Database Develop

Newbie HTC Tytn II owner query...help greatly appreciated

Hey everyone. I have had my Tytn2 for about 6 months now and am generally displeased with the speed of its operation. As it is my first Windows Mobile phone(v6.1) I hoped that it could supersede my older non smartphones but i am now currently doubting my investment. The idea of system optimisation and sub standard/non existant drivers has recentely come to my attention by surfing the internet trying to find the reasoning behind its sluggish operation. As i am not up to date with many technical terms used on this website and the reasonings behind the slowness of it i am making my post fairly general. I have reaslised though that there are things out there that can boost its speed and operation and make it an overall better phone.
If anyone has some favourite, worthwhile or must have tweaks i can do to my phone it would be much appreciated if you could fill me in, send me a link or generally point me in the right direction.
Cheers for your help in advance and thanks to the people out there who are working on these such things

Put a ROM on it that isn't loaded down with ATT bloatware, and HTC's slowness. You'll need to install a HardSPL on your device, SuperCID unlock your device, flash a radio, and choose a ROM to install on your device.
Flashing Your First ROM
Kaiser SIM/CID Unlocking Thread
HardSPL Thread
The Ultimate Radio Thread
Kaiser ROM Development Forum

thankyou for your post. Excuse my ignnorance but what does a ROM actually do to the phone? I have no issues with doing so, i just really dont undertand what it does/the reasoning behind it. And also a radio? i have searched threads but there is so much about installing them etc but not many explinations on their workings. cheers k-semler

ok.. i have been looking around some more and found some more answers to my questions...so it basically boosts the performance? so once this is done what can i load onto my phone to make this all worthwhile?And also once this is done does is load as per normal, just faster? Or does the phone have a whole new layout etc. that the creator made?
cheers

afaseth said:
thankyou for your post. Excuse my ignnorance but what does a ROM actually do to the phone? I have no issues with doing so, i just really dont undertand what it does/the reasoning behind it. And also a radio? i have searched threads but there is so much about installing them etc but not many explinations on their workings. cheers k-semler
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The ROM is equivilant to the OS on a desktop computer, the radio allows communication via cellular, wi-fi, and GPS communications. The HardSPL is equivilant to the MBR on a desktop computer, and the Super CID is equivilant to the BIOS on a computer. (A locked CID will only allow you to install signed ROM's from either your telephone service provider, or HTC, while after a SuperCID unlock, you will be able to flash any ROM you so desire.)

afaseth said:
ok.. i have been looking around some more and found some more answers to my questions...so it basically boosts the performance? so once this is done what can i load onto my phone to make this all worthwhile?And also once this is done does is load as per normal, just faster? Or does the phone have a whole new layout etc. that the creator made?
cheers
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The easiest way to describe it is if you went and bought a name brand computer, when you initially set up the OS, (or use the recovery discs that came with the computer), it will install the OS along with a ton of bloatware, half-functional trial ware, and other unwanted software. However, if you were to boot off of a Windows retail disc, you would have the same operating system, but without all the unnecessary software that the retailer included as an added "bonus". So yes, the computer will operate faster due to not being loaded down by unnessecary software.
Yes, once a new ROM is flashed to your phone, and it was a successful flash, it will boot up as normal, and go through the customization process. After the customization process, it will soft-reset the device, and your phone will boot as normal. It will be as fresh as it would be had it come out of the box that way. Yes, this means that you will lose your contacts list, emails, and everything else you have stored on the phone's main memory. (just like you would lose everything on your HDD if you wiped out your OS and installed it again).
To back up your contacts, simply copy the file PIM.VOL from the root of your device to a microSD card, or your desktop. After you have flashed the phone, rename the new PIM.VOL on the root of the device to PIM.OLD, and copy over your archived PIM.VOL to your phone. Soft reset your device, and boot it up like normal. After the phone restarts, verify you have your contacts list restored, and then delete the file PIM.OLD from your device. The same goes for any other data you may wish to preserve. Copy it off to an SD card, or your desktop computer. After you have flashed your phone, simply copy back all data you have archived. You will obviously need to re-install any applications you wish to have on your phone.
With a customized ROM, you can get anything from a bare-minimum install, (just the OS and nothing more), to a completely new layout with TouchFlo3D, Manala 2D, HTC Home, etc. Look at the ROM development forum, decide what you want your phone to do, and go with it. There are also betas for Windows Mobile 6.5 if you wish to try it, as well as ROM's with PIE 8.5, Opera, and virtually any combination you could possibly want to customize the layout of your phone. The phone will be as a completely different device if that is what you so desire. As far as customisation programs, look into Advanced Configurator 3.3 or Kaiser Tweak. You can also install a registry editor and do the edits manually if you so desire.

thanks for that, that simplifies it somewhat. Should i be attempting to do this to my phone in fear of a major screwup if i lack in depth undertanding of what i am actually doing? i can download the files and follow steps and probably get it right but if something goes wrong i will have not a clue of how to fix it or what i did wrong. Thats my only fear.... what your thoughts?
also can you recommend any decent ROMs for a first timer/do you know anyone i can ask?

RE: Fears
Yeah, first time flashing is pretty scary. Believe me, I know all too well how nerve wracking flashing ROMs can be the first couple of times. Just make sure you follow the directions to a "T" and you should be fine. =]
But, if by some freak accident or some screw-up on your part...there ARE a few fixes depending on what broke. There are various threads in the ROM area on this particular thing.
With that being said, just follow the flashing instructions, make sure you backup your PIM, and then pick yourself a good ROM! =]
For first-timers I'd go with either a standard 6.0-6.1 ROM or something by Dutty or L26. It's been so long and so many flashes since my first that I've honestly forgotten which one I started w/ but Dutty & L26 both make wonderful ROMs and I've had various builds by both.
Best of luck!

i am with 3 mobile: does this influence which ROM i chose. Or is this dealt with during the unlocking phase?

That is dealt with during the unlocking step. After you unlock your device, it will not matter who your carrier is. You could insert a SIM from Hong Kong if you wanted to.

I need help PLEASE. TILT FREAKING OUT!

I recently erased and reinstalled the rom (it just wasn't running as clean as I wanted to)which is the basic rom that came from ATT. Anyways. i'm having troubles as:
1) I get no response sometimes with the touch screen. Whether I touch hard or soft.After 3 seconds or so of constant tapping it comes to life but happens too frequently. I get so pissed I want to slam it the floor.
2)Another problem i'm having is I can't install many programs. I'm getting tons of errors. I can't install Kaiser tweak or advanced config. I can't install games.
3) when I'm in a wifi area (coffeeshop/restaurant) I go to activate the wifi card (wireless manager) and it gives me the 4 colored icon moving showing it's working for 4-5 seconds and it's still off. I can't activate the damn wifi card..
4)videos I converted with spb mobile dvd appear to play slow and have speech delays/synching, which they never did.
5) A wierd thing happened when I used "file explorer ex" to go to the storage card directory, all of a sudden I had tons of wierd files all having 3 characters only with numbers/letters with a windows icon and I couldn't erase it because it said it was a system file. something like 10-15 of them. I restarted the system and it went back to being normal.
DAMN TYTNII/TILT/8925! i'm fed up with slowness and problems with the phone. I'm considering the Touch pro2 but from what I see it has the same crap processor and so I'm wondering if they didn't include the video driver for that one (or any other model HTC has, and so I'm consider something besides HTC, maybe the xperia) as well. I want to be able to play full movies, skyfire, and a good keyboard not like the tilt. I want the UI to be very fast and smooth not like the tilt.And when I press the red button to hang up a call, I don't want to wait 2-3 seconds either. BTW, when is WM7 coming out cause this 6.1 aint doing it for me.
I AM NOT HAPPY.

That sounds bad.... When you say you reinstalled the ROM do you mean that you reflashed it or that you did a hard reset?
Have you tried a hard reset? (again)
Settings-> system -> clear storage
You could also try the official WM6.1 ROM that can be found on the HTC web site.

if the purpose of the thread was to rant/vent, i'll leave it at that
but if you want help to see if you can improve on some or all of your complaints, we will need more information, particularly:
A. was it fine before? when did each of the problems start? please go back to your original post and describe which problems existed from the beginning and which ones popped up later
B. describe your configuration. which version of windows mobile are you using? 6.0? 6.1? 6.5? is it an official ROM or a "cooked" one? whats your SPL version? which radio ROM are you using?
C. which software are you using for video playback? granted, the kaiser lacks proper video drivers (as do most of HTC's newer models), it can still be tweaked quite nicely to give very acceptable video playback...i play divx/xvid videos at FULL framerate with no lag on my set up, after appropriate tweaks of course
D. maybe the wifi networks you are trying to connect to are SECURE and/or MAC filtered...have you tried connecting to a network that you are certain is open-for-all?
E. have you tried a hard reset as suggested in the first response in this thread?
F. most of the problems you are mentioning sound like SOFTWARE and/or OS issues...hardware is quite a distant possibility to blame so considering moving to a new device based on your reported observations is uninformed. windows phones are windows phones and they are designed to be flexible and masters-of-everything and therefore require the user to be well informed and aware of what he/she is doing. if you can't keep up and don't desire and/or can't harness the uber-power that the kaiser delivers, move on to the iFart and be done with it
my advice is to provide answers to the above and/or perform a hard reset and/or change your ROM. OR, you COULD just have a lemon on your hands in which case a change of hardware is your only option. but you will only know for sure it is a lemon if you go through the motions mentioned here...
good luck!

Have you tried a hard reset? (again)
Settings-> system -> clear storage
No I haven't, but I will.
You could also try the official WM6.1 ROM that can be found on the HTC web site.
I will have to invest more time in learning in how to do that. I did try many months before to read up on how to do the rom stuff but (not to offend the website) the info is all over the place and not esthetically pleasing to read, I gave up. Plus it didn't answer a simple question of:"If you've cid unlocked your phone do you need jumpspl or just do hardSPL"
if the purpose of the thread was to rant/vent, i'll leave it at that
At first it was to write the problems I had but more and more when I was into writing the post I was getting so Pi**ed so mostly help, part rant..
a)I've had the phone since Sept08. After unlocking it using an ebay service I used it as it was. a few weeks after that I did my first hard reset ( I forgot the terminology before) and then a week later found out about the 3 second reset to remove bloatware, so did that. About every 2-3 months it seems to have little problems (not run smoothly, memory full)and I do a hard reset. The last one I did was 2-3 weeks ago. I missed the 3 second opportunity and did a HR again, then did it. On my Mi-SD card I have most of the software I need to get it going. All TCPMP extensions to play flash, windows DLL's , kaiser tweak, memmaid, aflashlight app, skyfire, opera, minimo, fonts, ringtone, HTChome6, a dialer to replace the junk one included,and other stuff, you get the idea. The screen was fine before. never had the tapping problem i'm having now.
b)I can't install KTweak or the andvanced config, which I was easily able to before. I removed opera because it was bothering me with the XML part of the Ktweak, but still not able to..
c) I have WM6 PRO CEOS 5.2.1620(build 18125.0.4.2) just the regular att one I recieved when i bought the phone (ebay)
d)which software are you using for video playback?
TCPMP with all the drivers/DLL's. Btw, for the heck of it, all video's of WMV I converted using SPB dvd mobile I played in windows mobile, and it plays it much smoother than the TCPMP.
e)As far as the wifi is concerned, I mean that first I activate wifi through CONN manager, and try to activate the 2nd icon on the right side going down, the "I" with the the 2 "c's" on each side..that's what i'm talking about, it doesn't want to turn yellow. Then after I activate it, I go to the wifi, see the available networks available then connect to one. I don't even get to the 2nd stage since it doesn't want to turn the wifi on..I tried it this second it works fine. I guess it works according to how it feels that day.. Not that I net so much with the phone. WhenI can't activate the wifi card,, the square "E" icon at the top starts searching using GPRS (if I recall) and it shows the "E" with 2 arrows moving to the sides (like the wifi does) and a windows keeps popping up and won't go away!!! it drives me crazy..I press the hang up button but it doesn't stop it, till I can take it no more and pull the battery out..
maybe the wifi networks you are trying to connect to are SECURE and/or MAC filtered no, their all public wifi's, in restaurants, coffee places..places like that..
f)I'm having another problem I didn't post before. When taking photos, there is no zoom out/in icons like they're used to be. This problem started about 3 months ago. H-reset or S-reset won't bring back the 2 icons. In Video yes, but in camera mode no..
most of the problems you are mentioning sound like SOFTWARE and/or OS issues...hardware is quite a distant possibility to blame so considering moving to a new device based on your reported observations is uninformed. windows phones are windows phones and they are designed to be flexible and masters-of-everything and therefore require the user to be well informed and aware of what he/she is doing. if you can't keep up and don't desire and/or can't harness the uber-power that the kaiser delivers, move on to the iFart and be done with it
YOU"RE 100% right!(Iphone..OH,GOD NO!!)I lack some knowledge as to how to work it properly, you're right about that. I don't want a phone that I buy to have to flash it it, and to do this and that, and blah blah blah. I want something that will work right out of the box. Will be quick, not lack drivers(which btw, HTC back stabbed everyone, and for this reason I'm not sure i'll go with HTC again) and be able to do it all. I'm willing to put down $1k for this phone, even $1400, but fo some reason or another no one can make one. Why I don't know. Why can't 1 smart manufacturer, look at all the flaws of the top phones and produce a perfect phone. People would jump all over it. I also feel like giving up with the TILT, only because it doesn't satisfy my needs. i'm not to happy with the TILT. At first I was extremly excited, but now, I want to slam it to the floor. The software lacks many things, and it can only do so much. The market and tech is there for many years, can't they make a perfect pda phone, and why the hell is taking M$ so long to make an OS that has it all? If they can make a great OS like Windows 7, why can't they implament that tech to PPC's? LAZY IMO!
I'm looking at all the phones on GSM arena, and none of them has it all, none. Considered the xperia, but crappy rez and small screen. The new Idou, only good because of the 12MP camera, but nothing else, and don't want symbian OS..fed up with Nokia..nothing normal out there. All HTC's. all the same..can't find something normal..
I will do the reset and i'll et you know in a few hours.
Thanks for all your help, I extremely appreciate it..

I should have posted the topic" I NEED HELP PLEASE. TILT AND OWNER FREAKING OUT+RANT"

amitsivak said:
Have you tried a hard reset? (again)
Settings-> system -> clear storage
No I haven't, but I will.
You could also try the official WM6.1 ROM that can be found on the HTC web site.
I will have to invest more time in learning in how to do that...not esthetically pleasing to read, I gave up. Plus it didn't answer a simple question of:"If you've cid unlocked your phone do you need jumpspl or just do hardSPL"
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
jumpspl is needed ONLY AND ONLY to CHANGE your HardSPL...it is also needed to put on the HardSPL in the first place. it may not be a very intuitive read and certainly requires some effort on the reader's part but if you read it all carefully, your concepts will become rock solid and all further steps and conclusions will flow logically...the pieces will fall into place.
if the purpose of the thread was to rant/vent, i'll leave it at that
At first it was to write the problems I had but more and more when I was into writing the post I was getting so Pi**ed so mostly help, part rant..
a)I've had the phone since Sept08...On my Mi-SD card I have most of the software I need to get it going. All TCPMP extensions to play flash, windows DLL's , kaiser tweak, memmaid, aflashlight app, skyfire, opera, minimo, fonts, ringtone, HTChome6, a dialer to replace the junk one included,and other stuff, you get the idea. The screen was fine before. never had the tapping problem i'm having now.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
its a good idea to keep all installables on your micro sd card. BUT, you should install ONLY the stuff you TRULY need. also remember to clear up browser caches and temporary files that are dropped on the device internal memory from time to time. skyfire, opera, minimo...thats THREE browsers in addition to the builtin IE...i just stick to the latest official beta of opera 9.7 in addition to the latest IE built in to my winmo6.5 ROM. my point is, windows mobile (pre 6.x, 6.0, 6.1, and 6.5) is somewhat delicate and sensitive in terms of the specific versions of applications you install. i've had my kaiser (my FIRST winmo device) for just over a year...i still use pretty much the same applications as i did the first couple of months, i've abandoned some in favor of better ones, and nearly all of them are newer versions that i am certain are compatible with the winmo build(s) i am using at any given time. your stock ROM is quite an OLD build and quite a few corrections and improvements have been made to the OS, so much so that the build number is now in the 21xxx range (compared to your 6.0 build of 18125) and still going further (a bunch of new bugs and issues are inevitable as the OS moves forward). my point is, perhaps you have accumulated some newer installables that don't quite play well with your old OS build 18125.
b)I can't install KTweak or the andvanced config, which I was easily able to before. I removed opera because it was bothering me with the XML part of the Ktweak, but still not able to..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thats odd...once again, kaisertweak and advanced config have both progressed to newer versions...if you have an old installable, try a new installable. if you are already trying the new installable, try the old one from the era that your build belongs to.
c) I have WM6 PRO CEOS 5.2.1620(build 18125.0.4.2) just the regular att one I recieved when i bought the phone (ebay)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i'm not saying you should try att's newer official winmo6.1 ROM but some people have reported great improvements, but your milage may vary. i, on the other hand, SWEAR by "cooked" ROMs and there are some particular cooked ROMs that will impress the $H1T out of you
d)which software are you using for video playback?
TCPMP with all the drivers/DLL's. Btw, for the heck of it, all video's of WMV I converted using SPB dvd mobile I played in windows mobile, and it plays it much smoother than the TCPMP.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i never used TCPMP and i quickly moved on to coreplayer, even when i was on winmo6.0. so far, the BEST video performance i have gotten was with the following configuration:
1. Sakajati's HyperDragon IV Rhodium ROM (April 10th, 2009)
2. chainfire's gfxboost v1.1
3. coreplayer 1.3.2 build 6909
4. coreplayer configured to DISABLE QTV mode, and video mode set to DirectDraw @ medium quality
on a side note, the ROM mentioned in item 1 above is STELLAR if you're looking for a good cooked winmo6.1 ROM.
e)As far as the wifi is concerned, I mean that first I activate wifi...I guess it works according to how it feels that day.. Not that I net so much with the phone. WhenI can't activate the wifi card,, the square "E" icon at the top starts searching using GPRS (if I recall) and it shows the "E" with 2 arrows moving to the sides (like the wifi does) and a windows keeps popping up and won't go away!!! it drives me crazy..I press the hang up button but it doesn't stop it, till I can take it no more and pull the battery out..
maybe the wifi networks you are trying to connect to are SECURE and/or MAC filtered no, their all public wifi's, in restaurants, coffee places..places like that..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
make sure your wifi is set for "Best Performance" as opposed to the default "Best Battery". you might want to look into changing your radio ROM as well, making sure to match the radio version with your winmo MAJOR version. that is, some radios are made ONLY for winmo6.0, others ONLY for winmo6.1 and winmo6.5. same concept applies to the particular HardSPL version you use. finally, quite a few senior members and cooks here claim that wifi is the ONLY radio that is NOT AFFECTED by your radio version but my experience has been different.
also, you need to understand how windows mobile "picks" an available connection and uses it. if your data connection is set up and enabled, it will almost always be picked and forced to connect, even if your wifi is already connected. you'll have to read up some more about the concept but here is what i do. i have my data connection DISABLED all the time. i force windows mobile to always pick "My Work Network" (which is usually the wifi). note that windows will NEVER force the wifi to connect and won't be able to connect the data connection because i have disabled it. this way, i have TOTAL control over how it "dials out". so when i am in a wifi area, i connect my wifi manually and when i am not in a wifi area, i enable my data connection and i let windows dial out onto Edge/GPRS, etc.
f)I'm having another problem I didn't post before. When taking photos, there is no zoom out/in icons like they're used to be. This problem started about 3 months ago. H-reset or S-reset won't bring back the 2 icons. In Video yes, but in camera mode no..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
errr i think the zoom level is controllable in the camera ONLY in non-3-megapixel mode. that is, if your camera's picture taking mode is set to 3MP, you will NOT get any zoom control. set it to anything lower and you should get zoom control. you must have inadvertantly set the resolution to below 3MP and 3 months ago, either you or the hard reset must have caused it to revert to 3MP, hence your inability to zoom in picture mode.
most of the problems you are mentioning sound like SOFTWARE and/or OS issues...hardware is quite a distant possibility to blame so considering moving to a new device based on your reported observations is uninformed. windows phones are windows phones and they are designed to be flexible and masters-of-everything and therefore require the user to be well informed and aware of what he/she is doing. if you can't keep up and don't desire and/or can't harness the uber-power that the kaiser delivers, move on to the iFart and be done with it
YOU"RE 100% right!(Iphone..OH,GOD NO!!)I lack some knowledge as to how to work it properly, you're right about that. I don't want a phone that I buy to have to flash it it, and to do this and that, and blah blah blah. I want something that will work right out of the box. Will be quick, not lack drivers(which btw, HTC back stabbed everyone, and for this reason I'm not sure i'll go with HTC again) and be able to do it all. I'm willing to put down $1k for this phone, even $1400, but fo some reason or another no one can make one. Why I don't know. Why can't 1 smart manufacturer, look at all the flaws of the top phones and produce a perfect phone. People would jump all over it. I also feel like giving up with the TILT, only because it doesn't satisfy my needs. i'm not to happy with the TILT. At first I was extremly excited, but now, I want to slam it to the floor. The software lacks many things, and it can only do so much. The market and tech is there for many years, can't they make a perfect pda phone, and why the hell is taking M$ so long to make an OS that has it all? If they can make a great OS like Windows 7, why can't they implament that tech to PPC's? LAZY IMO!
I'm looking at all the phones on GSM arena, and none of them has it all, none. Considered the xperia, but crappy rez and small screen. The new Idou, only good because of the 12MP camera, but nothing else, and don't want symbian OS..fed up with Nokia..nothing normal out there. All HTC's. all the same..can't find something normal..
I will do the reset and i'll et you know in a few hours.
Thanks for all your help, I extremely appreciate it..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i said it before and i'll say it again and i don't mean to sound harsh but windows mobile is powerful...and with great power comes great responsibility...the user HAS TO BE AWARE of what he/she is doing and what is going on in the device to be able to tweak it and customize it and to get it to do EXACTLY what is desired.

Boot Loader for loading different ROMS - Even Possible?

The number of OS-es for our "little friend" (i'm talking about a ppc ) keeps growing, many versions of windows mobile including the soon to be released 7, android and symbian.
I was wondering if it's possible to have just a boot loader with basic drivers that will allow users to have different roms in storage card and just continue booting the rom from there.
I'm a web application developer working with actionscript 3 and some java for serverside so I don't know a lot about mobile hardware architecture and but I was wondering if anyone with a lot more knowledge into the field can enlighten me and anyone else interested about that possibility.
Thanks in advance for any bit of information.
Romeo.

There is a bootloader that lets you pick between wm and android but its not a bootloader in the traditional sense, just an application that runs when wm boots that gives you the option of staying in wm or running haret to boot into android.
AFAIK, theres no way to switch ROMs or versions of WM without a reflash.
Wouldnt be a bad idea though, as you could have a stable 6.1 ROM on one hand as a backup and could still play around with a less stable 6.5.5 rom with the latest packages, manila etc.

not to mention, that booting a ROM from MMC will result in crap performance (just look at android, i mean max respect for all the hard work/coding done, it's a structural limitation issue) because of the slower transfer speed.
imho the whole phone os idea should be handled more like a desktop pc. you know, bios, OS install, partitions, etc. ofc adapted for a mobile phone. instead of these "closed" proprietary bootloaders.
this whole rom thingy doesnt really seem logical to me. the concept itself of WM "build" is stupid and pretty uncomfortable. an updatable os would make all things easier. for us geeks atleast.
hopefully it will happen

Thanks guys for supporting the idea If it's not possible at this stage maybe letting the right people know that we want that will make a change.
@ASK768 Yeah i knew about the "boot loader" for android ... actually i'm not even sure if android has full control over the phone while running with haret or some part of windows mobile is underneath. Is android running on top of some windows drivers or something?
I was not really able to run android due to some "formatting for video performance" of my SD Card (haven't really noticed any change and did not benchmark also i hope i'll find the time one day) ... well it least that's what i think the problem is.
@crashDebug i think the most important parts of the rom are loaded into memory so it might just increase boot time. I'm running most of my application from Storage Card and i did not really see any difference in performance. I might be wrong about it's just what i noticed from experimenting without any real benchmark.
I completely agree with phones being as desktop PC's and i really hope we'll be there soon but i still hope something can be done with the blackstone

i wouldnt count on it and with the rumors about winmo7 well things aint goin in the right direction ifear

Computer Gurus..Need Help!

I'm thinking it's a virus that I have...my computer has slowed to a crawl and is acting all sorts of messed up...I've pulled the important info I want off of it. Wondering if reformatting and using a Linux OS would help...Considering dual booting windows and linux but wasn't sure if the problems would persist since I think it is a virus...I downloaded AVG anti-virus and comodo cleaning essentials...the computer is just acting WEIRD..won't recognize my wifi half the time, super slow to load...not starting in windows 7 starter...any advice is appreciated.

If you can start it in safe mode you can then go to start menu / accessories and choose run. Type msconfig into box that appears then press your keyboards enter key.
It will open a window with a few tabs, go to the one that says startup and you will see a list of programs windows runs at startup.
Untick those you're not sure are things you installed, malware and viruses often show up with a random name made of letters for example kwge.exe if you see weird names like that untick them then click save and ok buttons and reboot.
If you have a nasty program affecting pc its common for it to try starting up at boot time.
Another option is download malwarebytes malware scanner but you need pc able to start up to do these things even if only in safe mode.
Dave
( http://www.google.com/producer/editions/CAownKXmAQ/bigfatuniverse )
Sent from my LG P920 using Tapatalk

mistermentality said:
If you can start it in safe mode you can then go to start menu / accessories and choose run. Type msconfig into box that appears then press your keyboards enter key.
It will open a window with a few tabs, go to the one that says startup and you will see a list of programs windows runs at startup.
Untick those you're not sure are things you installed, malware and viruses often show up with a random name made of letters for example kwge.exe if you see weird names like that untick them then click save and ok buttons and reboot.
If you have a nasty program affecting pc its common for it to try starting up at boot time.
Another option is download malwarebytes malware scanner but you need pc able to start up to do these things even if only in safe mode.
Dave
( http://www.google.com/producer/editions/CAownKXmAQ/bigfatuniverse )
Sent from my LG P920 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you...the computer will start up the issue is that I will get about 80-90% done installing an anti-virus or using the Comodo Clean up and it will restart...thinking the virus maybe blocking it from using an application like that...I want to run Jolicloud or another Linux based OS if you know any made for netbooks. It will go into startup repair when it restarts and won't finish the startup repair deal

So something is seriously wrong with my computer...every anti virus/cleaning program has frozen and gone to not responding...AVG Anti Virus, Comodo Cleaning Essentials and now Malwarebytes Anti Malware...this is getting ridiculous...how I reformat this piece of **** and get a non-Windows OS on here? I have Jolicloud on my SD card.

semperfidoordie said:
So something is seriously wrong with my computer...every anti virus/cleaning program has frozen and gone to not responding...AVG Anti Virus, Comodo Cleaning Essentials and now Malwarebytes Anti Malware...this is getting ridiculous
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Google a program called rkill from bleepingcomputers.com, download this program and run it, it will stop most processes when it's done, allowing you to run Malwarebytes.
Good luck.
Sent from a pay phone, and yes I DID search before posting

Trying it now...just wondering if a new laptop/netbook would be a better idea...I think the HDD in this one is dead from everything I've read online...just want a Ubuntu or other Linux OS laptop I'm done f_ing with windows lol

Tried installing Julicloud (Ubuntu) got it to load after restart to dual boot menu...selected jolicloud go to about 95 or 96% and it restarted and came up with the message "No init found. Try passing init=bootarg. Busybox v1.13.3 (Ubuntu 1:1.13.3-lubuntutii) built-in shell (ash) Enter help for a list of built in commands.
(initramfs)
help???

That's sounds more like a hardware issue because your problems are still there even after formatting.

Try to run a short dst then a long dst. Look up on google on how to get there for your computer. To me this sounds like a software issue more then anything else but try it. If either one fails your hdd is really close to dead. I just went through a short dst failure on my hdd so to me it doesn't sound like hardware but dot your i's and cross your t's kinda thing. If both pass then its most deffinitly software. Try an online antivirus toll so that there is nothing to install. If you are still having issues and your sure its a virus and you want to go to linux then write zeros to your hdd. Basically its a massive reformat. Reformatting can sometimes leave the the virus on the sector of a hdd and still make your computer run like ****. But writing zeros is basically a very thorough format that takes a bit of time and usally formats it quite a number of times.
Or go an easier root buy a new hdd, take out the old one put in the new one in the computer and install jolicloud and destroy the hdd then through it away and be done with it.
Sent from my DROID X2 using XDA

semperfidoordie said:
Tried installing Julicloud (Ubuntu) got it to load after restart to dual boot menu...selected jolicloud go to about 95 or 96% and it restarted and came up with the message "No init found. Try passing init=bootarg. Busybox v1.13.3 (Ubuntu 1:1.13.3-lubuntutii) built-in shell (ash) Enter help for a list of built in commands.
(initramfs)
help???
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not used that myself but did a google search and found someone who had the same problem and blogged about how to fix it.
The page is http://codeabout.wordpress.com/2011/03/05/fix-your-non-bootable-linux-partition/ hope it is of some use.
Basically it would appear that by installing a second os you have made the boot sector unusable for the second one. Some netbooks allow you to select a specific partition to boot from, if yours does you can tell it to boot from the linux one.
Its usually done by pressing a function key before it tries booting but most netbooks don't allow it so just mentioning it in case yours does. Keys differ depending on model but typically is f1 though one was the del key.
Dave
( http://www.google.com/producer/editions/CAownKXmAQ/bigfatuniverse )
Sent from my LG P920 using Tapatalk

Damn I guess I will start looking at HDD's mine pretty much instantly failed the short DST test. Any advice on upgrading netbook memory while I'm in there? I know how to take it apart and all just don't know a lot about upgrading these little things.

Man things go from bad to worse lol...tried to run chkdsk and now everyone it boots it boots running chkdsk and freezes after 6% and having quite a few bad sectors. Is there a way to bypass this and get it to start with command prompt? If I buy a new HD could I install a Linux OS right off the bat and not mess with windows? Also is there any definitive way to tell without a doubt it is the HD?

Yes you can switch hdds and see if the problem still occurs... if not then the problem is fixed.

That's a good point. I am considering buying a new laptop and starting fresh...wish you could build one like you build a desktop. I want one built the way I want it running on a Linux OS. Don't really want to waste the money buying a new computer and paying for Windows and not use it.

Hmm... Have you tried to install Ubuntu? I recommend you use Wubi to install and dual boot it with some dead simple automated repartioning
Sent from a blaze of amazon using Tapatalk

semperfidoordie said:
That's a good point. I am considering buying a new laptop and starting fresh...wish you could build one like you build a desktop. I want one built the way I want it running on a Linux OS. Don't really want to waste the money buying a new computer and paying for Windows and not use it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not sure if that's available there, but here we get pcs with no OS or DOS, and then you can install what you want
Sent from my GT-P1000 using XDA

This is what I would do, if I were you...
First and foremost, make sure nothing is wrong with the hardware itself. The most common issues are with the HDs, as they tend to break first...
Schedule a diskcheck from the disk properties, and make sure to check the surface for errors also.
Then I would start the hunt for the virus, if it exists. Bear in mind that formatting the disk and installing another OS does NOT eliminate some virus types, like rootkits, so you have to make sure that the disk is clean before doing anything.
For a quick test, I always download a portable version of Superantispyware and do a smart scan. Then I'll download from Malwarebytes and do the same.
You may or may not solve your problem with the above. In case you don't, keep reading...
The most secure and guaranteed way of virus checking (and cleaning) is with a Rescue CD or Usb key. Download yumi, it lets you make a multiboot usb key with multiple rescue cds. Don't worry about finding the cds, it has the option of doing it for you, from inside the utility. I will go for Avira and Kaspersky, make a boot usb key and boot my pc from it to check for viruses, particularly rootkits. You can also try with other companies, if you cannot find any viruses with Avira and Kaspersky, like Panda or F-Secure...

shravbits said:
Hmm... Have you tried to install Ubuntu? I recommend you use Wubi to install and dual boot it with some dead simple automated repartioning
Sent from a blaze of amazon using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have tried but I get an error when trying to boot using Jolicloud (a netbook version of Ubuntu) I may a different version though.
cdesai said:
Not sure if that's available there, but here we get pcs with no OS or DOS, and then you can install what you want
Sent from my GT-P1000 using XDA
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's pretty cool. The computers are out there it's just finding a company that will let you build one that way haha. Everyone seems to have a hard on for Windows crap.
ptmax13 said:
This is what I would do, if I were you...
First and foremost, make sure nothing is wrong with the hardware itself. The most common issues are with the HDs, as they tend to break first...
Schedule a diskcheck from the disk properties, and make sure to check the surface for errors also.
Then I would start the hunt for the virus, if it exists. Bear in mind that formatting the disk and installing another OS does NOT eliminate some virus types, like rootkits, so you have to make sure that the disk is clean before doing anything.
For a quick test, I always download a portable version of Superantispyware and do a smart scan. Then I'll download from Malwarebytes and do the same.
You may or may not solve your problem with the above. In case you don't, keep reading...
The most secure and guaranteed way of virus checking (and cleaning) is with a Rescue CD or Usb key. Download yumi, it lets you make a multiboot usb key with multiple rescue cds. Don't worry about finding the cds, it has the option of doing it for you, from inside the utility. I will go for Avira and Kaspersky, make a boot usb key and boot my pc from it to check for viruses, particularly rootkits. You can also try with other companies, if you cannot find any viruses with Avira and Kaspersky, like Panda or F-Secure...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have downloaded Malwarebytes, Comodo Cleaning Essentials and AVG. None of which have been able to complete a scan the computer will always freeze up and shut itself off before they get the opportunity to. I have finally been patient enough to let chkdsk run though and so far although it's taking forever it has been finding bad sectors, replaced a bunch of bad clusters and what not. I am hoping when this finally finishes it may function somewhat more normally.

If your hdd failed the short dst then your hdd is pretty much gone, dead, about to be taken off life support, and it needs to be replaced. Which explains why its failing to install programs, jolicloud and would seem like a virus.
Its a dying hdd. Go to bestbuy, newegg, microcenter, etc and buy a 2.5" hdd. Then install it into your netbook. Once you replace your hdd you will need to install a os as there will be nothing for the netbook to boot up. So choose jolicloud, ubuntu, win7 or what not and you will be good to go.
Once you done all that buy a 2.5" housing for the hdd. Basically this will make the internal hdd into an external hdd and plus it in via usb and copy all your files to the new one.
The only thing you can do for a short dst failure is to replace your hdd. Nothing else will work. Its only allowed matter of time before it can't even be accessed.
Ps if you never removed a hdd from a netbook or laptop its a little bit different from a desktop. You need to remove the brackets from the old hdd and put them on the new one so you can install it.
Also the checkdisk repairing sectors will not fix a short dst failure. That is a hardware issue. All you are doing is waisting time. Your computer is crashing and restarting its self cause the hdd is having issues trying to process the info on a hardware level, not software.
If you manage to repair all the sectors it won't mean anything. Cause if you try to still do any installs (mine going through a short dst allowed installs btw) it may still fail and any intense task will cause it to crash. And by intense i mean any multitasking could crash it. Your hdd is very unstable and os use a lot of the hdd functions. So when you make it an external to get the files off it becomes more stable because of the less work from the os allowing you to remove your files.
I know its not what you want to hear but the truth is hard to take at times.
Sent from my DROID X2 using XDA

semperfidoordie said:
That's a good point. I am considering buying a new laptop and starting fresh...wish you could build one like you build a desktop. I want one built the way I want it running on a Linux OS. Don't really want to waste the money buying a new computer and paying for Windows and not use it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can semi-build your own by going to the brands website (like alien, hp) and get one custom fitted for you. But you will still be stuck with windows7 at that point you can keep the serial codes and use them on your netbook to get a different verision other then starter on that if you decide to replace the hdd and get a new laptop. Or hold on to it if it turns out that you don't like linux on your laptop. Linux is not meant for everyone. And its nice to have a safety net just in case.
Sent from my DROID X2 using XDA

[Q] MTK6589 devices and Windows

Is there a possibility to wipe out the Android and install Windows on a MTK6589 device? Thanks

Read the FAQ.
NO!

Impossible. Windows Phone 8 doesn't have the drivers to run on other devices, unless you're willing to program them yourself. Furthermore, I believe it's hardware locked because of Secure Boot. All devices have secure boot (unlike Windows 8, where only some computers have secure boot) and it is (I believe) a requirement, hence the inability to boot Windows Phone 8 on an Android device. Unless you're willing to emulate secure boot somewhat as well, then go for your life.
Want Windows Phone 8 on an Android device? Buy a Nokia Lumia and sticky tape it on top of your current Android device. Voila! Results are instant.
Honestly, if you want a certain OS on your phone, buy the phone that has the OS. It's like buying a tomato and then saying "fudge, wish this tasted like a cucumber".

The idea comes straight from the world of PCs : there you can if you want to wipe the system clean and install almost anything you like. From MS-DOS to Windows 2, Windows NT, OS/2, dozens brands and copies of Linux, Unix mutations the list is almost endless.
The onboard ROM on a "PC" will happily run whatever's on the disk or CD or DVD or other boot device. This is a 1970'as design which has not changed.
If you are missing device drivers for a certain device on PC then it (a) defaults to basic functionality (b) this device does not work at all but it is not always a stopping block.
I did not know what the obstacles are on smartphones. I was hoping to find and understand more details.
The MTK65XX chip set is an Arm CPU for which Windows have a new system. Some Chinese tablets now sell with Android or Windows.
Thanks for the explanations.

Yeah, you might have saved yourself some time if you'd done even a little research. Not only do ARM devices require a Board Support Package (firmware image, basically) that generally won't be available for an arbitrary device/OS combination (it's not just a matter of having basic drivers like on x86), but there isn't actually any installer (at least, not publicly available) for Windows Phone. There's only full device images available, which are specific to their intended devices. Custom ROMs, even for variants of the same OS that the device shipped with, are hacked together and often don't have full hardware support, especially when switching between OSes. You would need to build one nearly from scratch for a device like yours, given that the manufacturer of it doesn't (so far as I know) sell *any* Windows Phone devices so you couldn't even crib drivers from another phone. Additionally, nearly all ARM devices ship with locked bootloaders that will not boot a different operating system, or even allow the OS to be tampered with (although these days, consumer Android device bootloaders can usually be unlocked).

Zilliman said:
The idea comes straight from the world of PCs : there you can if you want to wipe the system clean and install almost anything you like. From MS-DOS to Windows 2, Windows NT, OS/2, dozens brands and copies of Linux, Unix mutations the list is almost endless.
The onboard ROM on a "PC" will happily run whatever's on the disk or CD or DVD or other boot device. This is a 1970'as design which has not changed.
If you are missing device drivers for a certain device on PC then it (a) defaults to basic functionality (b) this device does not work at all but it is not always a stopping block.
I did not know what the obstacles are on smartphones. I was hoping to find and understand more details.
The MTK65XX chip set is an Arm CPU for which Windows have a new system. Some Chinese tablets now sell with Android or Windows.
Thanks for the explanations.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well then think of it this way, Install XP on a computer. Take the hard drive out and try to boot on another one. It won't work unless you have all the drivers or extremely similar hardware.
I don't have a complete understanding of ARM, but I assume these Qualcomm SoCs have the TPM built in. Its almost the bottleneck with using WP8, but we'll have to wait for HTC to release a potential dual boot Android Windows Phone. Things will align sometime.
Sent from my Lumia 928 (RM-860) using Tapatalk

thals1992 said:
Well then think of it this way, Install XP on a computer. Take the hard drive out and try to boot on another one. It won't work unless you have all the drivers or extremely similar hardware.
I don't have a complete understanding of ARM, but I assume these Qualcomm SoCs have the TPM built in. Its almost the bottleneck with using WP8, but we'll have to wait for HTC to release a potential dual boot Android Windows Phone. Things will align sometime.
Sent from my Lumia 928 (RM-860) using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OK Here is how PC/Windows works:
When Windows boots it uses a thing called "HAL" (hardware abstraction layer) - and whilst booting it tries its best to cope with a number of chipsets, disc drive controllers, and other core hardware components. This is done on the fly because there are only so many chipsets out there and the drivers aren't that large. If you boot Windows in debug mode you will see it loading one million drivers for hardware which you definitely not have - and when you actually install it it does the same - it does not ask you " what CPU / north bridge / south bridge / other DMA/ chipset / and everything else you have?". It just tries it all and loads what fits. The only things left out are whatever you can load later, eg specific sound card drivers, wifi, video card etc.
So this is a marriage between the PC's BIOS ROMs and the OS - so that with one single CD you can install pretty much anywhere. And this idea and technology has been around since the 70s.
For Linux/Unix/OS/2 and anything else on the PC the idea is pretty much the same: the BIOS has " started " the machine for you, and you simply run your "application" which in most cases is a complete OS!
For example I once wrote a memory tester that booted straight off the drive, without any other OS being present, it is that simple once you have the BIOS in place.
In my complete ignorance of how smartphones are made, I assumed that the hardware manufacturer of each phone provides a BIOS which can provide basic services like on the PC. Is that what we call the "bootloader" ? Looking at the "scatter files" it appears there is a whole lot of binary images before the "android" image.
Are these images the "hardware layer / BIOS" then? And can we consider the "android" image to be the actual OS?

Zilliman said:
OK Here is how PC/Windows works:
When Windows boots it uses a thing called "HAL" (hardware abstraction layer) - and whilst booting it tries its best to cope with a number of chipsets, disc drive controllers, and other core hardware components. This is done on the fly because there are only so many chipsets out there and the drivers aren't that large. If you boot Windows in debug mode you will see it loading one million drivers for hardware which you definitely not have - and when you actually install it it does the same - it does not ask you " what CPU / north bridge / south bridge / other DMA/ chipset / and everything else you have?". It just tries it all and loads what fits. The only things left out are whatever you can load later, eg specific sound card drivers, wifi, video card etc.
So this is a marriage between the PC's BIOS ROMs and the OS - so that with one single CD you can install pretty much anywhere. And this idea and technology has been around since the 70s.
For Linux/Unix/OS/2 and anything else on the PC the idea is pretty much the same: the BIOS has " started " the machine for you, and you simply run your "application" which in most cases is a complete OS!
For example I once wrote a memory tester that booted straight off the drive, without any other OS being present, it is that simple once you have the BIOS in place.
In my complete ignorance of how smartphones are made, I assumed that the hardware manufacturer of each phone provides a BIOS which can provide basic services like on the PC. Is that what we call the "bootloader" ? Looking at the "scatter files" it appears there is a whole lot of binary images before the "android" image.
Are these images the "hardware layer / BIOS" then? And can we consider the "android" image to be the actual OS?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You don't understand the basic problem.
Windows (desktop) is an entirely different OS which has very powerful hardware at its disposal and it is supposed to run on various hardware configurations. It was designed to be this way from the ground up.
Windows Phone is just not like that. It is designed to work with one configuration, and one configuration alone. You can;t even flash the WP8 image from one device model to another without risking brick.
If you try to flash the lumia 1520 ROM on a lumia 820, chances are the lumia 820 will brick.
In other words, WP8 does not load "millions" of drivers in hope of matching the single one the system matches. There are various technical and marketing reasons why this does not happen.
And it is like this for android as well. Getting past the bootloader is easy (for android devices). Getting to actually boot something is an entirely different story.

Just a FYI, I did have a old mtk device once that has dual boot Android 2.x and Windows 6.1... I know that is old. But that was cool.