Database Info

How fast is your Orbit?

Hey folks,
I've had the O2 Orbit for just over a week now and have been trying various things with it. However, I noticed it took me 1 min and 2 seconds to access the windows directory!
Is this normal? Please post how long it takes you to access the folder...
Thanks!
SG
My Orbit Specs:
WM OS 5.1.342 (Build 15096.3.0.0)
ROM version 1.25.206.2 WWE

25 secs. Only had spb shell running as well.

Wow! That's quick, wonder why mine's so slow? Please all, post your times!
my specs are exactly the same as yours! what build and version of WM5 have you got?

WM5 is extremely slow at accessing the Windows directory using File Explorer. I find its quicker when using something like Total Commander, but even then its not as quick as WM6. Nothing to do with the processor speed, bug (if you like to clall it that) in WM5.

Yeah, I used File Explorer. Hmmm... you make an interesting point.
HPJ - what version of Windows Mobile are you using?

I'm on WM5. It's about as vanilla as they come. Like I said, I am only uing SPB shell....nothing else...the rest is out of the box! (And I might even ditch shell as it seems to run my battery down quicker.)
Oh, I have the storage card fix...that's it.

Yeah, I have the Currupt SD Card fix too...
All I have done is installed TomTom Navigator 6 , iGo-my-way and a couple of games.
This still doesn't explain why there's a vast difference in time to access the windows folder. Would be good to see what others are getting.
One thing I noticed is that my phone is unlocked. I put my Orange sim card in and it works!
Also, I've got an icon put on by O2 that actually lets me close programs down from the Today screen..
SG
markquinton, could you give us your time too?

yeah Ive got the icon from o2 with a load of things on it....
have you timed the opening again?? sure it wasnt just a one off? seems a bit odd, mine always opens before 30 secs

I've tried accessing the folder 4 times, it takes over a minute each time...
SG

o2 Germany released an official Windows Mobile 6 ROM, maybe that will satisfy you.
Just my two cents.

If you look at my common file dialogs you should get a time of 15-18 seconds for a windows directory on a wm2005 device to display. After that its ~7 seconds for a sorting in order of name, size or type if you click on the header. Thats showing all files (ie not hiding dll's etc as many file explores do).
Get it here from my old site http://odeean.veritel.com.au/programming_files/commonDialog.htm

SG - I wouldnt mess with the German WM6 (unless you really know what your doing).
If you've tried all else, and you're still within your 14 days, get o2 to pick it up and send another. And chuck something free in there for messing you about.
It just shouldnt take over 1 min, and you might find other problems if the phone has some core problem....could just be a lemon

Thanks for the adive HPJ.
This is something I did think of. But everything else seems to work ok.
There are a few reason that makes me want to hang on to it though:
I had spent 2 days getting my calender up to date.
I only use Outlook at work, but due to security we cant sync any devices to our computers. Do you know the best way to get my Calendar off the Orbit?
For all the other software I've put on, I've got a back up on my home computer so real problem putting these back on.
The other thing that makes me not want to give it back is that the phone is unlocked. I'm using an Orange sim card in there and have still got my O2 sim in my old phone. Are all the Orbits unlocked or did I just get lucky?
SG

You've got some cool files on your website Odeean...

someguysomewhere said:
Thanks for the adive HPJ.
Are all the Orbits unlocked or did I just get lucky?
SG
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
all contract phones from o2 UK are unlocked

Aha! That's good to hear, thanks Amino...

someguysomewhere said:
I had spent 2 days getting my calender up to date.
I only use Outlook at work, but due to security we cant sync any devices to our computers. Do you know the best way to get my Calendar off the Orbit?
For all the other software I've put on, I've got a back up on my home computer so real problem putting these back on.
The other thing that makes me not want to give it back is that the phone is unlocked. I'm using an Orange sim card in there and have still got my O2 sim in my old phone. Are all the Orbits unlocked or did I just get lucky?
SG
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
use dotfred's pimbackup for calender (and contacts, and tasks, and sms...) backup.
and spb backup (the trial allows 5 x uses). save both to a storage card and execute on another orbit
(i agree, o2 don't lock their phones, and btw i don't own an orbit but all stock roms take forever to open windows)
i just tested the file explorer vs gsfinder, and the inbuilt file explorer was quicker

I have an Orbit. It takes mine roughly 6 turns of the colour wheel to get into the Windows directory with Resco Explorer. Its set to hide ROM files only; .dlls, .cpls, etc are shown as normal along with file extensions.
Its much faster after a hard reset. Its slows down as more files are placed in there. Sometimes (especially on the Universal) you can get a small reduction in the time by moving all the help files (htm and their relevant gifs/bmps/jpgs) to another folder (you could delete them, but then you would have to reinstall if you break something).
I think its the type of file that gets placed in there. If only software authors would stop loading the directory with squillions of little files, if only MS would set IE to use the SD card as the cache directory by default and if only various other things like ring tones, today plugins, etc could go somewhere else.
Decentralise, etc.

Thanks bbobeckyj for that program, I'll back my phone up tonight. So it's not just my phone that is slow
I understand where you're coming from ward, it's a shame that the device doesn't keep files in tidy places. This is the same for the Storage Card, there are folders created on there which have no files or stuff that never gets used!

Yeah. I keep finding folders called "FilesToBeDeleted". They're always empty.

New Wizard User Seeking Quick Guidance

I just got my first pocket pc in the mail yesterday. First off, I absolutely love it. I got the wizard - it was a very good price on ebay for the features, even if it is a couple years old (I think?). Regardless, it's a huge upgrade from a standard cell phone for a small price.
I've never used one before nor used windows mobile. It came with WM5 and I've managed to unlock and update it to WM6. I read somewhere that TNT.1437 was a stable release, so I installed TNT.1437 with TouchFlo. It seems fine, except I still get clocknot.exe notification every time I start (even after disabling auto update for time).
My main question is this - is TNT.1437 still a good release or is it getting old? If I remember correctly the thread hadn't had posts in a while. Is the newer TNT release near the top of the forum stable?
I am mainly looking for a stable release that won't mess up my calls. Even WM5 had huge improvements and features over my basic phone I had, so having the 'newest' software isn't really needed (although I don't mind it if it's stable).
Anyways, I'm just wondering if I should stick with 1437 or upgrade to something else before I start diving into it and installing my own apps and setting the phone up. If I do stick with it (or upgrade and still have the issue), is there a way to get rid of that clocknot.exe notification besides turning auto-update for time off, which doesn't seem to have worked? I also installed the trial version of memmaid as that was recommended in the same thread, it didn't find any notification issues.
Thanks in advance.

1st thing to remember is that it's not a smartphone. it's a pocket pc. Smartphone apps won't work on this (most at least) and vice versa although there are a few.
Smartphone's don't have touch screens.

My Experience
Here's the thread containing the latest TNT ROM and a lot of info on it:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=367534
I'm using v1 of the last build and am having lockups on occation when the PDA is in standby. That said a lot of the posts indicate that sometimes you have to flash a rom several times or downgrade to a stock rom first before weird things go away. There was another post that suggested doing a soft reset followed by a hard reset after each rom is loaded to avoid rom instability problems. Also there was another post I read that said stability problems can be solved by using a specific utility (sorry name excapes me)that backs up the rom you just installed to your memory card and then reloading it from the memory card. None of this makes sense but I'm going to try these things if I can't get my lockup problem to go away with the latest build of TNT.
As for the notifications problem I fixed my through trial and error. Appearently there is a notifications queue or database that gets all screwed up. There are many tools out there (I used one called CheckNotifications) that let you fix the queue but in doing so you may break activesync and other automation. If found an app (FixASRunAt) that puts the neccessary entries back. I don't recall my exact procces for getting it working right but I do recall it took several passes at using both apps.
Good luck with your upgrade!

Welcome, I've had my wizard for two years flashed 5 or 6 roms, "its right" make good stable rom packed with useful software. I would suggest you read lots about any rom you install as if there are any problems its reported and usually fixed in rom thread.
If I might suggest Jaguar 4.0 rom, it is very stable and only a few programs leaving lots of space for you to test and add programs of your choice, you will want to try different programs. Some you stick with others will not be of use to you, the fun is in trying new things.
If you feel a little braver try the rom in my signature, I've had a few teething troubles but nothing major, anyway I can always change back.
Keep operator settings and instructions to hand, to make it easier when flashing, I also keep a list of installed apps so it is easier next time to remember what I use most often.
Finally welcome, there's now turning back now, it's addictive you know!

It most certainly is addictive.
Thanks for the tips thus far. I have one major question left - seeing as how there are so many ROMS out there, should I ever want to change to another one due to problems with the current one, or just to experience it, is there an easy way to keep program data and settings saved? There are certain third party programs that I would like to keep on the unit regardless of which ROM is running, so I'd like to be able to simply install them again and restore them to the state they were at with the previous ROM. I'm not sure how WM software works.
So far with TNT.1437 installed, I've just had a few problems, some of which may simply be the fact I'm new to WM and don't know what I am doing. It froze once or twice but that was it. It tends to run fine. The biggest issue I am wrestling with now is wifi connection. It always attempts to connect to previous wifi signals even when I am in a different location. If it would work as a laptop does (connect to a NEARBY wifi signal that you have provided a key for) then that would be great. But it keeps trying to connect to the campus network when I'm at my apartment, so I have to manually go in and figure out how to stop that and get it to connect to the apartment one here (out of like 10 options, which I only use one). Then I go to campus and I have the same issue and have to go in and make adjustments again. However, this is probably a WM issue and not a ROM problem.

As far as saving data or settings, I usually either back up the appropriate files to storage card or install to Storage card and just reinstall after hard reset. I don't think any back up utilities work if you change roms, but I'm sure some one will prove me wrong.
As for your second problem, I didn't even know it was one, so can't help you. Although thinking about it I've seen a program for assigning profiles to wifi connections or something along those lines, which is just what your looking for. Do a search. If I come across it will post a link for you.

Ixtana_ran said:
As far as saving data or settings, I usually either back up the appropriate files to storage card or install to Storage card and just reinstall after hard reset. I don't think any back up utilities work if you change roms, but I'm sure some one will prove me wrong.
As for your second problem, I didn't even know it was one, so can't help you. Although thinking about it I've seen a program for assigning profiles to wifi connections or something along those lines, which is just what your looking for. Do a search. If I come across it will post a link for you.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Installing to a storage card seems like a good idea. When you install to a storage card, does it install the App there as well as data for the app? Do you even get a choice of where to do the install? Some files run as .exe on the desktop and then automatically install on the wizard. Others I have encountered have you copy a .cab file to the wizard and then just open it. Would you simply put the .cab file on the storage card and open from there? Is there a way to install via .exe to storage card?
I have a bunch of microSD cards around, so I'm waiting on a miniSD adapter to come in so I can actually use them with this phone. It will probably be easier to figure out once I have the adapter.

wow. ive had my wizard 5 months im still having problems understanding what i read about geting wm6 and touchflo. you experiance with do things allready?

Doesn't matter where you install from, when you get a storage card in, you are given a choice:- device or storage card.
Some don't like storage cards and after go on device memory, i.e. today plug ins. but its not written in stone, trial and error.

Thanks for all the help. It's a lot clearer than it was a few days ago now that I've played with installing some more.
My final question is this: I've learned how to install ROMS and search these forums for them (although I'm not sure on what each has to offer, as that will take some time). However, people mention when switching ROMs for whatever reason, the best thing to do is install an original ROM first, and then go on to whatever you want to install.
Where can I find the original ROMs for WM6? I've looked in the forums and did a search but didn't seem to come up with anything.
Would an original WM6 ROM work? Or would I need to flash back to a Cingular one with WM5 like it had when I first got it?
Anyways, just wondering about this. I imagine I just do it the same way I flashed the TNT ROM, but need to get a copy of the original ROM saved for future use.
Thanks.

Superman859 said:
Thanks for all the help. It's a lot clearer than it was a few days ago now that I've played with installing some more.
My final question is this: I've learned how to install ROMS and search these forums for them (although I'm not sure on what each has to offer, as that will take some time). However, people mention when switching ROMs for whatever reason, the best thing to do is install an original ROM first, and then go on to whatever you want to install.
Where can I find the original ROMs for WM6? I've looked in the forums and did a search but didn't seem to come up with anything.
Would an original WM6 ROM work? Or would I need to flash back to a Cingular one with WM5 like it had when I first got it?
Anyways, just wondering about this. I imagine I just do it the same way I flashed the TNT ROM, but need to get a copy of the original ROM saved for future use.
Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Although the wizard was tested my MS with wm6, it was never released as stock. For stability, always flash your carrier rom before a new rom (wm5... you can get it at htc)
Octavio's roms have been the most stable for me. 6.3 with wm6.1 works great. Also check out www.pointui.com for another type of touch interface. I think you would like it.
Oh... and don't become like us. I flash the rom now more then i use it. Dang things addictive.

Alright. When you say I can get it from HTC, are you referring to this URL?
HTC Download
I just want to make sure I am saving the correct version to revert back to in between ROMS. The site doesn't really provide much description about what it is.
Edit: I tried to install the ROM from the URL above, but it gave an error and said I need a newer update utility. Not sure why...Anyways...Can anyone provide a link to where I can find the original ROM I should flash to between other ROMs? If it makes a difference, I have Cingular (AT&T) - originally had WM5 now it has TNT.1437 (WM6) and I went through steps for hardSPL if that makes a difference (IPL 2.21.0001 SPL 2.21.01ip) as seen on the wiki. Phone is a G4 and works fine other than a few bugs / freezes up on ocassion, but I'd like to try other ROMs
EDIT: The ROM above did work, but I had to remove the HardSPL I had added earlier. That must've been the problem. After removing it, I installed stock ROM without any trouble - time to try a new ROM!

Is there a way to get the storage v program allocation slider from wm2003 back?

Hi,
Well as the title says I find it really annoying that the slider in the memory panel has been taken away. I had one in windows 2003 and it was very useful and helped a great deal with the speed. I store everything on a memory card anyway so I might aswell allocate all the available memory to programs, I know this will have a huge impact on the responsiveness of the device.
I'm sick of how slow the hermes is. I had a choice of ppc's and i chose the hermes because I thought it would help..it doesn't. i was better off with full screen keyboard, i refrain from opening the keyboard because it locks up when i do. even after a hard reset and it only has 50% resources free.
I met a girl on a train a couple of weeks ago and she gave me her number but as i'd been listenin to music the thing locked!! it seemed to take sooo long. i had to do a soft reset, it was so embarassing. has anyone else had bad moments like this? i remember another time i was on weekly parade ( im a reserve soldier ) and my phone decided to turn itself off silent and it beeped, that got me in trouble.
so has anyone got any other tips to speed up my phone? should i research different roms? does the performance vary much? im running schaps 4.31, and i refrain from flashing as i cant afford to brick it but if it will help, ill have to learn how to do it again.
p.s. is tcpmp still the best media player? i need one that supports the most codecs and formats. i'm tryig to stream stuff from my winows home server. is there any plugins for whs?
any help with the above would be greatly appreciated. sorry for going off topic a bit, maybe i should've made 2 seperate posts.
thanks

1. the only way to use RAM for storage is via RAM disks. They, however, may be wiped upon restarts. See my related articles.
2. TCPMP is pretty old; CorePlayer is way better in many respects. Check out my multimedia-related articles.

cab luvin' dvd player

sooo, because i'm a cheap basta*d i'm going to buy a dvd player with gps for my car on ebay and i've noticed a lot of them, or even all of them?, run on windows ce. So here's my question, will any cab run on windows ce? i mean, winmo 5, 6, 6.1 and everything before that ran on windows ce right? so how easy would it be?
Picture this, a 8-16gb sd card, jam it into the card reader and start up S2P (slide to play) for one bad ass cover flowin' music center! obviously other thing would be useful to, and since these bad boys are only like $300 buckaroos it isn't a bad idea, especially for us gadget pr0n guys right?
what about flashing a rom from a SD card (only heard rumors/speculation about that, probably not possible)? or just loading up manila 2d/3d via throttle launcher and getting the think looking pimp? no phone antenna, no problem, just sync it through the bluetooth and make calls (new app required i'm guessing, or at least adapt/beautify some existing cab/exe). get internet sharing to work on it somehow and you're seriously looking at a pretty cool carputer. well, with all i'd want to use one for anyways. Who wants to do more than what a good rom on one of our phones can do while in a car anyways?
I'm not sure if it will run out of the box like that, with nothing more than some cabs on and sd card, or if you have to do something else (file explorer and whatnot), but i figured xda would be the best place to start for the right answers. I've never gone wrong before with you guys, so speak up! let's see what we come up with!
or at least give me a link to a better place if you know of one and i'll get off my soapbox...
anyways, i've got access to a few vogues, a wing/herald, and a touch pro to do testing with, along with the dvd player/win CE unit--in about a week or two that is--so i'm more than happy to put it on the table.
Man i hope you guys are reading this and as pumped as i am.
anyways, pm me with anything, or i'll just keep looking to see if anyone else posts here
amruthwo

bump
does anyone know if this would even work?

This could work.
First of all, you need to look up how to disable OEM's shell (factory "software" of the player) and enable Windows CE interface.
Next you either install Handheld PC apps, or install libraries which allow you to run applications from PocketPC.
Myself I tried it with a cheap GPS. Yeah, WinCE + apps are a major step up from maps only, but it is not anywhere close to even a non-phone PPC. Because of, for example, lack of WiFi. The big advantage is, that I can install any WinCE compatible map instead of outdated OEM maps.
Hope I am right, and this helps

Where did you find information about your GPS? I just got one, model# TID-7626GPS that I'm going to try to mod, but i can't find information about how to get the WinCE.
if you could pass on any links to places i could look it would help a ton. For how do disable the factory OEM and those libraries?

First you need to find out real manufacturer of your device. I googled model name you said but there's nothing
Or, connect that device via ActiveSync (yes, the same) and see if there's a file \Windows\autorun.inf
If it exists, backup it. Then change it so it will load \Windows\explorer.exe
That should unlock WinCE UI.
However, the file may not exist. In this case you have to look for instructions over the web.

Reflashing Phone - what are your essentials?

Just curious what peoples essentials are on this unit?
I have been having problems with my handset for some time now, and the memory card *appears* to be corrupt.
So doing a back up of all call logs, messages etc, and going to hard reset.
I will then attempt to update it to 6.1 *wasnt working before*
My Requirements?
Internet
Sat Nav
Games
Clean Theme (like a nice subtle black)
Alarm
Back Up Utility
So What would you guys recomend for the above and what cool features/tweaks can I do with this phone?

Just read my signature.
I think most members here would agree with my choice...

excuse my ignorance, but i see WWE is just the same as an HTC rom with the latest software, is this correct, no other changes?
Secondly, I currently run an 02 ROM, would i notice many differences and how would i go about getting my internet settings (Currently there is an application that retrieves these for me)
Hope you don't mind the silly question - I did read the info but couldn't be sure.

hello
i would say 2 apps i couldnt do without are no longer hosted on here but are g-alarm and g-profile found at www.ageye.de
Also if you want to 'risk' flash (read this) 3LIT3 as i was running the o2 6.1 rom since release till about a month ago and although it is better than the 6.0 rom it is much faster the 3LIT3 rom is superior to the official releases that have been made. Also on the settings front i was afraid of this and made sure i had them before i flashed but then they are installed automatically in customisation (with either officail or 3LIT3).
Sat nav i am guessing that you are using copilot in which case there is a releated piece on how to do this when you download the o2 rom from their site.
Back-up utility i would say either spb backup - but i have heard of problems going over from 6 -> 6.1 roms with using backup software so i say sync up before and copy any import docs that you have on their before you go to flash.
Hope that answers the questions

Well i managed to flash the unit with some interesting measures.
Long story short, I couldn't get into boot loader (Still can't) but when i ran 02 6.1 rom RUU it took it to the bootloader (just vista wouldn't work) so after some hunting i found a driver which worked, well sort of lol.
And then it worked, well for the 02 6.1 release any way.
Tried Co-pilot still having issues,
Tried memory card files, still problems - i think my memory card is knackered and some of copilot is configured there so will explain why this is failing!
Co-pilot was on the rom, presume that if it did load i would have to re-register but think i might opt for tomtom now, was never a fan of copilot.
Other than that i ran PPCPim backup which works really well for calls logs, messages etc. had no critical documents on there but did forget to back up my pictures - oh well no real loss!
Is there a way to format an SD from the device its self?

I have got to say i am NOT impressed with 6.1 from 02 its so slow! my ringtone doesn't even play properly.
Edit jesus this is rubbish, i mean seriuosly really buggy have i done something wrong because they couldnt have put this out as RTM surely?! please some one tell me i am wrong.
My ringtone stutters for goodness sake, i clicked data connection and the connection tab is now overlaying everything and won't go away!?

jtsystems said:
I have got to say i am NOT impressed with 6.1 from 02 ....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi there, Do a Hard Reset and start over again installing your PIM backup, GPS, any other things you normally use. Your GPS setup files are on the SD card in '2577' folder. Unless you have the CD media do not format your SD card, you will lose your GPS setup files.

The problem is I cannot transfer anything else to the memory card, I cannot install apps to the memory card.
Sometimes it looks like they have transferred but when i open storage card up on the device it's just the normal settings and nothing that I have transferred.
This is limiting me hugely, I cannot put mp3's, mp4's on my phone, I
cannot install games, I am left with just the basics.
Im going to buy an 4GB card today and see if that resolves things