Database Info

Linux on Magician

Hi Wizkidz, Magician Junkies, HTC Hacking Staff, and all!
Is there possible to put Linux OS to the Magician? If so, I can do it in the same way like BA? I want to try it, but I'm not sure it is possible, and if it is, will it be stable?
Waiting for replies....

See here: http://wiki.xda-developers.com/index.php?pagename=Xanadux

Thanks for the link.
I've already saw it somewhere, but I'm not sure that is possible on Magician. You know that a lot of PDAs supports WM5 but Magician isn't. So I think it is possible on some devices, but not sure on Magician.
Any experiences?

I don't know about those guys, but I've found a "good try":
http://userpage.fu-berlin.de/~zabel/magician/README
If you follow that, it boots graphical GPE and you have access to a number of applications.
The touchscreen works, but the whole thing is quite unstable on my pda - the apps keep crashing on launch - and AFAIK there is absolutely no support for phone capabilities. The sound driver is also gone. Bluetooth seems to work out of the box.
But as I said, it looks like a nice try, with a lot of potencial.

What's so great about WM6?

Hi,
While I am waiting for my MDA Pro to arrive, I have been reading a lot in the Universal section (have a BA myself).
May I ask for some valid reasons why someone would want to use homebrewed WM6 releases instead of official/customized WM5?
I do understand the fun it is to try out new things, but is it really worth it? I did not find many posts that would clear this question.
Thanks,
vma

WM6.0...
The new look and a lot faster device...

Is there any feature that won't be available with WM6, that did work fine in WM5?
Thanks,
vma

Video call isn't working yet.

Rolud said:
The new look and a lot faster device...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The way I see it, WM6 may or may not work for you and may or may not do it for you. Try it. You can always go back to WM5. Most people don't.....

Well .... the simple answer is that I did a lot of searching and reading, and finally tried it out for myself.
I asked this very question a while ago right here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=1130569&postcount=88
And came to the follwowing conclusion:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=1155497&postcount=89
In the conclusion, the thing about the Bluetooth Stack / Voice Command - it was actually Voice Command that was the problem and this issue was fixed in Jrwightmcps' 2.02.00 WWE http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=297256

Crossbow ONLY!
Tell you the truth... i see the new WM6 is better eye-catching GUI not to mention the enhancement in the functionality and other usability such as email related functions. I know that MS wont just upgrade for no obvious reason nor for desktop OS compatibility.
Yet i reckon i wont -never- go back to magento! Crossbow ONLY!

@nvatvani:
Indeed your posts where the only ones I read, that contained some usefull info about the subject.
No offense to all the other members of course!
I was simply wondering about what to do when my MDA Pro arrives: replace the German firmware with a WWE WM5 one or go straight ahead to WM6 without even looking at WM5.
Also, I had some problems with my Blue Angel, when I tried WM5 on it: it may have been a coincidence, but one day after the upgrade the screen went mad and totally messed up. Only 1 Hardreset in about 100 tries would bring it back to normal for some period of time and even reflashing it with WM5 or 2003SE would not make it work normal again. The screen would get messed up suddenly for no particular reason. At the end I had to send it in for repair, which was actually a good thing, as I complained about the loose stylo and bad working hardkeys, all within warranty. I got a new key-pcb, backside and they reflashed the device with 2003SE. I posted this issue in the BA forum, but got no usefull hint. This means I am a little scared of upgrading to unofficial releases.
Other than that, I have no problems with flashing, as I do that on my other hobby (satellite receivers) frequently, including JTAG-operations for repairing bricked devices. The same applies to games consoles. (Note: I do not sell or benefit commercially from that activity and my goal is not to get illegal software or TV - not that you guy's get the wrong idea about me).
Anyway, thanks for your replies!
Cheers,
vma

What Windows Mobile 5.0 AKU 2.0 has and Windows Mobile 6 (the cooked ones, having tried them all) doesn't have, according to my experiences:
1. Videocalling - at least not a proper one
2. Bluetooth Dial Up Networking (the DUN profile)
3. Wireless Modem (yet some WM6 ROM's have it, although without shortcut in the start menu)
4. Cyberon Voice Dial by default (some WM6 ROM's have it by default, others will need a 500kB CAB to activate it)
The reason why I went back to "good old" WM5 is mainly the reliability. Ok, the OS may be a bit slower here and there, but it has all the functionality (e.g. videocalls and Bluetooth DUN), and NEVER hangs. It just always works and that's what I desperately need right now.
---
The things Windows Mobile 6 has for me that 5.0 hasn't which I miss the most:
1. High resolution browsing in the normal Internet Explorer (I don't want to use alternatives)
2. HTML email support
3. The impressive speed of the OS
Applications like WM6's Windows Live and the superb Remote Desktop Client are also available for WM5, so I don't need to miss those, otherwise I sure would, and then I might have sticked with WM6.
The new sounds and GUI are great, but I don't really miss them, since that's not a true functional thing.
Having WM5 up and running again, without freezes and memory leaking and with full HTC Universal functionality, is enough for me to be happy with it and to stick with it. If there ever will be a ROM that actually ADDS Windows Mobile 6 on top of all of this (without a single registry tweak or CAB fix needed), then it's the time for me to upgrade again.
If such a ROM will ever see the daylight, since it won't be officially available for the Universal, I don't know. I think the HTC X7500 (Athena) will be there sooner (April 2007 over here), and that one will have a official WM6 upgrade for sure. That'll be my next one, so until then: WM5 for my Universal!
So far for my opinion.

why do I use WM6
vma said:
Hi,
While I am waiting for my MDA Pro to arrive, I have been reading a lot in the Universal section (have a BA myself).
May I ask for some valid reasons why someone would want to use homebrewed WM6 releases instead of official/customized WM5?
I do understand the fun it is to try out new things, but is it really worth it? I did not find many posts that would clear this question.
Thanks,
vma
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
To be honest, I used them all and later delteted them after 5 2 hours. They leak a lot, ram is at minimum and useless third party applications, and a lot fo thing sodn't really work or missing (I just want a vanill aone without 3rd party applications).
Except for one rom, Darkforce, it is fast and furious, and so far I have using it for two days; battery usage is good, and no leaks. However, no video calling, and no way to set com ports for bluetooth devices. any1 has this problem?
However, common to all ROMS, no video calling, old calculator, speed dial messed up (some work and some don't), wireless connection bubble missing (yes you can install a cab but I don't want to do that).
<Mind you, contrary to other reports, I never had any freezes with any rom.
The thing that attracts me is HTML in email, High resolution mode in explorer, better remote desktop connectivity.
So I thhink I am sticking with DarkForce ROM, so far so good.
Thx

wm6 4 Magician it is not a dream

sorry for my bad english
i am a prof C++ programer
i know it sounds crazy but with the computer and programing there is no crazy
i just want a perfect rom for the Magician
why we are looking to the wm6 we want any good rom
we got the program
windows mobile 2003 rom editor
we got the rom on club i-mate
we got the cab of all good and great programs
we got one silly prob.
the passcode to edit the rom file
if i get it
give me 30 day to lunch the perfect rom
i think with the united we can make the WM Magician
the russin gays did it and they give us the txx rom right i think we can do it too

So, if i understand you correct your plan is to create a wm6 rom for the magician, right? This would be really cool...
P.S.
kingt0t said:
the russin gays did it and they give us the txx rom right i think we can do it too
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i think you mean "guys" when you say "gays"
good luck with your project!

Kingt0t, what you want to do ain't something that hasn't been thought before...yes, you can do a WM6 for magician (hell, you can invent a new OS if you wish...lol) The thing is...time.
There's no drivers for the magician hardware built inside any WM6 ROM...(well, not entirely true - there's probable a few WM 5/6 ROMs which might have a few drivers for our hardware - but not all that are required so to make a workable magician ROM).
You probably would need to create drivers for all missing/required magician hardware...oh and above all...you probably would need to create a special/new bootloader because it seems to me that since WM5, the bootloader has changed it's way of loading the Windows Mobile OSes... (They use what is now called IPL/SPL...)
I'm not trying to discourage you...it's just that we (xda community) have heard about so many people with the same thoughts, giving up after realizing the enormous amount of work that would be required so to build a working wm6 magician ROM
Anyway, if you're really into it, then start by studying what hardware the magician has and how it works...
I can give you a few ideias right now:
- The CPU (PXA272) uses what is called a strataflash (It is glued to the cpu), which i believe there's not many models with this concept(if any). Most of them uses what is called DOC (Disk On Chip).
(if this ain't true, please someone correct me if i'm wrong)
- IDK if there's a driver for this CPU model in any other PPC with WM5/WM6...
- You will probably need to disassemble alot of dlls / .sys / Etc, so to figure out the functions names; what do they do; how do they interact with the rest of the OS...etc...
- Last but not the least, you would need to strip out alot of stuff since the magician only has 64Mb ROM or you could study how HARET (for linux) works and how it allows us to boot a SD Card partition image...
oh well...start posting away if you need help...for shure some gurus in here will start dropping you ideias, concepts, tests that were already made...
Best Regards,
Keeper
P.S: honestely, if someday microsoft decides to release the source code for WM2003 (like they did for win9x and windows 2000), then maybe, just maybe, we will be able to compile a modified version with some parts of the WM 5/6/xxx...

Maybe this is a good start, at least for WM5?
Ubiquio 401 has the same PXA272 CPU and 64MB ROM as the Magician, but it comes with WM5. Perhaps the IPL/SPL and CPU drivers that come with the FW will make less work for some smart person to make a custom Magician ROM.
Here is the Ubiquio 401 ROM, maybe somebody can extract some useful stuff from it:
ubiquio-401-v1.12.26.rar
I think it's also the same as the Gigabyte g-Smart i. g-Smart i uses WM5 AKU2. I don't know which AKU the Ubiquio uses.

Gnat,
There's one big issue in all this... When someone wants to seriously mess around with an operating system and it's "BIOS" (aka booloader) having direct access to the hardware is a must. Since we don't know the JTAG test point pins for the magician and knowing that no one is willing to trash their magician so that we can find out where they are located on the magician's PCB, (which would allow us to test various bootloaders + roms, without the risk of loosing our magicians), i doubt that anyone in here is willing to do blind tests with different model ROMs / Cooked roms, without some sort of backup like this one.
Check the last pages of this thread so to see what i'm talking about...(hell, check all this thread so to see what can happen when you flash something and there's a problem with it or along the installation of it...) : http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=319354
So, if you're willing to do this ( http://wiki.xda-developers.com/index.php?pagename=WallabyJTAG )...or know someone that is, then we might be able to start doing something... :-|
If we had JTAG access, we could start using the Windows CE 5.0 Evaluation Kit which would allow us to communicate directly to the hardware via JTAG and test cooked bootloaders and ROMs. (check this link for more info: http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa447041.aspx )
Keeper

hope this dream come true....WM6 or just WM5 for IMATE JAM

kingt0t said:
sorry for my bad english
i am a prof C++ programer
i know it sounds crazy but with the computer and programing there is no crazy
i just want a perfect rom for the Magician
why we are looking to the wm6 we want any good rom
we got the program
windows mobile 2003 rom editor
we got the rom on club i-mate
we got the cab of all good and great programs
we got one silly prob.
the passcode to edit the rom file
if i get it
give me 30 day to lunch the perfect rom
i think with the united we can make the WM Magician
the russin gays did it and they give us the txx rom right i think we can do it too
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
if you do this, many will make a donation for your hard work...a NEW WM5 or WM6 ROM FOR the MAGICIAN.

Wow, that's a lot of work to find JTAG points. I have even more respect for people like Helmi if he had to find JTAG points for every device he has made a WM5 and WM6 for!
I don't think I will be finding the JTAG points on my Magician - I don't want to kill it! However, if anyone has a dead, fried or water damaged Magician, I will gladly pull the BGA off and trace the JTAG points.
If the JTAG points have a specific "signature" when viewed on an oscilloscope, I would be happy to trace them that way since I do have a 100MHz DSO available.

i hope too, this dream to ours magician

Oh btw...the taxist russian guy which released the 2.01~3TX rom did NOT made a WM6 for the magician - He simply opened up a magician ROM, changed a few icons, sounds, apps and packed it again...the Operating system still is WM2003se.
if you guys want to try and mod your own roms, use the following tools: alpinenbfdecode.pl, splitrom.pl and dumprom. They are available at the itsme website. ( http://www.xs4all.nl/~itsme/projects/xda/ )
Anyway, check this thread...there's a small script on how to re-create the XIP structure: http://4pda.ru/forum/index.php?showtopic=3924&st=1020#entry744997
Once again, this ain't gonna change your OS (there's no WM5/6 IPL/SPL for the magician) - it will only allow you to mod a few things... :-(
Keeper

Zoneaone
It very fantastic for your effort. thanks.

are you still there kingT0T?

ok guys hold on you are not making it easy i think it is mush simpler then you think
we need wm6 for jam
we dont have to edit wm6 to make it work on jam
we can upgrade the wm2003se to be wm6\5
we can find upgrads and some great programs to creat a wm2003se rom "main platform" looks like the wm6 and include some services in it like the voice command and renew the dailer and add some upgrades i think this is mush better coz we will not play with fire we can just try to make the perfect choise in 2003 rom with some upgrades and patches right

okey kingt0t...so what you want to do is something like taxist did...a modded ROM with a WM2k3 kernel core...
Well, one thing that i would suggest that you could start doing, would be a new bluetooth stack based on the WM 2k5/2k6 one (widcomm, i think)...
Anyway, idk russian and has so, i don't understand much of what is said on that link, but what i did understand is that taxist found a way of modifying the programs in a way that he could insert them has XIP (eXecution In Place), without breaking the expected original execution addresses...the thing is: he never revealed how he has done it...
There's a few guys in there that are trying to do what he has done by using the three tools that i've posted previously, but idk if they did acomplished the "XIP chain ROM address redirectioning"...
Regards,
Keeper

kingt0t said:
ok guys hold on you are not making it easy i think it is mush simpler then you think
we need wm6 for jam
we dont have to edit wm6 to make it work on jam
we can upgrade the wm2003se to be wm6\5
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
First prioduce a WM5.0 ROM instead of talking!

Yés kingtot wm6 4 Magician it is not a dream,it is a mirage...

kingt0t said:
we can find upgrads and some great programs to creat a wm2003se rom "main platform" looks like the wm6 and include some services in it like the voice command and renew the dailer and add some upgrades i think this is mush better coz we will not play with fire we can just try to make the perfect choise in 2003 rom with some upgrades and patches right
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not sure I understand. You want a WM2003SE that only looks like WM5/WM6? But then it can't run WM5/WM6-specific apps... what purpose is that? I hardly see the point. If that's what you want, it already exists and besides, you can just use Wisbar or something similar and make a theme.

WM2003SuperSe must run wm5 apps. it's main task !!!!

still dream or stop
what's going on?

wm6 again became dream

WM6.1 nothing great.....a big disappointment :(

Just gave wm6.1 a spin.....and what can i say
PROS:
- threaded sms
- easier exchange server configuring (auto configures)
- quicker, and seems stable as of now
- solves the password screen locking the start menu bar bug
CONS:
- nothing new or different on the today screen
- nothing visually different
- same old applications, same old interface, same old same old
- its just the same old wm6 people, so, if you by chance felt like your life was coming to an end and you were waiting for wm6.1 to make it on your unis and once again get your juices flowing.....forget it.
- a2dp support seems like its missing!
- "Use High resolution" in internet explorer no longer there
- its highly frustrating to see MS drop in the "Task manager" application from their smartphone OS and market it as an "improvement".....grrr
- a sad "Getting Started" today plugin.....please, someone give me a break!
Anyway, life goes on, the same old sorry way......photon? android? hmph....
San

dreamtheater39 said:
Just gave wm6.1 a spin.....and what can i say
PROS:
- threaded sms
- easier exchange server configuring (auto configures)
- quicker, and seems stable as of now
- solves the password screen locking the start menu bar bug
CONS:
- nothing new or different on the today screen
- nothing visually different
- same old applications, same old interface, same old same old
- its just the same old wm6 people, so, if you by chance felt like your life was coming to an end and you were waiting for wm6.1 to make it on your unis and once again get your juices flowing.....forget it.
- a2dp support seems like its missing!
- "Use High resolution" in internet explorer no longer there
- its highly frustrating to see MS drop in the "Task manager" application from their smartphone OS and market it as an "improvement".....grrr
- a sad "Getting Started" today plugin.....please, someone give me a break!
Anyway, life goes on, the same old sorry way......photon? android? hmph....
San
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
tbh what did you expect?
This of the change as akin to winxp vanilla and sp1 not winxp and vista.

no kidding.. even with less things.
i can confirm a2dp isnt working eother and internet explorer high resolution isnt even there ..
the wm5 latest tmobile rom has these!!
i give them one thing though, it is snappy and seems stable so far.
seems they increased the card cache size since when you start a song in media player it starts skipping and stuttering.. well that can always be fixed later.

Hmmmm, are we talking here about the real WM6.1 or the PDAViet build ported to Universal?
The cons/limitations are probably porting problems, at the moment the few who can confirm these are midget_1990 & mamaich. Besides, WM6.1 is not probably meant to be a version upgrade but a release update (i.e. SP2 in XP). I don't know too!

Where can I fing WM6.1?

6.1 is just an update not upgrade.
What I can say is this is a build ported from a QVGA device to a VGA device.
Now pls wait for our gurus to release a complete built.
I can run a2dp perfectly, it is just a matter of porting only.
We see here now lot's of build coming..just b patient for the same

Midget_1990 said:
tbh what did you expect?
This of the change as akin to winxp vanilla and sp1 not winxp and vista.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, as MS screwed up on Photon release which was to be somewhere during 2008....and because google gave them a freak-surprise with Android....MS suddenly commited for a WM6.1 release.
I thought WM6.1 will be atleast a few features intended to go into Photon to keep Windows Mobile alive against upcoming competition (Android based phones scheduled to hit somewhere in Q3).
But turns out that Wm6.1 is just the same stuff....like you said, an sp1 release!
The least i expected was a changed today screen with a new interface which i kept reading about on so many forums....turns out people mistook this from the smartphone version they saw....
Anyways, cheers guys, trying to be happy with what we've got!!
Cant wait for the **actual** roms to start coming out from all our rom gurus out here....
Cheers!
San

The rom circulating over the forum these hours is a fake.

fake or not?
Midget_1990 said:
tbh what did you expect?
This of the change as akin to winxp vanilla and sp1 not winxp and vista.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There is some people said this version is a fake what do you think Midget_1990 i know we can trust in you.

ranju and Mo3ulla verified that this rom is fake

I havent seen/used the one you speak of, i can assure you thought that i do ahve a copy of legit 6.1 made for vga and not ported.

waiting after you
hello Midget_1990
i wait a Midget_1990 ROM for the 6.1 it s more sure.
said us when you can make one ROM Mister Midget_1990 the first ROM with vga for the universal remeber me a good Remembrance.
sorry for my bad english
a little frenchi

Win_XP said:
ranju and Mo3ulla verified that this rom is fake
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi Win_XP, my take on the fake issue HERE!

Hopefully Midget will fix the situation with disconnecting SD cards.... I'm not the one who had this problem when usual SD card 2gb is disconnected on no reasons and you have to slide out/in to get it worked...

catch-22 said:
Hi Win_XP, my take on the fake issue HERE!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This ROM is the fastest and the only one that doesn't have problems in its functions, never freeze and the most reliable one. I'm using it with old 1.09 RADIO ROM and battery is the same like having WM5.
You can try to argue everything, but this is really example of complete ROM.
Thanks PDAVIET.

rilazi said:
This ROM is the fastest and the only one that doesn't have problems in its functions, never freeze and the most reliable one. I'm using it with old 1.09 RADIO ROM and battery is the same like having WM5.
You can try to argue everything, but this is really example of complete ROM.
Thanks PDAVIET.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Have you read the link I've given? Did I say what you think I said? Can you read?
I was the one telling you guys that it's not fair to say that it is fake! Read first before you judge!

Which 6.1 English ROM/Kitchen should I choose?

First of all, I would like to congratulate you on running such an active worldwide community all linked by just one devotion to technology. This is my first post though I have been following this forum for a while. I am getting a new Tornado ( The deal was unbeatable!!) and I am pretty much excited.
I am searching for a cutting(/bleeding) edge ROM or even a Kitchen to spice up my new Tornado and I am prepared to learn the tricks and tools required to have a fully-functional and bug-free ( I hope I can, with your help!) 6.1 ROM having all the important and offering good usability and functionality to the end user ( ME! ).
So, what do you suggest? I am prepared for a steep learning curve, that usually accompanies this kind of a quest

My Opinion ...
I use actualy BlacKura Wm 6.1 Profesional rom. I like the fonts, are small, and the resolution is like PC screen. I wass able to install SPB Menu Shel 2.14, what i like most, + is a Office build in. What is verry useeful at least for me.
Lacks? Hmmm there are some aplications specialy donne for SP (smartphone) what tell me it can't been instaling on this device, what i understand because this rom is not designed for SP.
If u actually try this rom ( remeber to free your aplication lock) , remember u have a fake cursor ( like a mouse what u can use with joystick ) , what can be enabled by pressing home key for 3 secs ( that one what enable the Start menu)
Other ROms ( beleve me i wass tryd almost all) i dont like, the fact are kinda WM5 ( big fonts , menu like anyother cell without WM ).
Regards Camelia .

Touchscreen?
Actually even I am looking for a ROM with a small font size. And judging by what you say, the ROM supports the programs written for a touchscreen device, right?
So how do you operate the cursor, I mean how do you click or drag? Is this method fast? I found out that the ROM is fast, but I could not get the way it works. So please shed some light on this.

If you like profesional ROMs, try also kamikadze's
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=455950
It is great looking, small font. As for how to use professional ROMs that are ment for touchscreen devices, as kingoldstyle suggested, use SPB Menu Shell application, it allows you to move through menus very quickly using number buttons. Also, sursor can be activated and moved with a joystick, not so fast and comfortable, but I rarely use it with mine phone, only when I need to set alarm. Other than that, I dont need cursor.

Shell?
Thanks a lot for your reply.
And where can I get the Shell?

Apps
Should I install touchscreen or smartphone applications in this ROM?
And what is the performance benefit when compared to the Smartphone ROM?
Will the Professional ROM support Point UI in the Faraday?

You can try them all. Some touchscreen applications are difficult and slow to use, so its up to you to decide what you want with your phone. I use smartphone applications mostly. I installed professional ROM because I like the good look of it (in combination with spb shell). The ROM is very fast, I didnt measure their performance, because when I installed it for the first time I just loved it. Some people here say its faster.
Check your PM.

I tested Point UI Home 1.51 on my Qtek 8310 (HTC Tornado) with WM Professional ROM and works great and I don't need use FakeCursor.
I think that, Professional ROM is faster than Smartphone ROM on HTC Tornado. I use Professional ROM on my smartphone about 9 months and I wouldn't return on smartphone ROM.

Thanks.
Thanks a lot, everybody.
I shall upgrade as soon as it reaches me.
Oh, the wait!!!

Qazer said:
I tested Point UI Home 1.51 on my Qtek 8310 (HTC Tornado) with WM Professional ROM and works great and I don't need use FakeCursor.
I think that, Professional ROM is faster than Smartphone ROM on HTC Tornado. I use Professional ROM on my smartphone about 9 months and I wouldn't return on smartphone ROM.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Have you tried SPB shell, and if yes, do you find PointUI better, and why?

Goran_: for me is better Point UI than SPB Mobile Shell. Point UI is faster and nicer for me.