XDA (and Pocket PC) Files

There's a bewildering array of software out there and it's getting harder every day to locate the gems. We aim to point you in the direction of the good stuff, and maybe you'll find something indispensable too. There is also some guidance for common issues with XDA IIis.

I'd had an iPaq 1930 for 18 months when the chance to combine it with my mobile phone came along in the form of O2's very shiny, very new and very importantly - it came with buttons, XDA IIi coincided with contract renewal time.

One of the first issues I had with my new toy was the hideously offensive, screen obscuring, processor heavy non-standard Active menu. A poke around the XDA-Developers forum offered two cures:

• Active.lnk - O2 UI.
• BatteryNFO.lnk - Battery symbol on Title Bar.
• Connections.exe.lnk - Displays O2 symbol on Title Bar.

I initially went for option 2 as I like the battery bar! I have had some problems when removing the phone from the USB cradle, basically it crashes and needs a soft re-set. This was cured by totally removing the O2 software as shown above. Just make sure you synch everything before performing the hard rest and you can then copy back all your data to the XDA. In this instance I had to rename the device as a partnership already existed. I then copied the files in My Documents/Pocket PC (or whatever you have called your device) into the new profile name - I called mine XDA - imaginative eh!

Top tip:

Back up your files. Disconnect Pocket PC. Delete partnership in ActiveSynch. Give the device the same name as before when you next connect to PC. This save copying files from old to new profiles in My Documents.

Then it's simply a matter of adding those pieces of software you just can't live with. Below are the current favourites which are either long standing favourites or the current flavour of the month in my never ending quest for goodness. Some are phone related, so not much use for standard Pocket PCs, but others are just fine. In no particular order:

Phone Software

My shiny and very new XDA IIi allows plenty of ring tones, but only one SMS tone, Mortring which solves the very issue mentioned above. It also allows you to assign rings using Outlook contact categories, say a ring for work related callers, and so on or individual tones for everyone (ring & SMS).

Specific to the model is an issue regarding the poor quality default settings for the camera, which is identical to that of the XDA II but takes worse images. A little bit of registry editing can cure this. You simply download PHM Registry Editor's cab file, copy it to your XDA IIi and then run it to install. Run the programme and Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/SOFTWARE/HTC/Camera/AppDefSettings/General and adjust the following entries to the values listed below:

• Contrast = 3
• Brightness = 3
• Hue = 5
• Saturation = 6
• Sharpness = 5

These settings will be retained if you soft reset.

ROM FLASHING

Is another way of of altering your device, you effectively upgrade the software on the Pocket PC permanently. Not too difficult to do. A simple check tells you what your machine is running. Go to Settings/Device Information/Version lists. This is what mine displayed out of the box

ROM Version: 1.11.00 WWE
ROM Date: 01/27/05
Radio Version: 1.00.00
Protocol Version: 1337.39
ExtROM Version: 1.11.152 WWE

If you don't want to add your favourite programmes again and tweak your themes & so on, back up your Pocket PC. Before you start connect your XDA to the PC & go to Tools/Back-Restore and make a full backup.

I had already re-flashed mine using the current ROM which is available at the at the O2 site - 1.11.169 (Extended ROM).

Following this my O2 XDA IIi Settings/Device Information/Version Lists displayed:

ROM Version: 1.11.00 WWE
ROM Date: 01/27/05
Radio Version: 1.00.00
Protocol Version: 1337.39
ExtROM Version: 1.11.169 WWE

Confirmation that the ROM has been changed from the original.

Many people report better reception having upgraded the Radio version. I have seen 1.03 and 1.04, but being a version number freak I poked around the XDA-Dev Forum and located this thread which contained PUG's modified ROMs 44.4MB, which uses Extended ROM 1.11.162 & Radio 1.04. 169 basically adds Blackberry compatibility to your XDA.

Applying this upgrade leaves my XDA IIi as:

ROM Version: 1.11.00 WWE
ROM Date: 01/27/05
Radio Version: 1.04.00
Protocol Version: 1337.42
ExtROM Version: 1.11.169 WWE

Which would appear to be the highest numbers available. You are obliged to rename your device as your PC thinks it's a new Pocket PC after ROM Flashing. Then connect your XDA to the PC. Once they have synchronised & go to Tools/Back-Restore and restore. I copied the Restore file from:

C:\Documents and Settings\USERNAME\Application Data\Microsoft\ActiveSync\Profiles\Old Profile Name

to:

C:\Documents and Settings\USERNAME\Application Data\Microsoft\ActiveSync\Profiles\New Profile Name.

There were a couple of files listed at the end that would not install & skipping them seems to have cause no issues. The bonus is I don't have to faff around re-installing my programmes, ringtones & so on.

Games

Eight games in one and free to boot means the rather basic, but reasonably amusing Peter's Game Box gets a mention. Blocks, Blocks2, Snake, Smae, Cannons, Squash, Mahjongg and Mahjongg Rivers help while away the hours.

I'm a long time fan of the Virtual Pool games. There is a mobile version for Pocket PCs etc - VP Mobile. It played very well on my old iPaq 1930, which only had a 200MHz processor. Newer Pocket PCs see it fly. Try the demo, though limited to one room & game type (6 Ball), it is very entertaining and will get most people hooked.

Hardware

I use some excellent Shure Ec2s to listen to MP3s on my motorcycle (despite the background noise the sound is great as they fit in the actual ear canal). It's still possible to get caught out with a ridiculously loud songs though, which have not been recorded at sensible sound levels. It's not possible to turn my XDA down down wearing thick gloves, particularly as my XDA IIi is in my inside pocket! MP3 Gain normalizes a tune, without ruining the quality, which means you don't get any sudden frights or go deaf either.

I didn't think much of the original leather case, having 6 inches of leather flapping aroung when talking on the phone looks odd. A quick sift through the net located Innopocket in Hong Kong who make a smart aircraft grade aluminium case with a window for the XDA. Took a couple of days to arrive, but it's the business.

Software

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, so Microsoft and O2 must be blind as the themes that Pocket PCs and XDAs come with are abysmal. Fortunately this can be corrected by grabbing any of the very large number of free themes at the imaginatively named Pocket PC Themes.

I hate Windows Media Player with a vengeance. It's like they went out of their way to make an awkward to use programme. They really pushed the boat out with the Pocket PC version. Cue Mortplayer, which works great and has big screen buttons for fingers, installs properly and remembers where I left off in playlists. It also sets the volume to a comfortable level and sets that when run. You can customise the hell out of it, but it works just fine using the default setting IMHO.

Sticking with media, Pocket PC Media player doesn't do DivX either, which is a shame when I'm on the road. The Core Pocket Media Player does the business with style for mobile movies.

I have been waiting for the Pocket PC version of DVD Profiler to be released, so I can checkout my DVD Collection on the move. It's still not here, despite being added to the main programme months ago, but Bevelstone Pocket Movie List uses the images and data from DVD Profiler and does the same thing...

• You have to manually create a directory for it and the database and copy the .exe file to the Pocket PC.

• Tell DVD Profiler to export an xml file to it's Export directory (duh).
• Copy the entire zip contents to your PC and run a programme telling it where the files on your PC are and that's about it.

My database for 250+ movies and high quality thumbs is about 1.5MB, not a drama with a 2 GB SD card.

I have a bit of a soft spot for the original series of Star Trek, so no prizes for guessing what Tricorder does for your Pocket PC.

Pocket Tweak performs a similar function to TweakUI, though it configures device settings without using any registry editors. The most useful function for me is it allows you to change a files associations, this is useful when you don't want Media Player, buggering things up!

Oh, I absolutely love the free and usually amusing (though heavily Americanised) Quote of the Day. Still, you can edit the text file to your hearts content, so not much of an issue there.

Conclusion

There's some good stuff out there, most of which is free - like our Motorsport Outlook Calendar Files. Try some, you might like it! If you have any personal favourite, let us know and we'll give them a spin too.