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Cooking newbie - Question doesnt seem to have been asked before

Hi
I'm wanting to cook a myself a ROM that has everything i will ever need. Is there a way to cook my contacts list into a ROM so when i do a hard reset the contacts are all there?
Sorry if this is a stupid question

I have to ask why you'd really want to. When you edit the contact list, those edits would be lost when you hard reset. You'd have to recook your ROM every time you edited or added a contact. Plus you technically don't have a backup of your contacts should your phone be stolen/lost/destroyed. You are far better off using Outlook so you have a backup. It's not difficult to sync your contacts/tasks/appointments when you hard reset.
Also - FYI...I'm going through the ROM cooking learning curve right now. Alex's tools make everything relatively easy to get started. I evolved by creating packages for literally every piece of software I use. There are two problems with that....like the contacts issue, anytime a piece of software is updated your ROM becomes outdated (assuming you want the most up-to-date version). As such, I am now not cooking in those programs that get updated with any frequency. Also, there are technically two copies of many of the files for the programs you cook. While it really isn't a huge problem, it does negatively impact your storage. As such, I'm spending a lot of time scaling my ROMs back and using more cabs. The best thing I've spent my time learning is creating a cab file with all my personal settings and the programs I always install so I can customize any ROM super fast. FWIW from someone who has been there.

Maybe I am not understanding, but why not just save them to your sim card unless you have that many contacts that it is not possible to save all of them.

perhaps because the sim does only store one number per name?
Its way more comfortable to have one contact with alle the information in it...
A nice backup on sd card does the job well.

You could use this application to make a backup of all you contacts, after flashing use the same program to restore the contacts.....
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=299705

Or I don't know call me old fashioned but you could use Outlook to save your contacts.

contacts & ringtones

hi everyone
i was wondering why when i assign a specific ringtone to a contact, it doesn't work. i have flashed several different roms for my herald/wing and sometimes it works. is there a registery edit or something i have to do? i have tried saving the files into the main memory and also the storage and neither works. any ideas or should i just give up on have "devil woman" play when my wife calls.
thanks
DK

Unless something's changed with OpenTouch 6.5 from ttrans fromer OT releases there's nothing special involved. Saving ringtones to the memory card often results in the loss of the assignment.
What type of file is it you're trying to use, how large is it and have you tried encoding it as another type?

CRE said:
Unless something's changed with OpenTouch 6.5 from ttrans fromer OT releases there's nothing special involved. Saving ringtones to the memory card often results in the loss of the assignment.
What type of file is it you're trying to use, how large is it and have you tried encoding it as another type?
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i start with an mp3 and use audio manager to trim it and save into ringtones folder. i have also used mp3 trimmer with the same results.

Have you tried MP3 ringtones supplied by anyone else?
If you want you may PM me your email address and I will send you one from my phone that I know works.

CRE said:
Have you tried MP3 ringtones supplied by anyone else?
If you want you may PM me your email address and I will send you one from my phone that I know works.
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i have some RT's that i purchased a while ago and i have some midi tones too. its wierd, when i was using otv3.0 biggy all worked fine. i don't know. thanks for the offer and help

Ok, so the bought ones aren't working either I take it. Do they work when you reflash OT3?
Are you restoring from a backup or do these not work with a fresh setup?

well i kinda have ot6.5 lite tweaked the way i like, so i don't want to go back to 3.0 just for tones. i was just wondering if anyone out there had already come across this and had a reg fix or something. i guess not that many people use diff tones for diff contacts. me, i need diversity in life, plus its easier to recognize a tone than pick up the phone and look whose calling. know what i mean? i also get a kick out of watching my co-workers faces when the diff songs come up. i guess i'll just keep an eye out for a fix. throw me one if you find it first.
thanks

Well, the reason I asked if you've tried a fresh install or even going back to 3.0 is to see if it's not some corruption somewhere. I've run every ROM you've listed so far without issue. I use different ring tones for most of my contacts as well and the only times I ever had that issue was with one corrupt file and the rest were when I put the MP3s on my SDHC.
I'll keep an eye out though. I'd still try backing up (even if you just have to use a demo of Sprite Backup or something) and do a completely fresh install. If you find a solution post it up for future reference.

hmmm. i'm not sure what you men as to a fresh install. i am kinda new to all this tech, i've only had a wing for about 4 months. i have hardspl'd my wing and i hardly ever get any errors when flashing. does sprite backup keep all your rom settings? pretty much all i ever need to keep is my stuff on the mem card. what i dont understand is that i can set a tone for my main ring and that always works. something gets screwy when applied to contacts. so you keep all your tones in main memory? isn't that a mem hog?

Sprite and a couple other apps out there create a backup file of all your settings and selected or all of your files. They saved to a compressed file on either your mem card or your PC (not all apps will backup straight to the PC).
At any rate I just wanted to make sure you weren't from a backup file... to eliminate one possible source of the issue (incompatible settings saved to it from a different ROM setup or corruption).
What I mean by a fresh install is reflashing the ROM and reinstalling all your apps via their installer. No restoring from a backup file or copying files to their folders. Not trying to confuse you.
First thing I'd try now that I know a bit more would be to download a demo of a backup program and make a backup. Then I'd reflash, try setting things up far enough to test the ringtones. If they work, then just plan on reconstructing your preferred setup without using the backup to restore your settings from... if there's no change, then restore the back up and you're right back where you were before.
Does that make sense?
If you're having this problem with more than the one ROM I doubt it's just a setting error. I'd try different sound files altogether.
Specifically which ROMs are you having this problem with anyway? You might see if they've got something in common, such as the same version of sound drivers.

not confusing at all. i got what your saying. i guess i'm actually fresh installing everytime since i don't use any back-up programs. is that right? anyway what other forms of sound files would you recommend? what are you using? the versions of roms i have been using are basically every rom from Ttran's OT collection, starting with v3.0 and currently v6.5 throttlelaunch3d lite. v3.0 is the only one that the tones worked for. i will try the back-up idea you have after work today. thats a good idea. thanks

Yeah, I'd call the way you're doing it a "fresh install"... I mean by that that the system and ROM are essentially fresh and untouched. So you know there's not an old setting that might be causing the problems or a bad registry entry.
Backing up definitely makes things easier. I make a backup of my setup fairly often. Then when I want to try another I'll flash it, start setting it up, and if I need to be back with my old setup before I can finish setting up the new one, I'll backup where I am with the new setup, reflash my old ROM and restore the backup for the old setup... then I can resume working on getting the new one where I want later on.
I make my MP3 ringtones using Audacity. I generally make the mono and only 40kbps... nice and small but usually still sound good at that size. You could also try a WAV file.
I haven't used OT 3, but I've tried all the rest, not just the lite ROMs either. I haven't had any trouble. My offer still stands to send you one of my ringtones for you to test with if you want.

sounds good. is audacity a free? i'm gonna pm you my email and we can try a little test. maybe the stereo is the problem.
thanks

Email sent.
I doubt the stereo is the issue, although file size, bit rate and VBR may be.
Audacity is free. It takes a little getting used to, but there are how-to's on the net, just Google it. It's NOT as user friendly as some apps, but it is generally better than more of the dumbed down apps.
http://audacity.sourceforge.net/

Have any luck?

CRE said:
Have any luck?
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ok, you got me. it worked. did you make those using audacity? if so, i guess i'll have to DL it and start cuttin up some tones. wierd huh?
anyway,thanks for the help. i hope i didn't inconvenience you too much.
DK

So I take it they worked alright for you?
Yeah, I made those with audacity. If you need any help with it shoot me an email.

Restore a back up after ROM upgrade?

I'm currently running a cooked wm 6.1 ROM, if I want to upgrade is there a way to backup/restore my non-rom programs and PIM info to a new ROM using sprite or spb? I heard sprite allows you to restore across ROM/devises but I looked through all options and there wasn't one that I could see about only backing up non-rom info. I hope this makes any sense and if anyone has answer I sincerely thank you in advance.

short and sweet, you can't backup programs
You can backup their installers though (cabs) (on your storage card) and use sdauto run with a uc compliant rom to reinstall all of your programs.
but if you are not a frequent flasher than i would just suggest writing down everything you have installed and reinstalling it.
PIM backup will store things like contacts, messages ect.

joel2009 said:
short and sweet, you can't backup programs
You can backup their installers though (cabs) (on your storage card) and use sdauto run with a uc compliant rom to reinstall all of your programs.
but if you are not a frequent flasher than i would just suggest writing down everything you have installed and reinstalling it.
PIM backup will store things like contacts, messages ect.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thanks for the response, the sdauto thing sounds promising. I did see it in the kitchen but I don't know how it works.

I believe the latest SPB backup has an option for restoring after a ROM change. However I have not fully investigated this.
Mike

Since i've been backing up and flashing for a long long while now, i've had the distinct pleasure of finding out that in most cases, you can use a previous backup on a new rom unless the system structure stays the same.
you CAN back programs up, as mike said using SPB Backup (Or clone.. if you can afford it )

nir36 said:
Since i've been backing up and flashing for a long long while now, i've had the distinct pleasure of finding out that in most cases, you can use a previous backup on a new rom unless the system structure stays the same.
you CAN back programs up, as mike said using SPB Backup (Or clone.. if you can afford it )
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thanks for the response. just curious, if you're cooking a new rom to remove some programs that you found you didn't need, then restore a back up will it put those file back into your windows folder? I only ask because I have an apache and main memory mb's are like Manhattan real estate, there's very little of it and it's very valuable Also what's the difference between spb clone and backup? The description sound about the same. Thanks again

There's another thread going on here on the same issue.
Even if it has the feature, i would personally not recommend it. Going through the time to reinstall your stuff (use Sashimi) is more worth it imo.

12gage said:
thanks for the response. just curious, if you're cooking a new rom to remove some programs that you found you didn't need, then restore a back up will it put those file back into your windows folder? I only ask because I have an apache and main memory mb's are like Manhattan real estate, there's very little of it and it's very valuable Also what's the difference between spb clone and backup? The description sound about the same. Thanks again
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
SPB Clone, for instance, backs up all program files folder. meaning you will get all system files and all program files directories back after the backup.
there are problems with it tho. if the app tries to update a different rom it gets stuck in most cases and stuff won't work and so.. since it replaces stuff in the new rom with stuff from the old rom.
as said here.. you should install everything again after flashing a new rom...and use backups when working on the same one.

How do you Back-Up before a flash?

Well just been reading the Flashers Anonymous thread and started to get the hint that you could back up all of your settings rather than just things like contacts w/ PIMbackup.
What do you use and what does it do?
Thanks.

I use sprite backup 6.5.4. Backs up contacts, registry settings, installed programs, preferences...pretty much everything.

telegraph0000 said:
I use sprite backup 6.5.4. Backs up contacts, registry settings, installed programs, preferences...pretty much everything.
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hello , see the bottom of my signature, Sashimi, its awesome, take the time to see the videos he has, awesome app, it will set up just about everything after a new rom flash.
lupe
sorry, was trying to quote mcspikesky, not telegraph000, my bad

i sync with activesync
stuff on sd don't for obvious reasons require backup
and to get back to the org rom if need be is just flashing
that version rom

If you want to take my advise do NOT NEVER EVER backup any thing else than your PIM because every new ROM WILL have different registry settings and custom chef tweaks!!!
You may backup your username and opera settings using Sashimi and Opera Backup but keep everything else out of you backup.
You may also play with installed programs on the SD card. A lot of them do work just by creating a link into the Windows\Start Up\Programs folder.
For my part I DO have a full backup all the time in case a ROM hard resets and you reinstall it but for new ROM flashes please use only PIM backup. Though SPB Backup for example offers a backup/restore mode to restore "after new ROM flash" it DOES NOT WORK if the new ROM has dramatic changes!
Note:
If you have programs which don't work linked really take a look into the Sashimi installer.

Right...I backup a rom to try out a new one...and if I don't like it, I go back to the previous one and restore. Yes...Sashimi rocks...
*Proud member of XDA's flashers anonymous.

Sashimi is a great way to go; it's a little more flexible than UC in my opinion, and I think it's a good idea to import your settings and install your cabs after you've messed around with the new ROM instead of during customization. That way, you know what cabs to install. I've got a small library of some useful reg settings over here, as well as some settings files and what-not that you can install to back up things (I need to update it one of these days). I've also got a step-by-step that does an ok job of backing up manila settings (it's far from perfect). In the very least, you should back up reg keys that hold registration info for software you've bought, like sk tools or mobile shell. It's easy to find the keys, and you really don't want to waste your time re-entering crap like that every time you flash, do you?
I agree, though, you don't want to do a wholesale import of the entire registry, which is what Sprite backup will do for you. That's just crazy. You want to be as selective as possible. I think that even using something like the rom upgrade backup mode with spb backup is a bad idea. There's a good chance you'll over-write some nice performance tweaks cooked in by the chef with old reg settings that don't work as well. You'll also never really know how well the new rom works, because you won't get to use it with the proper settings.

Is there any good software for backing up email account settings? I hate setting them all up after each rom flash.

Backing up email accounts and settings
I use SPB backup, well worth the money, to back up my PIM data and emails.
Didn't miss a single beat over God knows how many flashes.
I just back up prior flashing, flash, restore, done.

I have both Sprite & PIM running scheduled backups every day - but after a flash only use PIM to restore to prevent the registry complications.
Also have a decent UC setup installing apps, editing the registry for me etc, and have made some cab files (or edited install cabs) to register anything which requires it.
I've found that syncing with activsync before running the PIM restore prevents me getting duplicate contacts / meetings, but this might just be because i have a setting wrong!
Never tried Sashimi, i got UC working, and it does everything i need it to!
@ Maxh - i have an XML file which is called in the UC setup which restores all my e-mail accounts and settings (only leaves the password blank for me). UC isnt easy to get sorted first time, so have some patience, and build it up slowly (mine calls 33 cabs & 16 XML files, so if i change anything, i dont have to re-write the whole thing, just edit out the removed / changed file)

people should realize though that
take
joe have a tmobile branded rom version 1.234 that his device came with
joe upgrades to custom blabla rom version 1.567 don't like it and want to go back
joe will not get more back by flashing a backup he made himself of the 1.234 rom
then he will be just flashing the rom 1.234 he can download at tmobile
a rom is a rom and it makes no difference if it was the very bits originally stored on his device
then a rom from the site as long as version and branding is the same

[Q] copy my current rom, with settings?

Hi, i know there are so many threads probably about this, but searching them all honestly just confuses me. and it might be so simple for someone to answer.. ok..
so this is what i need help with...
i got a new Touchpro2 with WM6.5
i just set eveyrthing up the way i like it, programs, colors, sounds, etc etc...
now, is there anyway i can just do like one can with a computer, and make an "image" of my Rom, so lets say in a couple months, settings or something gets screwed up, all i have to do is flash that image back to my phone? and its the same as the day i took the image?
i dont want to have to go through hard resseting, then going through all that work to reinstall programs, cabs, etc etc..
now i read posts about copying your rom, but, from what i see, that just copys yoru stock rom, and not any of my personal settings or programs or things i did to install cabs right?
how would i go about this?
thanks for any input....and i hope its not a too stupid question you guys answered 500 times already

SPB BackUp 2.1 is what you need.
Just Google it ...
Backups are very handy & you won't regret doing it ...