Finally managed to flash my mda with a bigstorage rom
All is good but I got a slight prob with something else. Although I hated the customisation of T-Mobile, I found it helpful that the phone automatically installs all the progs and settings in the extended ROM after a hard reset.
With BigStorage, I presuming that the Extended Rom folder is amalgamated with the Storage folder. Do you guys know whether it is possible to add the Cab files (e.g. intellidialer, etc...) to the Storage folder (as it was in ExtRom) so that it automatically installs the progs and customization options after a hard reset?
Or do you recommend going back to a traditional Extended Rom inclusive ROM and edit the Extended Rom there? I understand that ROMKitchen cannot be used on Mini's so do you happen to have any other program recommendations?
If the above two isn't possible yet, is there anyway of preventing the mda from deleting the Cab files after I install from them. For instance, when I install Intellipad, the cab file is automatically deleted. I had hoped that I may use this cab file again by dumping it in the "Storage" folder and using it if I need to hard reset the damn thing again
Thanks again
Hi rockykabir
sorry first for my english... I will try to explain my solution:
1. I have made a backup of all the Extended_ROM files to my PC (open in explorer loadvdisk.exe and copy through activesync.)
2. Made the Bigstorage and the Radio-Update (thanks a lot guys for the help that I have found in this forum.)
3. Made a small CAB-File which has to start first (see atached file)
4. If this file is installed, you can create a hidden and read-only folder on the SD-Card named: 2577 (Foldername is important)
5. Place inside this folder: autorun.exe and install.m2w and make the changes in the instal.m2w file. Think its easy.
6. Place all the recent CAB-Files into this Folder.
7. Make changes as you need
Make sure, that the folder and the files on the SD-Card are read-only and the folder should be hidden (not sure about that). If not, the Cabinet files will be deleted after installation.
How do I work now with this SD-Card? Easy... After a Hardreset, place the card into your MDA. Start Ext_Start.cab.
Put out the SD-Card and put it in again..... Enjoy.
Now i search only for an easy solution to make a small Extended_ROM for the Ext_Start.cab and the IIWPO. That task will be the next...
Enjoy the day
Thanks sooo much mate!!! - thats very kind of you as this completely solves my prob. I hope this is of use to others as well
Hi All,
as many of you, I have converted my Extended_ROM to a bigger Storage folder. Unfortunately I still need most of the software packages that were included into the Extended_ROM. I was looking for an AUTORUN.EXE that could allow me to place my CABs into the \Storage folder and install them after a Hard-Reset. No need to say I didn't find anything that fully complied with my expectations. The only useful thing I found was an autorun.exe that executed from the 'Storage Card'. A quick modification with an Hex Editor led me to the solution. I thought it was time now for me to pay my dues with this forum that has helped me so many times in the past. So here is the file !
Instructions are dummy proof !
Compress all your CABs (Extended ROM and/or other software packages) into a ZIP file (not RAR!) and name it 'ExtendedROM.zip'
Create an Hidden/Read Only folder called 2577 on the root of \Storage.
Copy the ZIP and the Autorun.exe files into that folder.
Hard Reset and watch at you Magician installing all the Cabs for you.
Enjoy !
Silver Bullet
I have just tried your method and it works!
Thank you very much indeed.
I consider this to be the best companion to the BigStorage. I zipped 14 cab files into a 8.6M zip file. I would save this as backup in my storage card. Next time, after a ROM upgrade, I can simply copy these back to Storage to have a clean and quick installation of the essential files.
By the way, the old trick of skipping the auto installation still works (i.e. soft reset immediately before autorun starts).
Moderator: I would very much recommend to make this a sticky, please.
hi there,
After I read almost all BIGSTORAGE postings here. I feel confident about do it. So few days ago I prepared myself to upgrade my O2mini. When I press "power-on" button + "camera" button + "soft-reset" hole with stylus... my O2mini got hard-reset :evil:
What I did wrong? You guidance is much appreciated. Thanks.[/quote]
You must have missed to press the camera button, just do it again, you should get it into bootloader mode.
itplanet said:
You must have missed to press the camera button, just do it again, you should get it into bootloader mode.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks itplanet. I will give it a try again.
Oh! One last thing i forgot to mention:
please ensure that the CABs you are ZIPping are not flagged as READ-ONLY.
Autorun.exe unzips the ExtendedROM.zip file into your PDA memory.
If the content has been stored with the Read only flag set, the cabs will not be deleted just after they've been installed, thus wasting your valuable memory.
Ciao!
Silver
Hi,
yesterday my first pocketc phone arrived (BTW it's a german MDA compact); yeah, the first windows mobile of my life!
Thanks to this forum (which i've been lurking for a while) i was able to install the latest Italian Imate Jam ROM (1.12) flawlessly, i was even able to avoid extended_rom's cabs installation (by soft-resetting the device after a hard reset). As soon as i'll buy a new sd card and a card reader, i'll apply the big storage trick too.
Now I have a question: on this thread Sun75's talking about a modded extended rom where most of the CABs included have been modified by changing their default install location (from memory to storage).
Now i wonder: how can i edit my own CAB files to modify their install path or even their content (by, for example, replacing a program with another as Sun75 did)?
What program should i use? How can i 'mod' my own extended rom as Sun75 did???
Thanks u all,
Isidoro
PS: i've searched this forum for a similar post but found nothing; i used Google too; i've also RTFM. I apologize if this question has been answered somewhere but, if so, i wasn't able to find it.
WinCE Cab Manager
Go HERE
If u want to install cabs on SD card,then simply install a registry editor,then navigate to, HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/software/Apps/Microsoft Application installer,and change the DWORD Value of "fAskDest",to 1(Dec),then u will be asked each time u install a cab file of the desired destination....
But if u want to edit cab files,search for "WinCeCabManager 1.1"....
My advice will be to copy ur extended rom to the storage card,make a backup copy to ur pc hard disk,then performe the big storage,edit the Dword value mentioned above,then install the desired cabs,on the SD...
Good luck
RAGO :lol:
Hi
I know there are lots of people asking how to save space and mostly they get told to use 'search' and check the stickys.
I'm a keen gadget lover but have no technical background. I have a 64mb Tmobile MDA (with the horrible branding) and the following setup:
R 1.00.10
G 1337.36
D 1.01.00 WWE
I've heard/seen references to big storage etc but I don't really understand it.
Can someone either give me:
- a really simple way to update my rom etc, or
- suggest another way to delete stuff that I won't need (don't want to delete stuff only to find half the programs no longer work)
- explain the easiest way to get rid of all the Tmobile stuff
Many thanks in advance
To prevent the Branding stuff from loadibg you must hard-reset your magician (backup first!!) and after the initialization (calibration etc) you must soft-reset just before the customization starts. You got about 3 to 5 seconds to press the softreset, so when your screen reads 'tap screen to start using ....' you put the stylus in soft-reset hole & then tap the screen. As soon as the default blue WM background appears you press the stylus to soft-reset.
Now you got a plain WM2003 device. & you got the ext-rom visible, not editable, so you can explore it & choose what to install. Network settings for gprs is set by one of the ext-rom cabs.
To gain more storage you can move camera & album from \windows to storage folder. Remember to change shortcuts & registry as well. This saves ariund 1MB. More is possible: I've got < 8MB ram memory allocated to installed stuff with almost all ext-rom cabs installed. Yes I moved a lot.
To gain BIGstorage you can follow instructions below, but first you should get more familiar with the magician I guess. You can save your ext-rom cabs though & update to rom 1.13
url in instructions. To upgrade you just connect the magician to usb & start the downloaded shipped-rom & follow the instructions. Make a backup first & write down your gprs settings, caus you'll have dutch ext-rom cabs after the update. They're in English but contain dutch TMO settings.
Instruction for BS:
- Get nbfdec.exe from the thread 'Upg to 1.13 WWE ROM (with 1.13 Radio) in 10 easy steps!' @ http://forum.xda-developers.com/vie...&start=0&sid=75c5e40168a22052fb7c5554bddd68c2
- get maupgradeut_noid.exe from the ftp
- Download the shipped rom from:
http://www.t-mobile.nl/zakelijk/htdocs/page/service/mda_compact_upgrade.asp
- Download the Hexeditor from:
http://www.hhdsoftware.com/hexeditor.html
1. Unzip NL_11300_131_11200.exe (or any other shipped rom)
2. Put NBFDEC in the same directory as the unzipped shipped rom files
3. Copy the getdevicedata.exe to your Magician and execute to write DeviceData.txt
to \Windows and view with notepad
5. Decode nk.nbf -> nk.nb1:
nbfdec -d nk.nbf nk.nb1
6. Hexedit header to correct ID from DeviceData.txt
(probably only if using a rom from other provider)
7. Replace pattern for bigstorage in hexeditor:
locate the 02 00 00 80 00 20 and change 80 00 to b8 01 in the nk.nb1
(use binary search for this!!)
7. Encode nk.nb1->nk.nbf
nbfdec -e nk.nb1 nk.nbf
8. run maupgradeut_noid.exe to upgrade CE image
Also, this way you will save the contents of increased \Storage folder if previous rom was bigstorage one
Usage sample (must be run from the same folder as nbf files or specify full path):
nbfdec -d nk.nbf nk.nb1
nbfdec -e nk.nb1 nk.nbf
Regards, M
Many thanks OLTP for your reply....perhaps it's me but I still find that quite technical....when I have to rename stuff etc I'm not sure where it is to do it.
The tmobile branding piece is clear and I'll have a stab at that tonight though.
Perhaps I'm just destined to struggle with memory or buy a 128mb device.
Appreciate you taking the time though - anyone else want to have a pop at help a keen but useless gadget lover !
BS is unfortunately quite technical & this is the easiest way.
I suggest to remove the branding, that will save some storage. get more accustomed to your magician by exploring it without changing.
I can write you some steps for moving files to gain more ram.
maybe in the future you can think about BS again.
Cheers, M
pna: oltp's guide is about the best you'll ever get!
Basically, to debrand, do what he says in the first paragraph. This will remove all the additional TMobile gunk being installed. So, you need to hard reset (which will restore your system to "factory condition", and wipe everything), and then soft reset at the right time. Then you have a nice, fresh clean system. You can then read the board to see what files you might have skipped by achieving this, but frankly, you won't have missed much.
You can get your tmobile settings (for gprs etc) from here:
http://www.buymobilephones.net/sp3_setup.ihtml
FYI, before doing anything, get hold of a copy of GSFinder+ or a similar explorer. You will need it do any kind of installing/renaming etc.
Before venturing into the hardrest/soft reset business, consider if you want to do the big storage hack. Again, oltp's guide is perfect, but first the theory: the Extended Rom is like a small disk stuck inside your phone, carrying "backups" of the tmobile configuration stuff. If you do Bigstorage, it'll free that space for your use, giving you an extra 20mb or so to use for free. You can install stuff in there, and use it as a small, but bigger, disk to store stuff on. There's no reason not to do it, other than it's difficulty:
Difficulty? Yes, it takes some time, but instructions are provided, and clarified by oltp, so just follow the instructions carefully and you'll be fine.
It does require some knowledge, or confidence to learn.
So ideally, you want to:
1. Backup any files you want to keep.
2. Do Bigstorage.
3. Skip extended rom rubbish.
However, before you worry about bigstorage or anything technical, I suggest you just do this: clean up your system as it is now, and then just in future remember to install every program you want directly to your SD Card. If you do that, your system will generally have more than enough memory to run well. You can skip all the bigstorage and extended rom business. It's only necessary for those on a particularly tight memory budget. This should be fine for your needs I think.
FYI: to install onto your SD card, always choose NOT to use "main memory" when installing from your PC, or on the PDA, download and use a great program called cabinstl. That will allow you to install to your SD card.
V
oltp said:
Now you got a plain WM2003 device. & you got the ext-rom visible, not editable, so you can explore it & choose what to install. Network settings for gprs is set by one of the ext-rom cabs.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
oltp, do you mean I cant rename, move, or delete any of the files in extended rom? So its safe even if they show?
Yes,
The magician ext-rom is write-protected. You can't delete the files. Nor format the space. Try it if you like with the delete of the file which mentions the loadvdisk. It's completely harmless, but if you want to be sure copy all cabs first to sd & execute them from there.
Btw the loadvdisk cab, present in a TMO ext-rom, will delete the loadvdisk.lnk from \windows\startup & that's why the ext-rom is hidden.
Cheers, M
oltp said:
Yes,
The magician ext-rom is write-protected. You can't delete the files. Nor format the space. Try it if you like with the delete of the file which mentions the loadvdisk. It's completely harmless, but if you want to be sure copy all cabs first to sd & execute them from there.
Btw the loadvdisk cab, present in a TMO ext-rom, will delete the loadvdisk.lnk from \windows\startup & that's why the ext-rom is hidden.
Cheers, M
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ok.
the thing is, i want to edit my own extended rom, so next time i do a hard reset, it wont install unnecessary junk like skype and other customisation. i also want to add programs to it so they autoinstall when i do a hard reset.
any advice?
cheers
Sure,
You can use bal666's tool to convert the ext-rom part of a romdump to a diskimage which you can mount under Windows XP, with appropriate software ofcourse.
Then you can do whatever you want with your ext-rom. Requires flashing of your magician & a hard-reset.
For starters I recommend to skip executing of the ext-rom by applying a soft-reset just before the custmization starts after a hard-reset. This way you won't cripple your device.
M
Many thanks OLTP & vjay555,
The branding thing worked a dream and saved me 6mb.
Now want to do big storage. Have got all the downloads ready but just need a bit more help on the 1-8 settings.
I'm really sorry that I need such basic help - haven't really got a clue what I'm doing but prepared to give it a go - please help.
1. No problem with this...even I can do this.
2. Where is this...I assume I move them to the Magician using explore (through activesynch) - am I right...if so, is there an obvious place that the unzipped shipped rom files will be.
3. Can't find a copy of getdevicedata.exe, Where do i find it, and then how do I execute to write DeviceData.txt
5. Afraid I don't know how to do this
6. Happy to give this a go if I get this far
7. How do I do this
8. Happy to give this a go if I get this far
Also, a little confused in the section after no 8 - what do I do here?
Hope you haven't lost patience with me. Hope to hear back soon.
Cheers
Paul,
I recently updated the wiki (top right link on each forum page & go to the howto part of the magician section) with the BIG Storage from shipped-rom method. This contains some more info than this thread. Pls read it & mail me the remaining questions, you've got my email-address. I'll add some extra help then.
Cheers, M
Trying to download latest UK rom on WIKI site but the link to this ROM is not working: OS 1.12.00 / ExtROM 1.12.131 / Radio 1.12
Any ideas?
Ta
Yep a broken link, pls use this to go to the shipped rom section from the ftp: ftp://xda:[email protected]/Magician/Shipped_ROMS/
Maybe I take the time tomorrow to check some of the links
btw latest uk-rom should be 1.13WWE from TMO.
nm8 said:
oltp said:
Yes,
The magician ext-rom is write-protected. You can't delete the files. Nor format the space. Try it if you like with the delete of the file which mentions the loadvdisk. It's completely harmless, but if you want to be sure copy all cabs first to sd & execute them from there.
Btw the loadvdisk cab, present in a TMO ext-rom, will delete the loadvdisk.lnk from \windows\startup & that's why the ext-rom is hidden.
Cheers, M
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ok.
the thing is, i want to edit my own extended rom, so next time i do a hard reset, it wont install unnecessary junk like skype and other customisation. i also want to add programs to it so they autoinstall when i do a hard reset.
any advice?
cheers
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you may want to check this out at htt*://en.pdamobiz.com/en/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=395&PN=1. it is based on bal666 info. go check it out.
That's about romcooking and can be found herevas well. It's no BS hack.
Yes, it's no BS. But just a little info for nm8 to do ext rom customizations from his last reply.
How do you change the Telstra System of my xda mini to an O2 system?
When I do a soft or hard reset a Telstra logo appears on the screen.
Would there ba a problem with this? I this even possible?
Sorry NEWBIE asking sirs!
The splash screen is changed easily to anything you like, just follow the sticky on the board. Changing your mini to O2 requires the O2 ext-rom files to 'brand' it. Visit the ftp ftp:\\xda:[email protected] for the ext-rom files. Best is to skip your current ext-rom (hard-reset, finish the initialization & just after the last tap on the screen you soft-reset quickly) & then install the O2 cab-files. Other possibility is to flash your rom. Visit the wiki (link on top of the page & goto magician & then exe upgrade) for this & get an O2 shipped-rom from the ftp (or anywhere else on the web).
Cheers, M
Ps I'd go for only the cab-files first. Flashing can be done later when you're more accustomed to your device.
oltp said:
Best is to skip your current ext-rom (hard-reset, finish the initialization & just after the last tap on the screen you soft-reset quickly) & then install the O2 cab-files.
Cheers, M
Ps I'd go for only the cab-files first. Flashing can be done later when you're more accustomed to your device.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you!
How do I install the CAB file?
Which CAB File(O2 version) in the Magician folder is best?
Best? I don't know but watch out, there's a lot of Asian stuff in it. Usually the highest number is the most recent version & preferred.
Just put the cab-files on your device, preferable the SD card via Act.sync or card reaser, then start the file explorer on your device. Navigate to the location you stored them & click on them to install. Might be that you want to install CabInstl first, then you can choose where the apps from the cab's are installed.
M