Hello,
I have a HTC Touch Pro, and reviewing the device boot process I have called for "PKG.EXE" What it is for this executable, and what is its function within the Windows Mobile?. Thank you.
I also wanted to ask, for the experience you have with this model of HTC, and without touching the original ROM that takes (I have it under warranty still), as can optimize the use of battery power in an effective manner. I have the screen always the minimum possible, I avoid programs running in the background without the need (except for those at home), very few scheduled alarms, and Wi-Fi/Bluetooth disconnected when not in use. ActiveSync also disconnected when not in use. The phone in 2G (3G off). I note that for some time takes me barely a day battery. I just replaced the battery with a new original, and even if I'm watching longer than the load. The control program of the battery is the partner who has designed BattClock, adjusted query interval to 120 seconds.
Sincerely,
Sometimes, the easiest thing to do is open up a dll or exe with a text editor. Here's what's in pkg.exe (other than all the binary crap):
c:\Documents and Settings\Jocelyn_Yang.HTCTAIPEI\Desktop\Autorun_package_splash_2577\PKG\Windows Mobile 5.0 Pocket PC SDK (ARMV4I)\Release\PKG.pdb
P K G . l n k % s \ % s i n s t a l l P k g A u t o r u n . e x e \ % s \ 2 5 7 7 \
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So, I'd guess that Jocelyn Yang wrote it, lol. Maybe you should email her. The other thing I'd guess is that it's part of the autorun process that carries out customization.
Farmer Ted said:
Sometimes, the easiest thing to do is open up a dll or exe with a text editor. Here's what's in pkg.exe (other than all the binary crap):
So, I'd guess that Jocelyn Yang wrote it, lol. Maybe you should email her. The other thing I'd guess is that it's part of the autorun process that carries out customization.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hello Farmer Ted,
Thank you very much for answering.
Open the "exe" with a text editor binary, and saw nothing to give me a clue, actually left peri "Jocelyn Yang's" name in the file.
Do you think that might Elimite this call in the Windows Start Mobile (PKG.LNK) and remove this file "PKG.EXE" folder "Windows" without affecting the operation me right out of my HTC Touch Pro?. Please let me might help in this matter, not having unnecessary files on my mobile device. Thank you very much.
Sincerely,
It's in rom, so you can't delete it (no matter how hard you try). I don't have it running at startup personally, so if there's a link in your startup folder, you can probably remove it. I really doubt there will be an issue, but you should always do a backup before messing with your startup queue, in case it freezes the device and forces a hard reset.
Farmer Ted said:
It's in rom, so you can't delete it (no matter how hard you try). I don't have it running at startup personally, so if there's a link in your startup folder, you can probably remove it. I really doubt there will be an issue, but you should always do a backup before messing with your startup queue, in case it freezes the device and forces a hard reset.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hello Farmer Ted,
Thanks for answering. What if I would be interested to know is that this file is, you know what your purpose in the operating system. Google is that I have not found an explanation of this file.
Sincerely,
All I can tell you is that it's in the OEM Drivers section of the rom. I doubt it does much. There is some garbage left over in your startup folder sometimes after bootup. If you see an autoshortcut.lnk file and and HTCstartup.lnk file, you can delete both of those. They're used during customization. I'm guessing that pkg.exe runs during 1st boot, then isn't necessary, but I really don't know.
Farmer Ted said:
All I can tell you is that it's in the OEM Drivers section of the rom. I doubt it does much. There is some garbage left over in your startup folder sometimes after bootup. If you see an autoshortcut.lnk file and and HTCstartup.lnk file, you can delete both of those. They're used during customization. I'm guessing that pkg.exe runs during 1st boot, then isn't necessary, but I really don't know.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hello Farmer Ted,
Thank you very much for answering. Well there is something more about this file. I ventured to remove it (copied to another folder before it), and I got a little scare, as before restarting the device after a soft-reset, did it again another soft-reset automatically... I thought it would go into a loop, but no... after the second soft-reset my device it definitely started. I have always taken a backup with SPB Backup, in case I completely reset the device.
I did not want to take more risks, and I left the file in your site... I think it really annoys. But thanks to you and is something more about it, but not quite... continues the mystery about it...
Sincerely,
If you have sk tools, it's got a good startup manager. It will allow you to disable/re-enable items in the startup folder, and will save the shortcuts for you. You definitely need to be careful with startup, though, as you can get into reset loops and boot-ups to frozen devices. You're probably good to go. I don't have a link to pkg.exe in my startup, so it's not something vital. The crucial stuff is all launched in HKLM\init, anyway, I believe.
Once, I just wanted a particular task manager to run at startup, so I put a link in the folder, thinking nothing of it. It caused hell. The device would boot to the today screen, then freeze as the plugins loaded, but not always at the exact same place. After about 10 resets, it got far enough along that I was able to open total commander and delete the startup link before the device froze, then re-start it.
Hello,
I have a HTC HD2 and I make a ROM upgrade from T-Mobile-Rom 1.48 up to T-Mobile-Rom 1.72 - after the update the device was very slow, so I look in the autostart-folder and find two new links there I never see by my old Rom - I read our post and delete it (pkg.lnk and HTCstartup.lnk) - after this I make a softreset. The device startup without any problem and was very fast... so it work's now very fast and good but I can't say what the two link's do...
Sorry for my bad english...
Bye Mommel
Farmer Ted said:
If you have sk tools, it's got a good startup manager. It will allow you to disable/re-enable items in the startup folder, and will save the shortcuts for you. You definitely need to be careful with startup, though, as you can get into reset loops and boot-ups to frozen devices. You're probably good to go. I don't have a link to pkg.exe in my startup, so it's not something vital. The crucial stuff is all launched in HKLM\init, anyway, I believe.
Once, I just wanted a particular task manager to run at startup, so I put a link in the folder, thinking nothing of it. It caused hell. The device would boot to the today screen, then freeze as the plugins loaded, but not always at the exact same place. After about 10 resets, it got far enough along that I was able to open total commander and delete the startup link before the device froze, then re-start it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hello,
I followed your advice of using SK Tools (an indispensable tool for me with Windows Mobile, together with MemMaid), and I started off on the Windows Mobile the two processes that says: "PKG.lnk" and "HTCstartUP.lnk".
As indicated by "mommel" also in this forum thread, which also had these two processes and eliminated, now the device will boot much faster, and no one notices that nothing goes wrong ... for now. As I have simply disabled, not totally eliminated, thus I will continue trying to run my device.
Thank you for your valuable information. I believe this forum thread is very instructive and I'm glad I initiated if more partners relevant to the forum.
Sincerely,
mommel said:
Hello,
I have a HTC HD2 and I make a ROM upgrade from T-Mobile-Rom 1.48 up to T-Mobile-Rom 1.72 - after the update the device was very slow, so I look in the autostart-folder and find two new links there I never see by my old Rom - I read our post and delete it (pkg.lnk and HTCstartup.lnk) - after this I make a softreset. The device startup without any problem and was very fast... so it work's now very fast and good but I can't say what the two link's do...
Sorry for my bad english...
Bye Mommel
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hello,
I followed what you indicate in your message, and using SK Tools (an indispensable tool for me with Windows Mobile, together with MemMaid), I turned off the Windows Mobile Start you indicate the two processes (com also says "Farmer Ted": "PKG.lnk" and "HTCstartUP.lnk".
This amendment also boots faster my HTC Touch Pro (HTC original ROM with WM6.1 Pro), and also seems to go faster running after starting.
The pity is not actually know these two processes that serve simply to increase our knowledge of the Windows Mobile.
Thank you for your information.
Sincerely,
Basically, it's HTC's fault. They're sloppy with the initial boot-up of the device, those links should be deleted after first boot. There's also some stuff you can disable in the HKLM\init queue and in the HKCU\Software\HTC\bootlauncher queue. In the init keys, there's one for autotimeupdate. It doesn't appear to do anything, so you can just delete the key (I think it's 120). I delete the tmail key in bootlauncher (I've never missed having tmail running in the background). If you use a custom sip (other than ezinput), you can delete the 'startkey' reg key, as this just initiates ezinput. I've never missed sipgt_app.exe, so you can delete that piece of crap, too. My boot times are 60-65 seconds (I don't run manila; I use 6.5, but boot-times are faster with 6.1). If you trim the fat, you can speed up re-boots a ton. Just don't delete the keys for core processes-that could end in a hard reset. I recommend doing a full backup before really messing with the registry keys.
Code:
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\HTC\BootLauncher\Apps\TMail]
"Module"="\\Windows\\tmail.exe"
"CmdLine"="-RunInBKG"
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\HTC\BootLauncher\Apps\SIP_menu]
"Sleep"=dword:0000012c
"Module"="\\Windows\\SIPGT_app.exe"
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\HTC\BootLauncher\Apps\Startkey]
"Sleep"=dword:0000012c
"Module"="\\Windows\\startkey.exe"
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=4450516&postcount=11
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I must stress that your phone must be HARDSPL'ed in order to flash my ROMs. Also, read this post for updated flashing instructions.
THIS ROM IS ENGLISH WWE ONLY and don't forget to backup your various info (contacts, documents, etc). Users of Palm Messaging can backup their SMS messages by looking for "PalmMsgV001" in the windows folder. Unfortunately, reading this file can only be done with Palm Messaging, so copy/paste anything of importance before flashing.
Special note: Bluetooth file sharing now works GUARANTEED in all 2.5 and up ROMs, and remember that the "receive all beams" option in the Infrared settings is on by default, if you don't use Bluetooth don't forget to turn this off.
V3.2 Hermann Classic
Version 3.0 updates:
-Please refer to this post regarding changes.
-The stuff you know from Version 2.5 is still in, but with complete bug fixes.
-No more "BASE" or "Full" ROMs.
-Storage is low because ROM is XPR compressed for AltKeys.
-ROM is designed to work with toxic's Android UI packs (Not fully tested)
-Symbols SIP added in case Alt Keys does not work. This can be accessed via the "up" arrow beside the SIP keyboard icon when the SIP is active.
Version 3.1 update:
-Sped up image processing on the device.
--This boost in image processing brings a significant overall boost to the device's operation, including faster camera image capturing, JPEG viewing, and perhaps a boost to the 2D graphics rendering on the device (over 100 points boost over non-Hermann ROMs in SKTools graphics benchmark), making emulators such as MoonGBA able to play games like Megaman Battle network 95% speed (frameskip 1, no sound due to slow cpu)
-Fixed fatal Camera launching bug.
Version 3.2 updates:
-Hopefully I finally fixed the fatal Camera bug.
-Fixed missing "USB to PC" setting.
-Fixed Windows Live, am able to log into my Live account. (Don't forget to check your APN in "Connection" settings)
-PATCH: Want to enable the Ringer Switch at the top of the Treo to vibrate when you receive a call? Read this post.
-Themes: Want the rest of the default WM6.5 themes? Click here.
__________________________
VERSION 3.2 ROM Build 21895
51.49MB available user Storage
23MB available RAM
DOWNLOAD 3.2 ROM (Do not forget to soft reset the device after "Device Customization" finishes!)
__________________________|
__________________________
Consumer ROM Build 21916
48MB available user Storage
23MB available RAM
DOWNLOAD 2.4 ROM
__________________________|
Version 2.4 features:
--I gave Fjtor's kitchen a try
--Start Menu at the top
--First Treo750 ROM to utilize Bepe's Big Storage
--As I promised, HTC's 21889 Build is used for Fast Stable use
--Bluetooth file sharing ready
--BASE ROM is a bare ROM, great for users who want to install their own stuff
--Consumer ROM has basic stuff to get you started, such as Marketplace, Windows Live, Ringtones, xTask, and others
V2.3 Hermann Finger
2.3 Updates:
-Fixed ringer notification bug
___________________________
Hermann Finger BASE ROM
66MB available user Storage
23MB available RAM
DOWNLOAD ROM
___________________________|
___________________________
Hermann Finger Consumer ROM
50MB available user Storage
24MB available RAM
DOWNLOAD ROM
___________________________|
Features:
--These are primarily experimental ROMs.
--Start Menu at the bottom.
--Also cooked using Fjtor's kitchen
--Also utilizing Big Storage.
--Build 29007 is used here
--Bluetooth file sharing ready
--BASE ROM is a bare ROM, great for users who want to install their own stuff
--Consumer ROM has basic stuff to get you started, such as Marketplace, Windows Live, Ringtones, xTask, and others
_________________________________________
KITCHEN FILES (NEEDS FJTORSOL'S KITCHEN) Read this post for more info. NOTE: These are the old 2.4 packs)
Big Storage (This archive must be extracted to "\Sources\Devices\HTC Cheetah\Profiles")
http://www.mediafire.com/?uhmxn1j7aj0fsgf
UPDATED PACKAGES February 29 2012:
http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?57nedd9e7i131fr
Attached to this post is the 4-row Start Menu grid settings unique to the Hermann series of ROMs, so now you too can have more icons onscreen! Instructions are in the .txt files in the archive.
___________________________________________________
<<<<<<<<<<<---WM6.1 HERMANN--->>>>>>>>>>>
The best WM6.1 ROM you will ever see for the Treo
Version 3.0 updates:
-Please refer to this post regarding changes.
-The stuff you know from Version 2.5 is still in, but with complete bug fixes.
-No more TouchFlo because the ROM is already finger-scrolling enabled.
-XPR compressed
note: Popup menu font too big? Read this post on how to change it.
note: Unable to set USB cable settings? Read this post on how to fix it.
PATCH: Want to enable the Ringer Switch at the top of the Treo to vibrate when you receive a call? Read this post.
__________________________
Build 20771
58MB available user Storage
29MB available RAM
DOWNLOAD 3.0 ROM (Do not forget to soft reset the device after "Device Customization" finishes!)
__________________________|
Old release news
Features in both builds:
Version 1
--Added single click side button functionality, customizable (default: camera)
--Registery cleaned up.
--Renamed "Storage Card" to "Mini SD".
--Enabled full screen option in Camera (it just removes the WM UI though)
--Palm messaging has been replaced with default MS inbox. Now SMS can be backed up or defaulted to 3rd party programs like Flexmail.
--Start menu has been optimized for speed. Because of the extra speed, 4 columns are introduced instead of 3, giving users less to scroll through and more content (and back to the normal speed).
--Red button functionality is full like WM6, including radio power off.
--xTask is streamlined into the OS as an EXT package. This program is your task manager, in Hermann Finger use this to intercept tapping the Start icon if your hardware button is dead.
--Both builds can be connected to Windows Mobile Device Center (tested on Windows7 Home Premmy 32bit). As I unfortunately cannot use Outlook, do let me know if that works.
Version 2 additions:
--For the first time ever, the Splash image when the phone is starting has been changed.
--Thanks to Big Storage, even though the ROM was compressed to XPR, it's fast and not using too much storage space.
--Pagepool is now 6MB, Fast is fast
--The Startup sound returns to Windows Mobile! Customizable, and can be disabled if a personal touch to your phone is unnecessary.
--Added Microphone AGC. Greatly enhances voice recording, and perhaps even phone calls.
--Added Clear Storage. Why Palm never had a software method to Hard Reset I'll never know...
--Added Keylock. It sometimes helps to lock the Green Button and the Start Button from turning on the phone. Funny, isn't it? At least on my phone.
--Taskbar icons modernized,adding Bluetooth display functionality
--Includes Arcsoft MMS 5.2.2.66
Version 2.1 additions
--This time Version 2.1 was cooked using Fjtorsol's kitchen. There are a few pros and cons, pros like working shortcuts, cons such as the inability to use network time (my V2 build could, but not 2.1). Note that Version 2.1 also has Fjtorsol's features.
--Some of Fjtor's features were upgraded, such as App service to 1.87.0.0, Arcsoft to 5.2.2.66, Sim Toolkit Svc to 4.93.0.2, Sim Toolkit UIPPC to 4.73.0.0, and USSD Service to 4.36.0.1.
--Like I promised, build 21889 has been tested for over a month and it's ready for use. This build was released in December 2010 from HTC, as you can see it's very fast and it totally smokes my Touch Pro. The \Windows\ folder loads in about 1 second, compared to Energy's ROM on my Touch Pro at 3-4 seconds.
--I decided to do 2 versions, a BASE ROM and a Consumer ROM, simply put, the BASE ROM is for users who want to install stuff themselves (like Windows Live), and the Consumer ROM is great if you want a lot of Microsoft services ready to use, such as Windows Live or Microsoft MyPhone. BASE ROM has a lot of storage available, Consumer ROM has 20% of that used up.
--Bluetooth file sharing is ready and it works, and you don't need to enable "accept all beams" in that Infrared setting. I have tested receiving a file from a Samsung SGH-D807 Simple Phone, all you need to do is "enable File sharing" in the FTP tab of the Bluetooth settings.
--Storage Card is the default name now, I was too lazy to change to MiniSD
--Version 2.1 retains Clear Storage and Microphone AGC, available in both BASE and Consumer ROMs.
--Both ROMs have Zip Mobile 2010 version 1.2.3.1.
--Pagepools are set at 6. Remember to change it depending on the kind of work you use your Treo for.
--Unfortunately, due to me using Fjtorsol's kitchen, the ROMs are compressed in LZX, I have no idea why my kitchen can use XPR at the same size Fjtor's does with LZX. So I stuck with LZX, which doesn't matter to Build 21889, because it's still fast
Fixes from Version 2 to 2.1
-Thanks to Fjtorsol's kitchen, shortcuts are no longer mysteriously deleted or cloned.
-Bluetooth file sharing used to be dead in Version 2. Fixed in Version 2.1, remember to enable file sharing in the FTP tab.
-
Fixes since V1:
-[Hermann Classic]Fixed "Phone" icon in Start Menu that pointed to nowhere when tapped.
-Deleted dead SMS tone setting that didn't work
-Added missing "Brightness" icon in Settings Panel
-Added Missing "Keyguard" icon in Settings Panel
-Removed Palm's simple Ringtone settings, enabling the more customizable Windows Mobile ringtone settings
-When mapping the side button, there was no icon. Icon now defaulted to Camera.
-Option+OK mapped to XHook.
Known bugs:
--Due to my dependence on VolServ, the Ringtone settings for "Phone: Known Caller" retains that bug all custom ROMs have, which doesn't matter what kitchen you use. A fix was to remove the registry settings linked to VolServ, but then half the system will not work. To remedy, simply select the ActiveSync settings, then back to Known Caller and you'll see the real settings.
--The Caps/Shift keys icon that shows up beside the little keyboard SIP icon is gone. I discovered it is Theme related. I fixed it at one point during the Real Power Button testing, and it did show up. I can't seem to redo that without killing some things.
--In Fjtorsol's ROMs, I was unable to get time settings from my wireless carrier. I have confirmed this to be a problem with the type of ROM used as a base, as my V2 ROMs were based on Palm's 2.30 ROM, which supported my wireless carrier's network time. Unfortunately, because I used Fjtor's kitchen, this "bug" carried over to my V2.1 ROMs. This is a problem if you use programs that utilize Windows Mobile's Cell ID location-based service.
--Theme was removed from Hermann Finger. [Hermann Finger] The HTC Black theme (originally for WM6.5.0)seems to work at first, but changing to a different theme and back leaves the bottom bar and other 6.5.3 icons missing. I consider the HTC Black theme as a one time gig, apparently, since I cannot edit the theme as WinCE cab manager needs to be registered before I can fix it.
--Random? [Hermann Finger] With the enhanced top Taskbar, sometimes (it happened to me while locked to 3G) when you turn on the Radio, the signal appears empty (as blank, 0). There still is a signal the same as your last level, and your network type (3G, Edge, GSM) will still be shown, and you can still make calls. Hermann Classic did not have this problem, which it actually had a much cooler feature, remember when you turn on the radio, and try to access the "Phone" settings, and the Treo will tell you "the Phone is busy, wait 15 seconds", well in Hermann classic, I observed it to not show the signal strength until the Phone is ready. Might not happen often, but it was really cool.
--No more Splash screen. The Hard Reset function (Hold Red Button + Reset button) may look blank, or glitched, but it still works. Apparently Palm never thought Big Storage was possible
--The HSDPA icon that displays when you are actively downloading on HSDPA is gone. Or rather, Palm's Dial Lookup was the original source. don't worry, when that 3G icon turns into a funny looking icon, you are still on HSDPA.
--Fixed. BASE has no rings, Consumer does. Only 3 ringtones? Apparently, keeping Dial Lookup, Active Call, and my mod to remove Palm Messaging keeps it this way, no matter how I tried to cook the rings into there. Don't worry, you can still add your own ringtones, preferably into the \My Documents\My Ringtones folder.
--Fixed via Fjtorsol's kitchen. [Hermann Finger] There is again 2 MS Office folders. Both work the way they should, but forgot to delete it as I had already uploaded the ROM...
--Fixed. Kept VolServ in the ROMs because it controls a lot more than just sounds. [Herman Finger] The following sounds seem to not work: MiniSD card insert and remove, and Charger connected and removed. It actually is controlled by Palm's Volume control service (the little pop-up volume window that open on the top left), which I had removed in Hermann Finger.
--Fixed from Fjtorsol's kitchen. [Hermann Classic] 2 battery bars. Tried automating showing the clock up top, but for some reason it doesn't like me
--[Hermann Finger]The ALT key symbols window still has the redraw bug, just use D-pad to select. I fixed that as well while working on Real Power button, and I admit, I forgot the change I did :/
--[Hermann Finger Consumer ROM]Input Panel shortcut is gone, which means you can't edit typing options
FAQs, How to's, and more
Q: So explain to me the Sleep of Death
A: Existent in some WM 6.5 builds, even for other devices, Sleep of Death occurs when you power off the phone either via software or the Red Button, and the phone cannot power on in any way whatsoever, power button, plugging it in, etc. Currently, I have not experienced this in Build 23563, but in Builds 21901/21915. This is probably solved by my battery polling customization, although if it persists, disable auto turn-off for either battery or AC, or you'll have to change your brightness setting due to Palm's Backlight bug. Do note that my Treo's have worked past their service life, and their batteries are less the capacity than they used to be.
Q: What is the Backlight bug?
A: Existent even in Palm's OEM ROMs, the backlight bug is when you have your brightness set to 2, sometimes even 3 (The backlight is rated by 0 - 10, 0 being off, and 10 being the brightest). The Backlight bug occasionally refuses to put the device on standby (more often when plugged into AC), or even turn off the backlight. This is a hardware problem because if you set your Brightness to 2, and put the device on standby when running on battery, you can turn on the device again if you toggle the ringer switch (the switch on the top of the phone). This is a persistent hardware bug, which existed on all the 4 Treo's I have touched so far. (it's how I turn on my keyboard-less Treo)
Q: Can you do ____ language?
A: All my ROM's support multiple languages (although I have never tried making ones other than English). All I would need is the Palm OEM ROM of the language that you want done, then we'll see.
Q: What Kitchen did you use?
A: I use OSKitchen Zero.
Q: Will you upload your kitchen?
A: As you may have heard, there's a ridiculous bandwidth limit on the wireless carrier I currently use (800MB). My kitchen folder reaches 2.02GB (size, not size on disk), and uploading that is now impossible. Even if I separate the parts into individual folder, it's still going to add up to much more than 800MB. So sorry, the idea of uploading my kitchen was only in the event I could not continue. Well, I've gone as far as completed
Q: What happened to Build 21915?
A: It had a fatal bug that would not load some programs, notably .Net CF programs.
Q: Build 21901 help! How do I get rid of that second battery bar?
A: Go to Clocks & Alarms in Start ->Settings->, and then tap that "more" tab, and then check "Display the Clock on the title bar in all programs"
Q: Why can't we tap the Start icon in WM6.5.3?
A: Basically, it's the fault of Palm's OEM today plugin "Active call". This plugin is responsible for the handling of calling-related features of the Treo, from the dialer skin, to the today-screen Softkey options, to the speakerphone activation, to anything that displays call information. Why it interferes with 6.5.3 is best explained in detail. As you may not have known, Windows Mobile is an interesting platform in one respect because of how highly customizable it is. The Palm designed OS is layered like this:
--- <-Palm Active Call Today Plugin
--- <-WM Today theme skin
--- <-Underlying OS
As you can see, Palm's Active Call plugin is covering the Today theme in who handles what the user touches. So when we click on the Start icon, it looks like we pressed it, but we didn't because Palm's plugin is designed for WM5/6, which has a normal softkey bar at the bottom. Their Left Softkey is overlapping the Start icon, so to the OS, we are pressing that spot on the UI, but Palm's plugin is intercepting what it launches by launching nothing, since it was programmed to not launch anything at those coordinates linked to the OS. This can be easily seen by tapping on the xTask icon, and then tap on the Start icon.
Q: So why did you make the Start menu faster and 4 columns?
A: Well, I was a big fan of that start menu layout changer I got here at XDA-devs, but it didn't work on our Treo's. I don't know why it doesn't work, as it works on my hx2415, but I set out to manually edit the Start menu myself. While I will maintain the secret of what I believe made it faster, I decided a 4 column layout was best because, with a 3 column layout, it takes longer to scroll because our screens are about 2.5 inches, which is really not a lot of real estate for the primary scrolling finger (our thumbs). So if you are wondering why it lags a bit, that's because you are seeing 8 full icons and 2 half icons, compared to only 6 in the 3 column layout, and the device scales the icons depending on their default size (program dependent).
Q: Can you take out ____ program?
A: Due to my lame internet connection, I can't be doing things that could break 1 person's functionality, while helping 1 person's desire. I try to do a ROM that works for the general user, and not for a power user like me (It's why I didn't see the SMS tone bug until later, because I didn't care for that :S)
Q: Huh? XPR compression?
A: ROM's are loaded onto a device in 3 types, a non-compressed ROM image, a compressed ROM image, and a Super compressed ROM image. non-compressed uses up a large amount of space, a compressed image (XPR) uses about half the space available to the Treo, and a Super compressed (LZX) image uses even less space. These of course, have their drawbacks. Uncompressed ROM images uses up a whole lot of space, but is quick to access the Windows Mobile parts. XPR is compressed to fit in a reasonable amount of space, and is a bit slower to access than uncompressed. LZX is tightly compressed, and while you use up even less space, the ROM is very tightly packed in that the CPU needs a little more extra time to read WM elements of the OS. An example is like this, between XPR and LZX, say you have a box, and you put things in it. If you stuff it with as much as you can to save space (LZX), you may have saved space, but trying to get things inside that box will take a little more extra digging. With a more tidy stuffing of the box (XPR), if you properly set things inside the box, accessing the things inside will be much quicker.
Q: Explain to me "Big Storage".
A: I made a graphic explaining this, but basically, Big Storage is the removal of the ExtendedROM partition that exists in the HTC devices during the Hermes era. The ExtROM is what holds Carrier-specific settings/bloatware that you see in the Palm OEM ROMs. This is a problem with Custom ROMs, because we use the "unbranding" procedure to delete the stuff in the ExtROM, but the partition itself is not deleted. This is where Big Storage comes in. Big Storage has no record of the ExtROM whatsoever, so it re-formats the rest of the available storage as one whole Storage space for the user to use. I have seen this have a great boost in speed with the Operating System, as the device no longer has to mount (and hide) another partition on the Flash chip. So far no other ROM besides my Hermann series has been able to do this.
Great to hear! looking forward to seeing how you get along =)
waiting for first beta release!
So, a little update, ironically enough because internet on my phone is down so I decided to use expensive tethering to let everyone know I'm still alive XD
I'm glad I decided to take a working keyboard from my good Treo and put it in the bad Treo, my repaired Radio antenna had to be re-repaired so now I can leave the keyboard on there (still did not get replacement keyboard). That gave me a chance to test the buttons on my WM6.5 build, and the "Alt" key works, and brings up the symbols list. Red phone button still does not work (don't worry, I do know why), also I realized the Phone Settings is still there, just need to re-work the shortcut to point to it. Still trying to solve the SD card problem, so now I need to raid Nav's post history lol.
Edit: Nav's post history needs to be searched by not just his posts, I even need to read if others replied to him. If anyone can help me out and remember or able to see what it is that causes the Sd card problem, I'd really appreciate it (my connection is timed -_-)
Hey guys, I got a great story to tell.
You guys might not know me very well, I mean, I rarely posted here before, but if I had to say something about me, it's that I'm not the type of person to ask help on how to do something, if I can do it myself. Well, last night, I tried and tried, and even dunked myself into bed and immediately fell asleep (narrowly escaping catching a cold because of no blanket lol), but I persevered, and now look what I have done!
That's right, build 23563! Better than Mietas' ROM because tapping the start menu works, but just like Mietas' ROM, closing Messenger with the lower right corner close button still freezes the program. And... since I have been using Nav's badly configured files (no offense Nav), the SD card bug remained. There was even the camera bug, and the WM player that never was. I didn't give up though, thanks to Mietas' discontinued ROM project, I have craftily taken his romhdr.bin and stuck it into my kitchen. I also realized why the Camera didn't work and why WM Player was gone. Now, I present to you, the first real working WM 6.5 Rom for our Treo 750's!
"Gee whiz mangatron, you went back in time? How is that the best working WM 6.5?" you say? Well, look here!
See that? It's the Palm OEM applications running! I can make calls, send TXT messages and recieve them, you can hang up calls and, you can POWER OFF the phone! Brightness setting via Fn+p works too! Yahoo! That's not it though! The SD Card can now be recognized, the Camera works, and WM Player is back again! Absolutely the best WM6.5 for our Treo's yet!
But there's still more. See, as much as a noob that I am, I hadn't realized until build 23563 on why the Palm OEM stuff wasn't running. You see, I already knew why Nav's ROM couldn't hang up or power off. Thanks to my older brother for testing this when he had my Treo, the today plugins "Active Call" and "Dial Lookup" are Palm programs, that, one or the other (or both combined) control brightness setting, hanging up, keypad dialer, speakerphone enabler, etc. PRetty much all phone functions were handled by these 2 today plugins. When Nav took them out, it killed his phone functionality. I knew that without these, nothing will work the way I want it to. I didn't do this alone. If it weren't for Nav and Mietas for trying before me, I could have never learned how to cook, and most importantly, I would have never had tried 6 months ago had I gotten a new phone then.
Now, I hope everyone understands why I didn't upload it yet (expensive tethering is the only way to safely upload without risk getting cut off). There are also other reasons why, namely, how I found out why build 23563 didn't have my Palm OEM's. You see, during the cooking process, I noticed I had a lot of bad lines in the RGU file for the Palm OEM APPS package. So everytime I flashed my rom, I didn't see the Palm today plugins because by default, the registry turned them off! So I installed SKtools, enabled them, and boom, working Treo. So, if everyone is fine with manually turning on these 2 plugins by themselves, then okay, version 1 here we go! Except, I need to tell more about this ROM. You see, because I took some .bin files from Mietas' ROM, my build is now slow like his. Well, it's not laggy I-want-to-freeze slow, it's just, think back to WM5. If you had the Treo with WM5 before, you'll know what I mean. When you tap stuff it would like peel or what I like to call "blink". The problem could be because I set the page pool to 4MB (known to save RAM, but slow down multiple program usage), so I will try with a page pool of 6MB. That's basically the only caveat, actually. The rom is a tiny bit slow, but if you can live with that, and want a real working WM6.5 now, then I'll see. I have planned to tether this coming Monday or Tuesday GMT +8 (that is, Hong Kong time), so who knows, I may even pull a Spiattie here and provide both a Classic (21915) and Touch (23563) versions!
Note to Roberto: Luckily, Keyguard can be disabled. But I have not installed S2U to see if that will lock on power down (even with Keyguard disabled, the Red button can still power off). Let me know if S2U can lock when the device goes to standby, right now I am so excited to have finally helped out XDA when it comes to the Treo 750!
good work! i'm waiting for classic version!
hey great work!!! is there anyway you can make your perfect working wm6.5 rom with wm6.5.3, its just that wm6.5.3 looks so awesome!!!!!! but more than anything thanks for your effort i think you are the only remaining chef for our treo, but there is still this problem of titanium i know that ytou just started and thats why you havent added it but, whenever you add it there may be some problems that you may need to deal with, still this is the best rom i have seen so far and i can live without titanium, oh and about the s2u i dont see any need to install it right now as the normal lock button is working, but still it looks pretty cool maybe we should just put the download link next to the rom, as some people may not like it
the biggest problem at either some people may not like an app, they may want more memory instead of the app, or it is a pain in the ass trying to update that app later.
and about the wm6.5.3 maybe could you leave the fonts as they are? is just that in wm6.5.3 when you open a list the letters are just to big also when you open a menu and as our treos screen is so small... maybe it could be wm6.5.3 with wm6.5 fonts for menus and lists
if pics dont show here are the links
http://s124.photobucket.com/albums/p31/mangatron/?action=view¤t=21915-2.jpg
http://img101.imageshack.us/i/201008080432440005111g.jpg/sr=1
maybe im going a bit to fast but i tend to go directly to the point when speaking sorry if im asking to much
Roberto 1234 said:
hey great work!!! is there anyway you can make your perfect working wm6.5 rom with wm6.5.3, its just that wm6.5.3 looks so awesome!!!!!! but more than anything thanks for your effort i think you are the only remaining chef for our treo, but there is still this problem of titanium i know that ytou just started and thats why you havent added it but, whenever you add it there may be some problems that you may need to deal with, still this is the best rom i have seen so far and i can live without titanium, oh and about the s2u i dont see any need to install it right now as the normal lock button is working, but still it looks pretty cool maybe we should just put the download link next to the rom, as some people may not like it
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Believe me buddy, you are not asking too much. My regret right now is that I cannot upload right now, and that if only I had done this 6 months ago Treo users wouldn't have had to wait for so long to have WM6.5 on our phones.
Some things I need to clear up, lol the reason why the Palm plugins "Active call" and "Dial Lookup" were disabled in my tests builds, is because Titanium overwrote their registry settings because, whenever Titanium is enabled, no other plugins can run on the today screen. So I had to take out Titanium for good, just so that the Palm plugins can run.
About S2U, you're right about RAM, WM6.5.3 uses up more by default (my suspicion is the Theme), so including it would probably make only 20MB RAM available lol.
and about the wm6.5.3 maybe could you leave the fonts as they are? is just that in wm6.5.3 when you open a list the letters are just to big also when you open a menu and as our treos screen is so small... maybe it could be wm6.5.3 with wm6.5 fonts for menus and lists
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You know, I'm glad you asked me about this. This is controlled by the .tsk file and the .png images that make up the Classic Blue today theme. As long as I reconfigure the .tsk file (not sure if my WM5 skinning program can support WM6.5.3) and edit the images into a smaller size (should work, I did a little test and the menu now looks like just a slightly larger WM6 menu), it will be usable.
Really want to upload now >___<
well as long as it works fine, and has wm6.5.3 i dont really need titanium
Post #2 contains my changelog for now, as you can see I'm really working on the bugs right now. As of this moment, all bugs have been taken care of except the memory leak, but man I really need that keyboard replacement. It's tough always flashing via USB...
i have an 4gb micro sd but not a converter... -.- thats why i always flash via usb, i think it is safer and more easy to use
i cant wait to see the wm6.5.3 build its just so awesome!
posted through my WM6.5 build
Roberto 1234 said:
i have an 4gb micro sd but not a converter... -.- thats why i always flash via usb, i think it is safer and more easy to use
i cant wait to see the wm6.5.3 build its just so awesome!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
A micro SD adapter, huh. Dealextreme.com has it for dirt cheap (with free shipping), although I had problems with the adapter. I tried my 16GB Micro SD with a more reliable adapter, and both builds are able to read it. Really cool how my projects have come along.
I also updated posts 1 and 2 with more info and teaser screens. Enjoy and Monday-Tuesday is going to be a great day! (hopefully Monday)
awesome, they all look so cool great work! XD
i have one quetion, the other devices with wm6.5 what do they use for calling, maybe in the titanium build it wouyld be possible to use that app
sent from my custom Treo build
YEEEEAAAAHH! Final bug destroyed (could not configure SMS tone). Expect release in several hours.
Roberto 1234 said:
i have one quetion, the other devices with wm6.5 what do they use for calling, maybe in the titanium build it wouyld be possible to use that app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hmm? I did not include Titanium in any build. It just wouldn't work (probably because I never looked into it an focused on the Red button more)
All calling related features of the Treo are handled by the Palm OEM applications, with the exception of SMS related features.
By the way, do you guys use MMS often? I just realized my ROMs do not have this capability (I never used MMS, too expensive). I could include an MMS program...
nah, i never use even sms, if needed i can download an mms app, so doint worry about it right now, most of us use this work phone for music and games (wich i think is stupid -.-) but anyway, i dont think we use it to much.
o and about the titanium maybe on another build, as the red button is working maybe the calling app that navs rom already has could be an alternative, but right now i cant wait for wm6.5.3 roms release!
An early christmas present for all
ROM's have been uploaded, posts 1, 2, and 3 have been updated. Enjoy, and if you can, donate, if not, hitting the Thanks button is fine I guess.
By the way, did you know that it's possible to have Manual Focus for the Treo's camera? Yes, it does actually work, and I'll show more later!
I forgot to add, do post here whatever problems you encounter. With as many WM programs as there are, I of course have no idea if they all work on my builds. I also do not have the Spectec Wifi card, so I don't even know if that will work on my builds. I am interested to know if it works.
geart work, thanks it looks so awesome, ill try them out!