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Greetings everyone! First off, thank you for a wealth of information on this site as well as the coolest apps and ROMs. I'm glad I came across this site.
I've been trying out different ROMs by different developers. They're all great! I feel like a dude driving a different sports car every week! My question is, how can I create a "disk image" of my current setup? Is there a program for WM6 like PQDI or Norton Ghost?
Thats a good question... this is what we need... than ill test more roms ^^
This part is tricky.
There are two major backup utilities: Sprite and SPB backup.
Trouble is that while they both create a full backup including registry, messages and apps you can not deploy this backup on a different ROM (specially if it is different AKU version or different OS 5 / 6) without serios side effects.
This is because some internal structures (like PIM.VOL) and registry settings are different in these ROMS.
Thats why it is recommended that you backup your contacts, emails and stuff to outlook then sync and reinstall all the apps on the new ROM.
Alternatively, both apps allow you to manually select what is backed up. You can play with that option to only backup "generic" stuff.
Understood.
What I was hoping to find is a utility that takes a snapshot of my current setup and creates one file, or one EXE. It's kinda like swapping hard drives with each having a different OS's. I'd have one "favorite" ROM though (with my personal settings, including keyboard layout, ringtones, contacts, WiFi key info, voice commands, etc) and if I'm done testing someone else's ROM, I can reload that 'favorite' one to continue on with my day, all with one flash.
problem is that many difference between roms also is what registrys are set to what
so if you take that with you some optimezes could be lost
Really?
I've used an old program called PQDI (just like Norton Ghost) and what I'd do is after doing a fresh load of OS on my PC, I'd start to load some of my favorite software like Premiere (I do video editing) and Sonar (I also do music). Then, I create a disk image of my hard drive. Months later, after installing tweaks and stuff, and if for some reason (and this has happened before) I screw up my registry, get a virus, or my PC starts to run slow because of junk that have collected over the months, I'd reload that image and the very next time I turn on my PC, it would have a fresh load of OS with Premiere and Sonar, and nothing else, it's just as if I had bought a new computer.
I was hoping it would be the same on my 8525. There is a feature right now called "Clear Storage" (installed on every WM device) that clears up every things and reloads the ROM. But that erases all the tweaks you've done and starts you off with a fresh load of ROM. :/
Ok, there is one thing you don't seem to be clear on:
On PC stuff you install and OS all can be treated the same because they all reside on an HD and if you can take and image of that you can restore it all whenever you want.
But on devices like the 8525 this is completely different. The ROM on each device is stored and encrypted in a different matter, and needs to be written in a special way so there can be no "generic" tool for ROM flashing. This is also why there are no apps that take complete image of a device (ROM + user apps and data).
Thanks for the clarification. It would have been great if there was, huh? That would make beta testing and reporting much more efficient. Oh well. I'll move on. Thanks again! (Hmm...now what ROM should I try next...)
Question about ROM flashes.
I'm actually an IT professional in the work related field, so any basics need not be explained. I am still new to Windows Mobile devices and would like to know what this means for my phone.
The way I view a "ROM" is as a firmware, or static programming on a chip. Maybe even a CMOS imprint. In this field, such things are semi-permanent at a component level. For instance, you don't download a .cab file to upgrade your bios (as many "ROMS" seem to come in .cab files), you boot your system on a floppy and run an application that flashes your CMOS with the new image.
What would we assume the "ROM" is on Windows mobile phones? Is it a chip hidden inside of the phone, separate from the primary memory? Is it simply considered all that is in the \windows directory? I don't see why .cab files can flash the ROM.
This leads me to the question, if you do a hard-reset, I assume there's secondary memory on the phone with the \windows folder and all the factory defaults. The memory must serve no other purpose other than to harbor these defaults in the need of a hard-reset. Does flashing your "ROM" also apply changes to this chip containing the default OS image?
Hi, here a short description:
ROM:
The ROM is quite similar to a computers harddisk AND RAM (All-In-One), but the OS has to and additional software can be integrated via flashing and is therefor fixed. All data you flash will stay in the ROM after a Hard-Reset.
Some ROMs also contain a Bootloader-ROM and/or a Radio-ROM
Bootloader-ROM:
This is quite similar to a computer's BIOS
Radio-ROM:
The firmware to your PDA's built-in connection devices (e.g. GSM, Bluetooth, WLAN,...)
Hard-Reset:
A Hard-Reset is similar to a comlete reinstallation. Some computer vendors add a recovery CD/DVD to their products. On a Windows Mobile Device the Recovery-disc is integrated in the ROM and will be automatically installed during a hard reset.
And to complete this one ;-)...
Soft-Reset:
A Soft-Reset is similar to a cold restart of your computer. By the way, there's no possibility to "shutdown" Windows Mobile like you are used to with Windows XP or Vista.
Oh, and you cannot install a ROM using a cab-file. Cab-files are "executables" to install additional software. They can only be installed on the device. ROM's have to be installed from a connected computer (There's also a resolution to install a ROM from a Storage Card, but i am not used to it and cannot give you more information about this. But you'll find it, searching in the forum).
jon_k said:
Question about ROM flashes.
I'm actually an IT professional in the work related field, so any basics need not be explained. I am still new to Windows Mobile devices and would like to know what this means for my phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Me Too.
jon_k said:
The way I view a "ROM" is as a firmware, or static programming on a chip. Maybe even a CMOS imprint. In this field, such things are semi-permanent at a component level. For instance, you don't download a .cab file to upgrade your bios (as many "ROMS" seem to come in .cab files), you boot your system on a floppy and run an application that flashes your CMOS with the new image.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, it is firmware on the chip, but like a BIOS, it exists after the phone is off, the battery removed, etc. The stuff in the cab files that you install doesn't. Well, let me retract that. The stuff in the cabs and your data stays there after a soft reset, and removing the battery (at least for a short while, YMMV), but my experience has not been that the data stays there after the battery is out for a while (again, YMMV).
jon_k said:
What would we assume the "ROM" is on Windows mobile phones? Is it a chip hidden inside of the phone, separate from the primary memory? Is it simply considered all that is in the \windows directory? I don't see why .cab files can flash the ROM.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, it is a chip. Most of the time, they don't use discreet transistors for these time of things. They are prohibitively large and expensive to solder together to make the memory, not to mention power hungry.
To answer your second question, if you peruse the various ROMs here, you will see the following:
Base operating system: This is a common denominator. This is Windows CE/ Mobile edition, WM6, whatever you want to call it.
Additional CABs: This is the flavor the chef uses in his/her kitchen to make the ROM do what appeals to them (and their audience). These can techniclaly be split out and individually installed if the cook puts them as a cab file that you copy to the phone and install from that file downloaded.
jon_k said:
This leads me to the question, if you do a hard-reset, I assume there's secondary memory on the phone with the \windows folder and all the factory defaults. The memory must serve no other purpose other than to harbor these defaults in the need of a hard-reset. Does flashing your "ROM" also apply changes to this chip containing the default OS image?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What will happen when you hard reset is the ROM that was flashed to the phone will be as it was when you first burned it to the phone. Here's an example: You buy the Kaiser marketed as an AT&T Tilt on 1/1/08, use if for 6 months, and on 7/1/08, you hard reset it. It will be the same as when you turned it on for the first time.
Another case: You buy the phone on 1/1/08, and download a ROM from Dutty, or whomever, and you carefully follow the noob instructions (like I did), and flash it on 1/2/08. You do a hard reset on 7/1/08, and now the phone is the same as when it was last upgraded, so it will be the 1/2/08 version that it goes to.
Clear?
Hope this helps, and if there are others that want to correct me, please do so.
Fairly good explanations.
It makes a bit more sense now.
I'll post my new understanding of the control structure and functionality based on everyones post above. If you want to confirm, deny, or alter any of my perceived facts I'd appreciate it! I just like to know a basic understanding of the device functions internally so I can be educated when tinkering with things.
The radio ROM = ROM that controls the radio. Contains frequency ranges/broadcast tweaks for different locales, probably if tweaked can also allow illegal higher wattage transmission power. Some interesting (and surely FCC illegal) hacks are probably available here.
The device ROM - the upper level functions of the phone. Probably has support for the type of WIFI and bluetooth adapter you have. Has to have compatibility to interface with the radio ROM for phone functionality to be supported. Also is what interfaces with the GPS radio, probably the phone, links the keyboard to the OS, etc. Probably handles API between radio ROM and Windows mobile?
The Windows Mobile OS, which is the operating system itself. It communicates with the ROM, and is limited by what the ROM is limited by. Any .cab's or software retrieved here will enhance the OS, nothing more. A hard reset will bring the OS back to it's original state. (Though ROM upgrades remain.) Any cabs installed or changes to \windows in general made will be lost during a hard reset. It restores all content under \windows to it's default state.
Sounds about right with my new understanding. I think for now I'll avoid flashing the ROM. I'm pretty content with modifying the Windows registry hive since it can easily be restored with a hard reset if I bork up a registry key. Unlike the registry, a ROM if a member here misses something (I doubt they're working with much device documentation) a small coding mistake by them could ruin the phone.
Maybe I'll be more prone to start flashing ROM's if there's a way to extract the current ROM for my phone. Perhaps I can update the ROM through ATT or HTC, and use a packet sniffer to sniff the location (likely http URL) of the ROM file.
One further question though,
Until several minutes ago I thought the ROM simply contained device drivers, etc. Stumbled upon this post however.
rkorzuch said:
Tool worked perfect on my AT&T Tilt. Just installed the HTC ROM. Much nicer than the AT&T ROM.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm now assuming the ROM contains the OS that is flashed on to the internal storage card as well, with it's own custom branding on the OS, own default application set, etc. As well as it's normal functioning with device communication etc. Is this safe to say this is how it works?
jon_k said:
One further question though,
Until several minutes ago I thought the ROM simply contained device drivers, etc. Stumbled upon this post however.
I'm now assuming the ROM contains the OS that is flashed on to the internal storage card as well, with it's own custom branding on the OS, own default application set, etc. As well as it's normal functioning with device communication etc. Is this safe to say this is how it works?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes jon_k,
The ROM contains the WM OS. That is what the cooks are changing primarily (more specifically, most of them change/add/delete the bundled apps that come as part of the shipped OSes). Most now are also expanding the RAM/storage portion of the ROM to allow for more usable storage. More and more cooks are also ripping out some of the MS bloat .
You should do a hard reset and then force a soft reset before it does the device customization part. You will end up with a Tilt with none of the AT&T bloat (game demos and such). If you don't like it, hard reset again and let it finish.
If you get real adventurous you can install HardSPL and one of the cooked ROMs (or the HTC one).
I've just put a custom ROM on my Omnia 7 and I'm very pleased with it.
But I left some stuff back on my old installation, which I backed-up fully before I updated (using Windows Phone Back-up Tool 1.9). I'm sure I've read that there are complexities when working with back-ups and custom ROMS.
What I'd like to do is get my photos and videos off the old install, as well as my old non-syncable OneNote notebook.
Can anyone advise? I don't suppose I can load the backed-up image into a virtual machine somehow?
Thanks
Backups are device-specific; you can't even restore one to another device of the same model. Why you would re-imag eyour phone without first syncing off pictures and such, I really don't know, but if you did and you want to access them, the only way to do so is to restore that backup to the device it was made from. People have been trying to crack the backup files for about as long as the OS has existed. We may succeed some day, but this is probably not that day.
So moreover, can I use Zune to back-up the phone as it is now (with a custom ROM on it, identifying it as a Nokia even though it's not)? I'm after a way to jump between the two images really, as I still don't know how to get the local OneNote data but I want to keep using 7.8 for a bit to test it out.
Thanks
Hello.
I am looking for a Deep Freeze alternative for android.
I want to use the application on a tablet I am going to buy.
Thanks
It would not be easy to implement the same thing as Deep Freeze on an enterprise-level scale, especially if there are different devices from different manufacturers, unlike with PCs. But if yours is the only device, just make a nandroid backup, then you can restore the backup whenever you like (every boot, every day, etc.). Of course, this requires your tablet to be rooted, and (probably) a custom recovery installed.
And how much time do i need for this every time i reboot?
Now I am using VMware with deepfreeze on the 2nd OS.
If you mean the nandroid restore process, it takes a few minutes. It depends on the size of the backup image, and the speed of your device. Unlike desktop PCs, however, usually people don't actually reboot their phones daily, or even weekly. If you want to update some apps, or make any other changes, you can then just do a nandroid backup, which again only takes a few minutes.
Regarding VMware, are you using it on Android, or PC?
I use VMWare on PC. Inside the VMWare I use Deep Freeze. Then I restart the virtual OS. I do this because some apps leave some tracks on my system that i dont know what these are.
I have several computers, which need specific parameters and have to be loading and off options in each.
would be a good option to have a tool so
as in linux "ofris-in" where when you start your computer already has a desired configuration. :good:
Hi all,
I am a teacher in an informal school working with children with special needs. I am using 20 Lenovo tablets which are all exactly the same model Lenovo TB-X103F. I have managed to set up one of the tablets fully including the apps, users (adult user, child user) and customization for the apps to be in specific folders on the desktop.
The problem is that setting up all the tablets to be the exact same is very hard and I will need to repeat it on many tablets in several schools I work with but all use the same tablet model. There are lots of stuff that need to be done. So I was thinking if there is a tool that would help me export a system image which includes not only the applications, but it even includes the settings, folders, users, and customization to a flash memory or SD card. I have tried some apps but they are all limited to contacts, images, and apps without including folders, customization, and settings.
The devices are not rooted and I prefer not to root them except if this is the only solution.
Could you please suggest any solution? and if you suggest a tool, can you please as well tell me what would happen if the tool fails to work, for example, would I still be able to restore the tablet to factory settings afterwards?
Regards,
George
P.S: dear moderators, if this is not the right category for this post, please help me moving it to the right one and apologies in advance.