Develop Bugs

Help request - setting registry (owner info etc) from a cab

Hiya, I've been playing about with the extended rom and have the system in great shape, apart from some registry settings, such as the owner info and device name. It would be kinda handy to have these setup automatically but I am totally unable to do it... I'm presuming it's because there is something else that has to be done other than simply set the keys.
I'm using PHM reg ed to export keys as well as simply creating them manually and am using WinCE Cab Manager to make the cabs. I'm on the original O2 Exec rom (well, most of it )
When I run the cab (automatically from a hard reset or manually), I can see the values in the registry but they never appear on the today screen. I've tried a variety of power cycling, soft resetting etc but the today screen is never updated - it always says "Tap here to set owner info". If I do that, the registry keys are cleared out...
If anyone can shed some light on this I'd be grateful - for a small problem it's taking up a lot of time! :?
Cheers!

I've not gone down the .CAB route, but just import these and other settings from a .reg file and have never had this problem.
When I have to install from scratch, the first install is Resco's Explorer (which contains a Registry Editor), then execute the .reg file.
Almost sounds as if the registry changes are not being saved. Is it only these particular settings or are other changes not registered?

Well, I have created loads of CAB files in WinCE CAB Manager to set up my phone, tomtom, etc.
I Used the same method as you. The only difference being that I reset (automatically) after I install them. Could this be it?
Ahh, which WinCE CAB Manager version you running? You need the new beta 1.2 version to be able to create WM5 compatible CAB Files. Can this have something to do with it?

moghisi101 said:
... The only difference being that I reset (automatically) after I install them. Could this be it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Probably the cause. I know I've read and experienced that I must allow the device to flush after changes before I reset it. I usually turn it off, then wait a minute or two before I soft-reset.
Ahh, which WinCE CAB Manager version you running? You need the new beta 1.2 version to be able to create WM5 compatible CAB Files. Can this have something to do with it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As yet I'm not using CABs/Cab-Manager. Couldn't find one when I looked - except at ridiculous money, which I wasn't prepared to waste - so I'm just using the .reg-files manually

Guys, many thanks for the replies!
I'm using my 15 free goes (and hibernating ) on version 1.1 of WCM at the mo, it's too expensive to buy as I would only use it for this as far as I can see - I'll head off and look for the beta next.
I have tried power cycling, pausing while off and resetting as well as soft-resetting from software, but not doing it automatically 'cos I don't know how!
@moghisi101: Out of curiousity, how are you automatically performing a soft-reset and thanks for the heads-up about beta 1.2!

I have written an Autorun.exe file, much like the one in the extended rom. It does not however read a config.txt file. It runs the CAB files (with my apps and settings in) and then resets.
I don't remember where I put the code, so I can't compile one for you. It only needs a slight change from the Autorun sample Microsoft Supply.
At the moment I can set up pretty much everything on the phone. Button Lock, GPRS Settings (including GPRS Auto Attach, etc), Owner Info, Default Volume, Today Screen Plugins (order and enabled/disabled), Date/Time, Screen Config, Infrared off by default.....the list goes on. When I Hard Reboot, It skips the welcome screen (all the time settings etc) and I've got it to ask me which Operator Settings to Install (eg Vodafone, o2, Orange, Tmobile Splash Screens and GPRS connections).
It's much better than the default Qtek, i-mate, and (definately) o2 ROMs...

Just a thought!
Are you annotating your .reg files with semi-colon at the start of a line?
With the PC, I've always annotated my .reg import-files, so that I could remember why I'd done something later on, but found that *no* lines after those annotation would be imported on the Exec (Universal). Don't know if this is specifically a WM5 issue or not. If you put the annotations at the end of the .reg file, all the preceeding key/value content lines *are* imported.

@astage: Interesting about the annotations, that must have caused some pain before you figured it out! I don't have annotations in my reg files as I'm not really using reg files I'm building keys in WinCE Cab Manager by both importing reg exports and typing them in manually.
Unfortunately, the beta version is only available to registered users, so I'll have to abandon that one for now.
@moghisi101: It sounds like you're sorted! That's basically what I had in mind myself, except that I was thinking smaller
Thanks for the thought about compiling an exe, I was thinking I may have to ask a mate to make something like that so if you do find the code and feel like posting one, I'm sure the community would thank you!
I've been looking for something that would just install cabs etc then reboot but not found one yet on the web... I'm a UI designer and so am wary about going down the visual studio path for fear I may start to favour all-grey interfaces :twisted: .
Which autorun sample are you referring to though? I guess I may have to get my hands dirty after all!

No, I don't annotate them, so I haven't come accross this. But, if you save some Keys using a Reg Editor and then use Import in WinCE Cab Manager...ahhh, I think i may know the problem!
1. Don't put Comments in Reg Files
2. Don't use import in WinCE CAB Manager! If the reg key has data above a certain length it will split it to next line using a ";", but WinCE Cab Manager assumes this is the end of the data. So, your Owner Info could be being entered in incorrectly as a result. You have to copy-paste the reg key into a new dword, etc into WinCE Cab Manager. i.e. DONT IMPORT
I hope that vaguely made sense

Yup! Clear as a bell, thanks! I'll try that in a mo, just rebooting. Import is *sooo* tempting though, so simple... Curse my weakness for the easy path!

Hi. Here is Microsoft's Autorun Code (I have that)
You have to make slight changes to allow for reboot at end. It's fully annotated if you dont understand what it means. BTW, you dont need Visual Studio. Infact it's probably the worst root. Use Microsoft's eMbedded Visual C++ 4.0 to compile this for Windows CE, Mobile 2003SE, (or Mobile 5?). It's Microsoft but it's FREE!?

Sweet! Two terms you don't hear very often in the same context are Microsoft and free! Nice one, thanks! I'm downloading Microsoft's eMbedded Visual C++ 4.0 as I type.
You actually solved the problem already though, in a way, pointing out that WCM truncates "strings". I opened an exported key in Textpad and tidied it up (removing the end of line "\" and the "\n\t") then saved it and imported the file into WinCE Cab Manager, made my cab, installed it and soft rebooted from SPB PocketPlus without going back to the Today screen. It worked!
I'm a big fan of Textpad and will use that to make a macro to tidy up exported reg keys so I can import them easily (another triumph for the easy path!).
You, Sir, are a DUDE!
Edit: 16.4 kbps from MS... :roll: For anyone else who decides to go down this path, the killer bit is to make sure your key values don't get truncated! Open the .reg in a text editor and make sure any really long values, like binaries, are all on one nice long line! It doesn't seem to make any difference if you soft-reset from an app or use the stylus btw.
Shame the baby kept us up all last night! I've *got* to get some sleep or I'll end up doing god knows what to my device by accident!
Thanks for the help moghisi101!

Hehe, Gee Thanks. And btw, Textpad r0x!
If you want to do that autorun thing.....familiarize yourself with the whole 2577 method (search it and you'll understand). If you don't want crappy o2 Customisations, etc on your device then you are better off just editing the extended rom, edit the config.txt, add your configuration CABs, and then every time you hard reset all your customisations will appear! NO programming involved. If you then add "welcome.not" file to SD Card, the Welcome screen at hard reset wont appear (if you code this in your autorun file it will work on ALL devices, not just a few including HTC). BUT only do this if your CAB files contain stylus screen settings, and time settings. However, as this is not viable in all situations the 2577 method can be much better. Especially when selling a piece of software, etc (automatic installation and configuration), as I do.
I might email you, later on, a video of what happens when I hard reset my device to give you an idea of what you can do (at the least) and hopefully you can go on to improve on that.

Thought I will give you a kick start. Here are some Regedits I could make for you. Took me a short while, but there are loads more for inbuilt apps (e.g Messagig, etc) but I coudn't remember where the reg values where.
Please note, I couldn't find any of the WM5 ones...completely forgotten them. But these should give you and idea as to where they are. Also, look here in the Wiki
http://wiki.xda-developers.com/index.php?pagename=BA_Hacks_WM5
http://wiki.xda-developers.com/index.php?pagename=BA_Hacks
Some of the ones I have given are from here, but many more I found myself
Hope it helps you (become a millionaire - don't forget me )

You can see the solution here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/viewtopic.php?t=34525
Thanks to Bayondthetech for the CAB file.

Hehe. I feel like a n00b now (which I am really). I hadn't seen that. But I think mine does a couple of extra things that he didn't post....?
Bye

Wow! Holy Cr*p! Thanks for all those reg files! :bows:
I'd looked at BTT's post before and was hoping to use his cabs as a guide. Unfortunately, they aren't currently available (from what I've read, he generated so much traffic with his downloads that his host yanked his connection and he's in the process of moving sites).
Thanks to moghisi101 and a few other posters on this forum, I don't need them any more!
@moghisi101: I had already edited my extendedRom's config file to load and run cabs I store on the SD card (to keep the extRom below 10mb) and realised last night that that already does the auto reset for me, so life gets another bit easier These reg files rock though! Shame you're not running tomom5 yourself, I'll have to sort those out myself!
The next thing to try is to export the BT settings for my paired devices - I'm hoping it will be possible to restore those automatically too.
Attached is the TextPad macro (although it is too simple to call it that really!) that I'm using to tidy up the reg keys for import into WinCE Cab Manager, hope it helps someone!
Post that video!

Hey
Actually, I have TomTom 5....up until 5.10 I edited TomTom's Cab itself but I just haven't had a chance with 5.21 (need to use CabWiz now, not WinCE Cab Manager - no full WM5 support lol).
The TomTom 3 Today settings is same for TomTom 5 if you want to change order/hide/unhide. Most of the other settings are in a .cfg file on SD card for Home Address, etc. Only a couple other settings use Registry...
Anyway....glad to be of some service

moghisi101 said:
... (need to use CabWiz now, not WinCE Cab Manager - no full WM5 support lol). ...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Had a brief conversation this afternoon with a friend who uses Microsoft's CabWiz to produce .cab files for bespoke software.
He mentioned that (with CabWiz) if you use the .cab to apply registry entries, then the .cab must also install something, a text file or similar. I can't recall if he said it would otherwise not create the .cab correctly, or that the reg entries may not be applied correctly.
Not yet tried it myself - will have to wait until after the bloody Tax Return is finished!

Strange, It works fine for me? Was his the newer CabWiz that you can use with WM5, like mine?

How do I turn a .reg file into a .cab?

Hi everyone,
I have an XDA Exec and my current project is to customise my extended rom to install resco, magic button, some ringtones into the windows folder, batti and not have O2 Active (just dingo's connections cab). I have sorted the above, but now I would like to export my whole registry with just these applications installed, along with all my settings 9owner information, MSN, camera settings etc...) If I export the whole registry through Resco, can I then convert that into a CAB using WinCE CAB Manager or soething similar? Is it a good idea? How do I imprt a registry file successfully into WinCE, as I have tried it in the past with previous devices and never got anywhere. I would be extremely grateful for any help, even if its just someone telling me not to bother wasting my time if it won't work!
Cheers,
Fin

WinCE CAB Manager will allow you to make a cab from a reg. However, there are limitations I think, and whether it's wise to do the whole reg is another question. Some of it is volatile. If you pick and choose relevant user settings, you should be safe.
V

vijay555 said:
WinCE CAB Manager will allow you to make a cab from a reg. However, there are limitations I think, and whether it's wise to do the whole reg is another question. Some of it is volatile. If you pick and choose relevant user settings, you should be safe.
V
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
D'oh! I just found out the hard way that importing your whole registry doesn't work for quite a few reasons! Thanks for your reply, I still can't work out CAB manager though. Is there anything particular you have to remember when importing a REG file into a CAB?

There's some issue I read somewhere that it breaks some lines or something in the imported reg. Not sure how or why...
I'd suggest just get the relevant sections, control panel, software, gwes etc... you'll have to glance through your whole reg, try it in individual sections, then compile the lot into one functional bunch.
V

i have been using WinCE cab manager a lot and i have found that importing small sections of 'code' is more reliable than huge chunks, and i have used this methood succesfully to create customised cab file settings (see my theme+ringtone+dialler post) where i extracted parts of the registry and posted into WinCE cab.
thanks

registry editor cab that works?

When using lite roms, there is usually no registry editor included.
Anybody have an editor cab that actually works? I have tried phm editor, but can't get it to work. It if does work, how do you get the thing working?
Currently using K's 6.0 final, but have noticed the same problem in other roms I have used.

tora201 said:
...
Anybody have an editor cab that actually works?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I use Kilmist. It's a great little editor with a good search function. Only trouble is it costs a little bit of money. You get a free trial period, and so long as you change ROMS often enough, you might never have to buy it.

Total Commander
Total Commander comes with a great little Reg Editor.

thanks man. I should have thought of total commander. I just wanted a simple free editor, often like the ones that are pre-cooked into roms. Total commander is good, but almost five times the size of phm editor, for example. Anyway, I will use total commander in the meantime as an emergency measure until I can get hold of a small free editor that works without having to be pre-cooked in.

tora201 said:
thanks man. I should have thought of total commander. I just wanted a simple free editor, often like the ones that are pre-cooked into roms. Total commander is good, but almost five times the size of phm editor, for example. Anyway, I will use total commander in the meantime as an emergency measure until I can get hold of a small free editor that works without having to be pre-cooked in.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I see. Wasn't thinking of the size. I wonder if someone could just extract the reg editor from it? Just a thought.

tora201 said:
a small free editor that works without having to be pre-cooked in.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
"Small", "free" and "working properly" - these are merits... an all-in-one - seems like impossible.
I use Resco Registry - is excellent, but not free.

Hmm.. I installed total commander and found no registry editing option. (I remember now, I tried it before and couldn't get the registry part going then, either). Instead I found a free one (Mobile Registry Editor) that runs from xp and connects to your device while it is synchronized. Better than nothing, I suppose.

Any decent file explorer recommendations besides Resco?

Can anyone recommend a decent file explorer app that is touch-friendly (most important attribute!), but other then Resco? I downloaded the Resco trial and really liked it, but I can't bring myself to spend 30 bucks on an app that's a file explorer.

I reckon it's well worth it, I really like it, especially with the built in support for zip/rar, FTP/Network and registry explorer

Have you tried Total Commander? You need the tcmdpocketarm.cab found on that site.
I just switched from Total Commander to Resco File Explorer and to be honest, I like Resco much more, but Total Commander has always worked fine..and it's freeware!

GryphonLeon said:
Have you tried Total Commander? You need the tcmdpocketarm.cab found on that site.
I just switched from Total Commander to Resco File Explorer and to be honest, I like Resco much more, but Total Commander has always worked fine..and it's freeware!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Total Commander was included in the last ROM I flashed, but it's definitely not very finger-friendly!
So far it sounds like I should just bite the bullet and spend the cash on Resco.

stpete111 said:
Total Commander was included in the last ROM I flashed, but it's definitely not very finger-friendly!
So far it sounds like I should just bite the bullet and spend the cash on Resco.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can make Total Commander a bit more finger-friendly by making the font size bigger (just go to Show->About/Settings->Change Font). I have it set to 12, which makes it quite easy to use with your finger...

Try GSFinder+. It's supposed to be a freeware alternative to Resco, finger-friendly and all that stuff.

I use Resco Explorer as well. It's been my file explorer of choice for quite a few years now. Well worth the money if you ask me!

I use file explorer extension, really useful app. You can set up different views, easy access tree at the top (via drop down). Has useful things like when right clicking an exe you can create a shortcut in the programs folder and such things. Definitely a must have for me!
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=421723

I'm also a long time RESCO user but must admit I bought their RESCO utility pack which is a bundle of applications which I believe is better value.

I'm also a Resco File Explorer User. 30 bucks seems to be a lot of money, but then again, it's a tool that is being used very frequently, so well worth the money imho.

I use this one.

well there is another one i used for symbian called x-plore, cost something around 8$ or application start-up and close coundown if you dont wanna pay i think. works fine in wm, shortcuts, quite nice piece of software.
check here
http://www.lonelycatgames.com/?app=xplore

Otherwise use GSlide. Very useful and you could get it here.. .

Fallen Spartan said:
I use this one.
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What is this exactly? Any screenshots or descriptions anywhere?
Thanks.

Thanks for all the replies folks. I think I'm just going to buy Resco and at least I know I'll be happy with it.

Arthenik said:
Try GSFinder+. It's supposed to be a freeware alternative to Resco, finger-friendly and all that stuff.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Its the only file explorer i use!

What text editor do you use?

What text editor do you use for your windows mobile phone?
I did a quick search for a lightweight plain text editor for Windows Mobile and I was not pleased with the results... I started to develop my own Notepad clone about 30 minutes ago and I decided perhaps I should ask around here, first, just in case there is some awesome one around that I don't know about.
So, does anyone know some great, light-weight plain text editors for Windows Mobile?

I use the one built into Total Commander - it has about the same number of features as the desktop version of Notepad

Try Jot, an excellent text editor, with rich settings and functions builtin, which is able to handle files with the size up to 30M and various encoding formats.
http://pandora.sblo.jp

If you mean editing on the phone i use Notepad. It works very well, but has a sizelimit above which it does not work anymore. Basically i use it for small/medium size mscr, xml, cpr, ini etc.
On my PC i use Wordpad.

TextPad32 - www.TextPad32.com is a awesome app for PC.
For mobile:
Tillansoft Notepad
Shimashi Notepad
Osymo Textpad
i will find links shortly...

I use CKE (http://www.animaniak.com/cke/cke_main.asp). It is old but if you are thinking of features to add to a more modern text editor, this is a good one to look at to get ideas.

TehPenguin said:
I use the one built into Total Commander - it has about the same number of features as the desktop version of Notepad
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1 Total Commander makes editing any txt file easy.

Using NotepadMobile on my device. More info HERE.

mccune said:
Using NotepadMobile on my device. More info HERE.
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Click to collapse
Heh, this one looks a little better than the other link that I saw about Notepad Mobile.
Interestingly enough, it looks very similar to my implementation (I actually called the project Notepad Mobile before I saw this one. ) It does seem to have all of the functionality of my own, though it lacks the keyboard shortcuts for the clipboard that I implemented with the Touch Pro 2 in mind.
EDIT: Now downloading it, I'd also notice that it poorly implements some other features such as the status bar and the font selection. It's also not nearly as light-weight as they advertise. Personally, I think Total Commander is much better implemented in features, yet it isn't stand-alone which is my only problem with it. I'm also not completely sure if you can associate file types with the text editor in Total Commander as I have implemented.
If you like this one, I will package mine and upload it a bit later in the week.