't work with it, and I use it day in, day out.
In short, I jumped on the WM5 bandwagon some time agao and was very disillsusioned at one point, so much so that I returned to WM2003SE... However I missed the smoother GUI, the much better handling of popups and alerts, the tighter integration with Outlook, the better operation of ActiveSync and so forth, so I came back to the fold, and I will not be downgrading again...
If you use Push Email anything after AKU2 (or is it 2.3?) is a Godsend, and believe me, the overall feel of the OS is much smoother, it feels like a 'pocket pc', rather than a really gucci phone!!
I use my BA to play media, read newsfeeds, browse the web, check/send email, and all the other stuff my mates do on their laptops, and if you have the right settings for your provider there should be no issues with connectivity... I have A2DP set up as well so I have a stereo BT headset for music/video etc... I run TomTom, Garmin Que, OziExplorer...
Oh! And I use it as a PDA/Organiser, my life is on that brick, and believe me, it gets hammered!!
I also have an XDA Exec now and to be honest I prefer the BA... although I do love my IQ (but Smartphone is a whole different kettle of fish)!!
I hope this gratuitous plug of WM5 helps sway your decision
I personally like WM5. The issue for me, and the reason I bought the SX66 in the first place, was screen size and muscle. Alot of the affordable WM5 devices out have small screens compared to what I am used to in a PDA. I cannot afford and Jasjar (wish I could) so I looked for something with a decent screen size and processing power.
The SX66 was the only choice for me, EXACTLY because I could flash it too WM5 Haven't looked back since. I run my games (Morphgear - SNES), work with my files without having to squint too much, play my music and get phone calls. Coolest thing in the world.
I have compared it side by side with the 8125 and the windows Treo, it kept up easy enough. Out did them in some area's, lost in one (no camera)... but in the end its just as functional as the new ones.
Flash it and see!
Daeljan said:
Thank you very much for that answer!
hi Daeljan,
Just reiterating what people has said before
To be honest, I got the XDA because I need something to keep me organised time-wise, so I'm more interested in stability than eye-candy.
-- if this is what you need, then you definitely need to upgrade to latest WM5 (Helmi, Xplode - both are great). The sole idea of "persistent storage" itself is a must to upgrade. I am using IIs (Helmi's rom) and I actually found my BA is more stable than when I used 2003SE. I had this hard reset issue when I pressed the green button to receive phone call. It annoyed the hell out of me. It happened to me about 3 times... Now this problem is gone. Just imagine yourself is out of town for a business trip and suddenly our "stable 2003SE" hard reset by itself and the back up file is at home in your pc... what a bum huh? it happened to me.
I don't want to fall behind the times either, but I may hold out untill WM 5 matures a little more. What you said about hanging when you switch on is off-putting enough - I had heard similar things about WM5 related to connectivity, but I've never had the chance to hear about it first-hand.
-- This is a subjective comment from me, I think the current version of WM5 out here are good enuf. I dont think it will "mature" too much cause people WILL be busy playing with WM6. As far as I know, more and more developers make new softwares for WM5/6 and less make them for 2003.
Yes, WM5 still has some issues now, but I have not found 1 piece of software that is perfect. even 2003SE had issues. However, these are acceptable issues (for me anyway).
Just a happy user of WM5 and I would never go back to 2003SE (unless I want to sell my beloved BA, then i might have to flash it back to factory rom ).
If you want to wait, dont wait for WM5... wait for a more stable WM6.
Like other happy users, I still have hopes the geniuses from xda-dev would find a way to make WM6 work on BA... whatever solution that is...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
WM5 allows me to install apps to my storage cards - very useful! There is also the "device lock" feature which has saved me $$$ in phone bills from calls I didnt make.