Requested Hermes 100 Mods Help, Thoughts and Advice - 8525, TyTN, MDA Vario II, JasJam ROM Development

Hi all,
I've been a reader (lurker) of this forum since the 8125. I have a Hermes 100 from Cingular which I have played around with, as shown on this forum. I am trying to create a fast, multimedia phone, that runs on the Hermes. I am not a techie, like many of you who know how to program, but I do admire what you've done. I could use your help......
Recently, post the last HTC upgrade, I added Black Satin, the Iphone Slider, and SPB Shell 1.5 , Diary and Pocket Plus 4.0, just to see how things work. Some thoughts (and the questions for which I seek an answer).
Do like the Black Satin add-ons, though Black was never really my color, and the HTC Shell and Diary are nice (though with Pocket Plus, gets very bloated)...still, it runs very slow....how can I:
1. Find a basic HTC shell?
2. If I wanted to ad in an interface, would you suggest the SPB Shell 1.5 + Diary or do you think Pocket Plus 4.0 is smooth, fast and multi-talented?
3. Opera or Explorer?
4. I still cannot watch Youtube, and some websites that require flash to show videos do not like Macromedia 7.0 Flash..they say "upgrade!" Thoughts?
5. I downloaded and installed The Black Shadow Video Dial Configuration, to use 3G video phone calls. But, as I am on the Cingular network, neither my brother (with the Tilt, unlocked) or my Hermes can make video calls on the network. Advice?! This would be super cool.
6. Are there "optimal" cingular internet settings that allow fastest access, or unblocked ports for 3G vid calling, streaming etc?
7. what is the best solution in terms of Iphone like scrolling and unlock? I know 4.0 Pocket Plus has it...its just "ok"...I tried to install Slide2unlock, didn't work for me.
8. I also used RealVGA, but didnt' notice a considerable difference. Is it not there, or am I dreaming?
9. Finally, should I just sell this Hermes 100 (its a "new" refurbished one from AT&T, got it yesterday) and buy a Tilt, or can I do everything I want on this baby!? I've had this type of phoen for a half a year now.....
Wow, a lot of questions, and I know you folks could say "read the 500 pages of the forum"...trust me, I've spent hours in these threads. I would appreciate your help, and I've honestly been trying, but it gets a little too technical for me past installing Cabs and following instructions, to be honest. So, any help you can offer would be VERY greatly appreciated.
All the best, George

Ok, here are answers to some points of yours:
4) There is no flash enabled browser for Windows Mobile. Only workarounds exist for watching the flash videos off Youtube and similar pages. So you will not be able to see those pages in near future.
7)iPhone scrolling - I use fTouchFlo - it works in all of the programs but has its flaws, I use s2u2 on my Hermes with no problem. One more thing to note is that Hermes touchc screen is different form iPhone touch screen and what we have (including SPB scrolling) are workarounds that still need a time to mature.
8) RealVGA? You are missing the point - both Hermes and Tilt have QVGA screen - there is no way to get it to VGA (simply because your screen has four times less pixels than VGA screen). It will not work because it is intended for VGA devices not for QVGA we own.
This is a developer forum - if you want less technical focus you can head to HOFO or other fora... I know lots of people in here read a lot... but they do not seem to think about what they read and then they tend to have really stupid questions. If all you want is media phone go for iPhone - there will not be 3G functions - but the scrolling works - there is no hassle with third party applications and everything can be done in only one way - the Apple way. The WM platform lets you do much more but it comes at price - in here I think you should get your feet wet in some basic techie stuff other than installing CABS. Hope I helped at least little...
PS: I had a hard time being new to the WM too - it needs time - I think right now you do not know what exactly you can expect from your device.

Well, first of all:
Thank you for your reply. True, it is called XDA Developers....and I am, in fairness, not. And as for an Iphone, wouldn't touch it with a 10 ft pool - I like the flexibility of this HTC WM6 phone I have...but frankly apart from some BASIC at the age of 9-11yrs, programming is not a forte ;-)
I'll try your solution to the scrolling.....and of course, I'll keep reading, but I figured (a. You folks know this stuff so well, and b). I can't be the first person to come in with these questions. After all, It's not like I'm not trying,...I flashed something like 20 roms yesterday testing them all out! - on that note, I love your benchmark thread.
Anyway, thank you for your help and the help of anyone else who gives it!
best, George

Ehhm to put some things straight...I know even less programming than you do I have a very same opinion of an iPhone - this thing can not be called "smart" phone at all. What you stumbled upon is the fact that there are two basic groups of users of our PDA phones - first ones are user tha want their phones just work - they are not interested why something does not work, they just want a certain standard to work and as long as it does they are happy. Second group is geeks like me (and the majority of users of this forum) that are just happy to upgrade their phones to whatever newer and try it out. The problem is that for example cooked ROMS have bugs/issues (not that official ROMs have none) - issues vary from small glitches, memory leaks, not functioning buttons to random hardresets. If you go way of the cooked ROMs usually you will have to spend more time with your devices than the first group of users just to fix glitches. The other thing is that cooked ROMs and applications there can enable you do much more with your phone - for example resource hogging HTC Home plugin was not intended for Hermes, touch scroll ability as well and we can continue - but folks over here made it possible - that is what makes this forum so great. Butif you choose to go this way you will have to read, read and read again - because nothing is perfect. Our devices have limitations too - hermes processor has computing power roughly equal to Pentium 100 MHz (that is over ten years old processor for desktops) - so some tasks are hard to be adapted (that is why most of the programs we use are watered down versions of desktop programs - as well as screen size is quite limiting for browsing and so on - if you want a VGA screen than you have to count with: your device being a tad slower (4x more data to be displayed over QVGA) and also bigger battery drain (4x more pixels to power up). Said that you can get some of the things you ask for in your questions, but some are still a challenge...

Use vtap for youtube viewing. Just google it.
Opera. Definitely Opera.
Well, AT&T does not support video calls so unless you go out of the country its useless to you. Besides, your phones dont even have the front facing camera, so it would be hard to do anyways.

Mcorrie:
Thanks, I think right now, I am at:
1. A Basic Shell for speed and customization (not sure which yet)
2. Web Browser: Opera
3. YouTube Browser: VTap
4. Scrolling: TouchFlo or s2u2
5. Additional Scrolling: Possibly Touch Commander
6. Maps: Google Maps
7. Wifi Searching: WIFIFOFUM
8: Microsoft Office
9. Phone Dialer (includes 3G Video??): Unknown
10. Camera/Video Program: Unknown
11. Media Player: Unknown
As for Video Calling, I figured there was a way to bypass the Cingular restrictions, but I have not found it yet. After all, it is a pipe...so it should be possible, right?

Some more from me:
4. Scrolling: TouchFlo or s2u2 (s2u2 is only for unlocking! no other scrolling so you can use both))
5. Additional Scrolling: Possibly Touch Commander or Slither's Flash cube (the same effect, but free)
9. Phone Dialer (includes 3G Video??): Schen's Kaiser dialer 2 (or something like this)
10. Camera/Video Program: CoolCamera - this one is commercial, but best there is
11. Media Player: TCPMP 0.81 - freeware plays nearly everything: audio video, with plugin even .flv and so on...

Karhu,
Dakujem for the additions: I am also adding Radio 1.48 as that seems to be the most stable for Brooklyn, NY according to a June report....I'm going to test myself, but as of now:
1. A Basic Shell for speed and customization
2. Web Browser: Opera
3. YouTube Browser: VTap
4. Scrolling: TouchFlo and s2u2
5. Additional Scrolling: Slither’s Flash Cube or Touch Commander
6. Maps: Google Maps
7. Wifi Searching: WIFIFOFUM
8: Microsoft Office
9. Phone Dialer (includes 3G Video??): Schen's Kaiser dialer 2
10. Camera/Video Program: CoolCamera
11. Media Player: TCPMP 0.81
Now, I just need to figure out what else needs to go in this thing! Trying to avoid bloat, but don't want to leave out needed functionality! I think maybe I'll find someone's mostly stripped down Rom and just add in - its a start.

More comments:
I think if you are looking for less bloated system you should stick with basic WM5/6 look - Wisbar advance that can customize the whole look of the system runs on the top of the basic shell and thus takes up some precious RAM space. The same goes for bells and whistles like s2u2 or slither's Cube - function of s2u2 is to lock/unlock the device - but a part of the program runs in background as a service and consumes 200k of RAM even when you use the device - it is not much but as you proceed to customize the device the amount of bloat grows.
I think you should also look for some decent task managers: I personally like wktask and Quickmenu, but pBar is also nice. HTC xButton is quite a bloat in this matter. You should think what is the main purpose you will use your phone for - CoolCamera is nice but due to hardware limitation of the Hermes those pictures will always look....like taken by a phone.
When it comes to extra lite ROMs beware - they tend to have memory leaks and some Super storage ROMs even random bricking - hardreset needed to make them work again.
Several other variants:
Peek Pocket in wifi scanner (just one small exe)
Core Player instead of TCPMP (Core player is the commercial succesor of freeware TCPMP)
You should also consider some backup program if planning to fiddle more with your phone:
If you want to save your messages, mails, contacts and stuff go for free PIM Backup.
Hope that helps a little

1. Find a basic HTC shell?
What do you mean? If you want HTC TouchFLO-like shell (the basic one is TouchFLO 2D), get ThrottleLauncher. You can install TouchFLO, but you need to flash your ROM. You also can use Spb Mobile Shell 2 with Diamond theme (search Diamond theme for Spb Mobile Shell in xda-developers forum)
UPDATE : Now it's possible, http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=541750 It's the TouchFLO 2D from HTC Touch2 (HTC Mega).. Download the "PATCHED MANILA FOR WM6.1 and non-HTC devices" if you have 6.0 or 6.1
2. If I wanted to ad in an interface, would you suggest the SPB Shell 1.5 + Diary or do you think Pocket Plus 4.0 is smooth, fast and multi-talented?
Spb Mobile Shell!
3. Opera or Explorer?
I usually use Explorer for short time browsing, and Opera Mobile for long time or serious browsing, because we must wait for about 5 seconds for Opera to boot up
UPDATE : With Opera Mobile 10, the Opera is not slow anymore, I'm currently using Opera Mobile 10 as my only and favourite browser on my Hermes..
4. I still cannot watch Youtube, and some websites that require flash to show videos do not like Macromedia 7.0 Flash..they say "upgrade!" Thoughts?
Download the YouTube app, you cannot view on the Windows Mobile browser..
UPDATE : With SkyFire browser, you can..
7. what is the best solution in terms of Iphone like scrolling and unlock? I know 4.0 Pocket Plus has it...its just "ok"...I tried to install Slide2unlock, didn't work for me.
Upgrade your Windows Mobile to Windows Mobile 6.1 or 6.5
UPDATE : Use Slide2Unlock2 (S2U2), it works on my Hermes (running official WM6 ROM)
8. I also used RealVGA, but didnt' notice a considerable difference. Is it not there, or am I dreaming?
Hermes's screen is QVGA (320x240), so you cannot force Windows to view VGA (640x480)
9. Finally, should I just sell this Hermes 100 (its a "new" refurbished one from AT&T, got it yesterday) and buy a Tilt, or can I do everything I want on this baby!? I've had this type of phoen for a half a year now.....
No, I think Hermes' body is more sturdy than the Tilt (Kaiser)

Epic necro. Another month and a bit and you'd have had 2 years!

Timing is everything when replying to a thread. Especially when it's almost 2 years old!

Related

Is it wise to upgrade?

I have an unbranded TP2 with an original dutch ROM. I use TouchFlo all the time and I'm pretty happy with it (responsiveness, speed, etc). Sometimes I use an alternative GUI, like SPB Mobile Shell 3.5 with Sense le Revolution. I never use the Windows UI by itself. I deactivated push internet so as to win RAM. My normal RAM usage is about 35% and therfore my TP2 reacts crispy. With all this saisand written, is it wise to upgrade to WinMo 6.5? What do I win when I upgrade? Advice most welcome,
regards, Kuzibri
I'm sorry I can't answer your question as I haven't upgraded but can you tell me how you disabled Push Internet? Thanks
First of all, before asking questions use the search function of this forum.
If you had done that, then you would have found this thread:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=532948
Thanks for the advice Kuzibri.
Actually, I only just discovered what a "forum" was a few days ago, this is all totally new to me. Most of it is Chinese and like learning hyrogliphics. I'm an old man now and it's all so new... so thanks for the advice. I'll try to learn how to use the Search function now.
kuzibri said:
I have an unbranded TP2 with an original dutch ROM. I use TouchFlo all the time and I'm pretty happy with it (responsiveness, speed, etc). Sometimes I use an alternative GUI, like SPB Mobile Shell 3.5 with Sense le Revolution. I never use the Windows UI by itself. I deactivated push internet so as to win RAM. My normal RAM usage is about 35% and therfore my TP2 reacts crispy. With all this saisand written, is it wise to upgrade to WinMo 6.5? What do I win when I upgrade? Advice most welcome,
regards, Kuzibri
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I upgraded to WM 6.5 when the HTC Official ROM (WWE version) became available. There are already several threads on the forum talking about people's experiences. For me personally the main gains were fixes to do with Microsoft Exchange-enforced security. I'll just quickly summarise my own experiences:
Positives:
1. Fixed the behaviour with going to Home Tab (when the Simple PIN security was active) every time the phone was turned on, and also when taking the phone away from your head to use the dialpad when in the middle of a call.
2. Fixed the wifi settings being lost on a weak signal.
3. Added cool-looking lock screen (which I actually like)
4. New "HTC Sense" version of TouchFLO - it's still Manila 2.1 but with added animated weather wallpaper, and location services (detects where you are and updates weather accordingly).
5. FM Radio is bundled as standard and it works. On WM 6.1 the FM Radio app that you could manually add in would get 'stuck' on a particular radio station. This does not happen on the WM 6.5 version.
Interesting:
1. New Hexagonal Start screen: Trying to get used to this still. The grid-style Start Menu for the WM 6.1 ROM is in a tab called 'Programs' now.
2. New behaviour with wifi: When set to 'on' in HTC's Communications manager, Wifi switches off in standby and connects again only when an app tries to access data. This can cause problems in Opera when it gets tired of waiting for wifi to connect and just times out, requiring a page refresh. See this thread on the new behaviour: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=571993
3. Windows Marketplace: I haven't used this enough to make a comment.
4. Microsoft My Phone: Installed but checks for an updated version and downloads that. You can do this on WM6.1 manually anyway.
Negatives
1. Memory usage is higher with the official WM 6.5 ROM, so deactivating Push Internet is a very good idea.
2. Apps seem to get 'killed' more easily and booted from running in the background than on the WM 6.1 Stock ROM even if there is fair amount of RAM left. See this Tilt2 thread: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=575663
3. Last Full Charge information does not work very well. See this thread: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=571606
EDIT: Forgot some more points:
4. The WM6.5 ROM disables control over the which alerts flash the LED. See here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=572054
5. Owner information requires a bit of fiddling around to get to: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=571198
So basically, the WM 6.5 upgrade is not perfect, but it did fix a lot of things that I found very annoying with the original ROM. My advice is that if you're happy with your current set-up, there's no rush to upgrade. For me, the fixes were worth it.
Hi monomer888,
thank you very much for your elaborate answer.
regards, Kuzibri
Nice! Thank you so much for the detailed answer!
I have been waiting for Tmo to release their official 6.5 upgrade for sometime. I used WM6.5 on tmo wing in the past and honestly wasn't that impressed (and it was earlier builds too, and locks up all the time). The one advantage of the "official rom" by tmo is that it's stable. For the past 2 months I had my TP2 I may have soft reset twice due to the phone hanging in the middle of the day and that's it. No missing important phone calls in that nature. It's just stable.
Of course wm6.5 always have something to be desired, which is the new windows button and close button, but I'll wait till it fully matures.
monomer888 said:
I upgraded to WM 6.5 when the HTC Official ROM (WWE version) became available. There are already several threads on the forum talking about people's experiences. For me personally the main gains were fixes to do with Microsoft Exchange-enforced security. I'll just quickly summarise my own experiences:
Positives:
1. Fixed the behaviour with going to Home Tab (when the Simple PIN security was active) every time the phone was turned on, and also when taking the phone away from your head to use the dialpad when in the middle of a call.
2. Fixed the wifi settings being lost on a weak signal.
3. Added cool-looking lock screen (which I actually like)
4. New "HTC Sense" version of TouchFLO - it's still Manila 2.1 but with added animated weather wallpaper, and location services (detects where you are and updates weather accordingly).
5. FM Radio is bundled as standard and it works. On WM 6.1 the FM Radio app that you could manually add in would get 'stuck' on a particular radio station. This does not happen on the WM 6.5 version.
Interesting:
1. New Hexagonal Start screen: Trying to get used to this still. The grid-style Start Menu for the WM 6.1 ROM is in a tab called 'Programs' now.
2. New behaviour with wifi: When set to 'on' in HTC's Communications manager, Wifi switches off in standby and connects again only when an app tries to access data. This can cause problems in Opera when it gets tired of waiting for wifi to connect and just times out, requiring a page refresh. See this thread on the new behaviour: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=571993
3. Windows Marketplace: I haven't used this enough to make a comment.
4. Microsoft My Phone: Installed but checks for an updated version and downloads that. You can do this on WM6.1 manually anyway.
Negatives
1. Memory usage is higher with the official WM 6.5 ROM, so deactivating Push Internet is a very good idea.
2. Apps seem to get 'killed' more easily and booted from running in the background than on the WM 6.1 Stock ROM even if there is fair amount of RAM left. See this Tilt2 thread: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=575663
3. Last Full Charge information does not work very well. See this thread: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=571606
EDIT: Forgot some more points:
4. The WM6.5 ROM disables control over the which alerts flash the LED. See here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=572054
5. Owner information requires a bit of fiddling around to get to: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=571198
So basically, the WM 6.5 upgrade is not perfect, but it did fix a lot of things that I found very annoying with the original ROM. My advice is that if you're happy with your current set-up, there's no rush to upgrade. For me, the fixes were worth it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, if I had more time to devote to my phone, I'd probably try a custom ROM on it. As it stands my phone functions well day-to-day and even with its faults, I love how the TP2 works.

TF3D is too slow for my liking, any better options?

Hi all, its been a while since I posted but I am the former user of the 8125,8525, and 8925 (tilt) and haven't used a pocket pc phone since then. I had my stints with the Fuze & Touch HD but thats another story. Anyways Ive been using the iPhone 3g/3gs for the last year and I recently sold it to purchase the AT&T Tilt 2. I must say although the phone is very good looking and this is the best qwerty I have ever used, the phone lags and it is kinda slow especially comparing phones like the iPhone or BBerry Bold 2. What are my options in terms of Navigating the GUI without TF3D? I remember when I used to own my pocketpc's I used a program called "HTC Home" which was simple,fast, and efficient. Does that program still work on the Rhodium? Do I have any options of using something similar to the TF3d but faster? Or will changing my ROM make the difference up in speed? Let me know what you all think and thanks in advance. Also What does "Manilla" mean?
Dude there are so many ways to have a decent UI without manila go through a lot of the rom threads and read about each one, Most have light versions and a titanium version that eliminate tf3d completely. MANILA= TF3D they are one and the same as I see it, some people might get more technical with you but its like a tilt 2 and a touch pro 2 different names for basically the same thing, minus a few hardware differences when talking devices. Also Give SPB Mobile Shell a try, you can download a trial and if yuo like it can either purchase it or do one of those promotions and get it cheap o pm me and I'll let you know where to find it I myself love tf3d and cant wait till it becomes fully modifyable with the ability to make my own tabs for whatever we see fit, It will happen just gonna take a while and have some genius' coding things so quick links can be installed in the script with copy and paste so its easy for everyone to do. I think there may be a few other 3rd party UIs out there too, so just play around and see what fits you. And if you cant fully uninstall something its not like a hard reset cant be done! Always backup what you dont want to lose.
See here for HTC Home for WVGA/VGA devices.
Buy an HD2
Windows default "titanium" is also very customizable and much less RAM eating than TF3D.
I´ll stay with Manila 2.1 working very smooth for me
I really lost interest in this phone the more I used it - I found tf3d to be too slow... Rather than flash ROMS, I gave SPB Mobile Shell a try. It's awesome! I removed all items from the today screen and just run the shell.
Memory usage is different as well. Before I had to keep it under 50% to get the phone to run. With Mobile Shell I just keep opening programs up to 80% and the interface doesn't lag.
Give it a try...
Want a familiar and friendly (as well as FAAST) interface?
Google iPhoneToday. It's mimics the iPhone interface and is very easy to setup shortcuts and icons.
Simply go t your SETTINGS>TODAY button and disable TF3D and ENABLE iPhoneToday.
I love this interface much better as it's quick and to the point. Also less memory uses than TF3D

Where do I start? ATT bloatware eating it alive!

Hello all!
I am just coming off of using a Tilt for 3 years, and finally it died. In my opinion, it was the best phone I ever owned. I had high expectations for this new tilt2, but alas - when it arrived, I was dismayed at all of the crapware, levels of junk, and the lack of ability to control what icons I see on the start menu (which looks like someone vomited icons all over the screen - no organization to them at all - I have to dig 3 menus deep just to find file explorer, and FORGET about the wireless manager! It's hopeless!
Why oh why have they taken away the customization that made WM great?
On my old Tilt, I simply ran the stock rom, and did the reset to avoid all the att crapware, for a plain vanilla WM5 device. I then ran Kaisertweak, and HTC Home customizer. It ran whatever apps I threw at it, and ran them well.
My only complaint would be that compared to the iphone, the apps look and feel clunkier, but as I said, they worked very well, so who cares? Even the freeware Opera browser worked well, if inferior to Safari - but not terrible.
Is there any way to make this one look and act like that? What I wouldnt give for it to run WM5, I swear...
I have owned: Casiopea e150, dell x3, dell x5, royaltech PPC w/ gps, Eten M600, Glofiish X500, ATT 8125, ATT tilt, Iphone 2g, Iphone 3g, and now this.
I am not afraid of tweaking, although I dislike 'cooked' roms - Id rather fix a clean factory release.
Of all of those, the (old) Tilt was my woobee. I might just see if I can find another one somewhere. I like the new screen, and the fact it can play xvid movies without a recode, but damn...is it worth it? I'm afraid to put any software on this thing, because I might never find it again!
subterran said:
Hello all!
I am just coming off of using a Tilt for 3 years, and finally it died. In my opinion, it was the best phone I ever owned. I had high expectations for this new tilt2, but alas - when it arrived, I was dismayed at all of the crapware, levels of junk, and the lack of ability to control what icons I see on the start menu (which looks like someone vomited icons all over the screen - no organization to them at all - I have to dig 3 menus deep just to find file explorer, and FORGET about the wireless manager! It's hopeless!
Why oh why have they taken away the customization that made WM great?
On my old Tilt, I simply ran the stock rom, and did the reset to avoid all the att crapware, for a plain vanilla WM5 device. I then ran Kaisertweak, and HTC Home customizer. It ran whatever apps I threw at it, and ran them well.
My only complaint would be that compared to the iphone, the apps look and feel clunkier, but as I said, they worked very well, so who cares? Even the freeware Opera browser worked well, if inferior to Safari - but not terrible.
Is there any way to make this one look and act like that? What I wouldnt give for it to run WM5, I swear...
I have owned: Casiopea e150, dell x3, dell x5, royaltech PPC w/ gps, Eten M600, Glofiish X500, ATT 8125, ATT tilt, Iphone 2g, Iphone 3g, and now this.
I am not afraid of tweaking, although I dislike 'cooked' roms - Id rather fix a clean factory release.
Of all of those, the (old) Tilt was my woobee. I might just see if I can find another one somewhere. I like the new screen, and the fact it can play xvid movies without a recode, but damn...is it worth it? I'm afraid to put any software on this thing, because I might never find it again!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Best advice I can offer sense you dont really want a cooked rom is to grab a Program like Total commander and remove the icons you dont want and rearrange it anyway you would like
How about this: can someone point me to a plain vanilla WM6.1 (if that will work) or a WM6.5 ROM and maybe a few device driver cabs?
Oh, and by the way - I hate the 70's flipdown clock. I wish I could at choose how that looks. My god...the WM developers have now painted themselves into a corner!
*grumble grumble*
Subterran-
I think you may be overreacting a bit. I don't understand, with all of your device experience, why you aren't willing to find a cooked ROM that suits your needs and just slap it on there.
I tried the stock HTC ROM from here, http://wiki.xda-developers.com/index.php?pagename=HTC_Rhodium/Shipped_Roms, and found it to be a good alternative.
There are programs to change the interface, i.e. SPB Mobile Shell, which will let you get rid of what seems to be your biggest complaint.. There are programs to do just about anything you want it to do.
Oh, I also had a Tilt1 (Tytn II) and this one is an improvement over it, though it was a very good device.
subterran said:
Oh, and by the way - I hate the 70's flipdown clock. I wish I could at choose how that looks. My god...the WM developers have now painted themselves into a corner!
*grumble grumble*
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think that clock is all HTC's doing. I would like some different options for clocks and some of the cooked ones are good.
subterran said:
Hello all!
I am just coming off of using a Tilt for 3 years, and finally it died. In my opinion, it was the best phone I ever owned. I had high expectations for this new tilt2, but alas - when it arrived, I was dismayed at all of the crapware, levels of junk, and the lack of ability to control what icons I see on the start menu (which looks like someone vomited icons all over the screen - no organization to them at all - I have to dig 3 menus deep just to find file explorer, and FORGET about the wireless manager! It's hopeless!
Why oh why have they taken away the customization that made WM great?
On my old Tilt, I simply ran the stock rom, and did the reset to avoid all the att crapware, for a plain vanilla WM5 device. I then ran Kaisertweak, and HTC Home customizer. It ran whatever apps I threw at it, and ran them well.
My only complaint would be that compared to the iphone, the apps look and feel clunkier, but as I said, they worked very well, so who cares? Even the freeware Opera browser worked well, if inferior to Safari - but not terrible.
Is there any way to make this one look and act like that? What I wouldnt give for it to run WM5, I swear...
I have owned: Casiopea e150, dell x3, dell x5, royaltech PPC w/ gps, Eten M600, Glofiish X500, ATT 8125, ATT tilt, Iphone 2g, Iphone 3g, and now this.
I am not afraid of tweaking, although I dislike 'cooked' roms - Id rather fix a clean factory release.
Of all of those, the (old) Tilt was my woobee. I might just see if I can find another one somewhere. I like the new screen, and the fact it can play xvid movies without a recode, but damn...is it worth it? I'm afraid to put any software on this thing, because I might never find it again!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
remove these files http://wiki.xda-developers.com/index.php?pagename=UninstallingTilt2Software
Get Crud Scraper, it does it for you. Great app.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=587637&highlight=crud+scraper
All better! Thanks all!
OK - yes I must admit, I was overreacting. I jumped out and grabbed the very capable SPD mobile shell, and that took care of me being completely lost because of the worlds nuttiest start menu (!)
Here is my complete load, in case anyone is interested:
Stock 6.5 ATT ROM
Install .net 3.5 so I can use:
Crudscraper (Awesome way to clean the bloatware out, thanks!)
SPB Mobile Shell (this completely bypasses the default start menu / home - good riddance!)
1% Increment Battery Driver
K-Battery (a slick, freeware battery meter that looks great)
Memory Map Weather Radar
Vito Audionotes MP3 recorder
National Geographic Pocket Topo
Odyssey Mobile Navigator
Backcountry Navigator
TCPMP Player (Orb looks ver nice!)
WMWifirouter
Resco Regedit
Phoenix Studio
Then just customize SPB like I want it, and BAM - POW! How you like me now!
I REALLY like the mount-as-disc feature for accessing the microsd. About time! I am much happier with this phone.
Thanks XDA!
Looks like you're settled on Mobile Shell. If you ever feel like using the default start menu, I use JWMD Icon Changer to sort the icons, make folders, and (obviously) change icons. As another mentioned, you can use Total Commander to move the icons.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=567080
I found these alternate TouchFlo 3D clock on these forums.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=526466
Haven't tried them on my Tilt2 yet, but likely will soon.
Also HD Tweak (works just fine on Tilt2 despite being intended for Touch HD) and Advanced Config are great places to start tweaking settings.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=452505
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=418151
And this thread is invaluable: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=524655

Some questions about the Touch Pro 2 [follower model, BlackBerry, Performance, Apps]

Hey there,
right now I am thinking about getting a new device and there are some questions that keep me awake at night.
1. Are there any news or rumors about the following model of the Touch Pro 2 ?
1.1 When do you expect the follower model of the TP2?
2. As far as I know from going through the respective threads, there is no possibility yet to get BlackBerry Messenger working on the TP2. Is that just a matter of (a bit of) time, or does this require some hardware/server/technical changes from BlackBerry?
Since in (most) German mobile phone stores the devices on display are not working (you can't switch em on), I wanted to ask about the performance of the TP 2.
3. Is the (outdated?) 528 Mhz processor of the TP2 capable of running smooth 3D user interface operations (I think it's called Manila) on the org. WM6.5 ROM?
3.1 While the TP2 comes with the standard WM6.1 ROM, would you recommend to switch to the org. WM6.5 ROM or are there any cooked ROMs which are not too much about customizing, but optimizing performance or overclocking?
4. I couldnt find anything about that on the HTC website, but does the org. WM6.5 ROM include apps like Facebook, Twitter, etc.?
4.1 Does the org. WM6.5 ROM for the Touch Pro 2 include HTC Sense, or more like: does it have the same user interface and functions as the Touch HD2 ROM? And if not, is there any cooked ROM for the TP2 that has all (or some of) those functions and is it working properly/smoothly? (just asking because the HD2 runs on a twice-as-fast 1 Ghz processor).
5. If you have time and feel like answering this: Are there any Apps for the TP2 that make or life easier, increase the performance, simplify the handling,etc.?
I would really appreciate some help on these questions.
Thanks a lot in advance for your answers.
an answer to only some of those questions would be helpful already
1. Here's a page with the supposed HTC roadmap for devices of 2010. Keep in mind these are leaked files; the phones might not be released, or there might be phones that are not on the list that could launch this year.
The last phone mentioned is the HTC Tera. This seems to be a more powerful (600Mhz CPU), yet downgraded TP2 (check out some of the mentioned specs, and look at the picture of the more inferior keyboard). IMO, I don't think it's worth waiting for this!
3. I don't have, nor have I ever tried, the official HTC-released WM6.5 ROM. I'm using a beta-ROM of WM6.5.5, which has the Start button at the bottom left of the screen. The processor is "outdated," especially since it was present on the original HTC TP1 (Raphael).
I have tried the stock-carrier-ROM with WM6.5 and Manila 2.1 for T-Mobile USA (HTC's ROM is also WM6.5 with Manila 2.1) and the Manila UI (the screens with the slider/tabs at the bottom of the screen) was fast.
3.1 Some people prefer not to switch to WM6.5 as it uses more program memory to process all of the graphical changes.
If you look for ark666's Rhodium_AF ROMs in the ROMs section, you might find they look very "stock-ish" but run efficiently.
4. I believe there is Facebook integration in the ROM. Otherwise, you could go into the new WM Marketplace on the TP2 and download the Facebook App for free. Likewise (I think) for Twitter.
4.1 The HTC ROM comes with Manila (aka Sense) 2.1. Sense 2.1 looks something like this (of course, there will be some visual differences, as this is customized).
Sense2.5 is currently official to run only on the HTC HD2. XDA-Developer ROM chefs, however, have ported this to many other HTC devices. Sense 2.5 looks like this. These are usually a little laggier, but not too much. I've loved these "'Leo' ROMs for Rhodium" for 4 months now.
5. There are many apps out there! You would definitely want to have Advanced Configuration Tool as it contains many tweaks.
Here's where you can get apps: 1800PocketPC, WM6software, freewarepocketpc, the WM Marketplace on the WM6.5 (though there's a download to get it on WM6.1) update, XDA-Developers (via searching). You will notice many apps can be found in any -- if not all -- of the links. There are many people who upload the same software on different websites.
Thanks heaps sumflipnol!
1. I totally agree, the HTC Tera (as of todays available information) doesnt seem to be worth waitnig for.
3. & 3.1. You said ark666's Rhodium_AF Roms are WM6.1 and run efficiently. So I found this thread: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=552821 As far as I understand, he is offering 2 versions: 21889 as WM6.1 and 23518 which is the WM6.5 version with Manila 2.5 (looks like that in the youtube video he posted). Are both version working smoothly/efficiently?
4. & 4.1. I took a look at the Energy "Leo" ROM and it looked very nice. What I really like about Manila 2.5 is the bigger buttons which makes it easier to navigate with fingers. But what are the differences to ark666's 23518 ROM?
What I would appreciate is a smoothly running ROM with Manila 2.5 (the bigger buttons). So I dont know which would be the better choice. ark666's 23518 ROM or Energy "Leo"'s?
5. Thanks a lot for that. I saw a bunch of useful Apps on those sites. However there are 2 Apps I would really like to have:
A. WMWifiRouter (which turns you phone into a regular Router so you can connect your laptop via wireless and have mobile internet), but the website (http://www.wmwifirouter.com) doesn't say whether it's working for WM6.1/6.5 or not.
B. An App which I dont know the name of, but I know it is available for Iphone. With this App you can let your phone record a few seconds of a song (maybe while driving and listening to the radio) and then it searches online for the Artist and Title of the song.
If anyone knows anything regarding question 2 (BlackBerry Messenger), it would be much appreciated, since most of my contacts have BlackBerrys.
Don-Carlo said:
5. Thanks a lot for that. I saw a bunch of useful Apps on those sites. However there are 2 Apps I would really like to have:
A. WMWifiRouter (which turns you phone into a regular Router so you can connect your laptop via wireless and have mobile internet), but the website (http://www.wmwifirouter.com) doesn't say whether it's working for WM6.1/6.5 or not.
B. An App which I dont know the name of, but I know it is available for Iphone. With this App you can let your phone record a few seconds of a song (maybe while driving and listening to the radio) and then it searches online for the Artist and Title of the song.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm afraid I can't help you with the BB questions, but I've got some other stuff that might be useful...
WMWifiRouter should work for you in 6.1/6.5. They have a time-limited trial version so you can give it a test drive first, I've attached the cab below. However, there's also a free solution available here on xda that may be adequate for you, it's called HTC CM Wifi Internet Sharing, details on THIS THREAD. Try 'em both out and see what you prefer...the free one works just fine for me!
The music app you're thinking of is probably Shazam, and it's available in the windows marketplace. There's also at least one other app that claims to do the same thing, but I think Shazam is the more mature and widespread app.
Don-Carlo said:
Thanks heaps sumflipnol!
1. I totally agree, the HTC Tera (as of todays available information) doesnt seem to be worth waitnig for.
3. & 3.1. You said ark666's Rhodium_AF Roms are WM6.1 and run efficiently. So I found this thread: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=552821 As far as I understand, he is offering 2 versions: 21889 as WM6.1 and 23518 which is the WM6.5 version with Manila 2.5 (looks like that in the youtube video he posted). Are both version working smoothly/efficiently?
4. & 4.1. I took a look at the Energy "Leo" ROM and it looked very nice. What I really like about Manila 2.5 is the bigger buttons which makes it easier to navigate with fingers. But what are the differences to ark666's 23518 ROM?
What I would appreciate is a smoothly running ROM with Manila 2.5 (the bigger buttons). So I dont know which would be the better choice. ark666's 23518 ROM or Energy "Leo"'s?
5. Thanks a lot for that. I saw a bunch of useful Apps on those sites. However there are 2 Apps I would really like to have:
A. WMWifiRouter (which turns you phone into a regular Router so you can connect your laptop via wireless and have mobile internet), but the website (http://www.wmwifirouter.com) doesn't say whether it's working for WM6.1/6.5 or not.
B. An App which I dont know the name of, but I know it is available for Iphone. With this App you can let your phone record a few seconds of a song (maybe while driving and listening to the radio) and then it searches online for the Artist and Title of the song.
If anyone knows anything regarding question 2 (BlackBerry Messenger), it would be much appreciated, since most of my contacts have BlackBerrys.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
3. & 3.1. Sorry! I meant ark666's ROMs are all WM6.5, but they look close to a stock ROM, and run as efficiently as WM6.1 (so I've been told)!
Build 21889 is WM6.5, which [still] has the Start button at the top-left corner.
Builds with 23xxx, 24xxx, 28xxx are WM6.5.X (X being either 3 or 5). These have the Start button at the bottom-left of the screen, as you can see in the Sense2.1 link I had in my previous post.
Based on that info ^^^ ark666's ROM, WM6.5 with Sense 2.5 is here. While his WM6.5.5 with Sense 2.5 is here. I have yet to try these newly released ROMs, so I cannot comment on them.
4 & 4.1. You can't really notice differences in WM builds, especially since the chefs usually enhance it more. The EnergyROMs are highly customized and have many apps and tweaks already built-in whereas Rhodium_AF ROMs, like I said, are close to stock. The flashing process is very easy and shouldn't take that long, so you should try these ROMs.
However, now that you're asking about the EnergyROMs, you should also check out agent_47's ValkyrieROMs. These are sort of "in the middle" of the EnergyROMs and Rhodium_AF ROMs.
5b. Shazam is okay, but I really use/prefer Midomi (attached).
Hey,...
...sorry to push this thread to the top.
Just a quick question: I just got my new TP2 and saw, that on the back cover, there is no protection glass over the camera. It is just a whole. Is that normal?
I'm just wondering, because thats the first time is see this on a HTC device. I mean it's kinda unconvenient, since dust can get underneath the back cover easily.
**push**
Yes, that's normal.

Today screen interface suggestions

WM Prof 6.1 - TP2 - T-Mobile
Trying to figure out what to do about the today screen. I have gone between HTC TouchFLow3d and WM and am not overly happy with either. Left HTC because their contact screen does not return you back to the previous selected contact. I am new to touch screens and it can be painful to finally get to the right contact. Then accidently select the contact above or below, click on back and be returned to the As. WM is just plain ugly.
What are some suggestions. I hear about sbd and cookie. What other interaces are out there and what do you use or suggest?
THanks
I disable Sense and use WisbarAdvancedDesktop 2 to get exactly the interface that looks like I want. There you can build the today screen nearly totally free. Look here for examples:
http://www.lakeridgesoftware.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=60
SPB Mobile Shell: http://www.spbsoftwarehouse.com/products/mobileshell/
Inifinity: http://forum.ageye.de/viewforum.php?f=57&sid=2353928fca9fe6940d2bc2f845891662
Titanium (new Windows Mobile Theme).
I think you'll find that the SPB that burton linked to will probably be a lot more comfortable to use, it runs a lot leaner than Sense does, and is just a lot more approachable...but still very powerful when it comes to customizing. And, there's pre-built themes you can apply if you find one that suits you.
If you really like customizing and lots of functionality, you may like Pointui Home2 which I use. See my sig for details... it's memory footprint to comparable to Spb MS too. The theme/suite I use in Home2 is one I coded to look like WP7, but have real functionality not just look nice/flashy.
i am leaning towards a commercial, paid interface to replace TF3D. need it to be pretty stable. i have already spent so much time playing with this phone that my family is about to mutany. so betweem spb and pointui how would you rate their stability, ability to customize, and ease of customization - and anything else to compare.
wm 6.1 prof
tp2 - t-mobile
tf3d 3.0
thebrenda said:
i am leaning towards a commercial, paid interface to replace TF3D. need it to be pretty stable. i have already spent so much time playing with this phone that my family is about to mutany. so betweem spb and pointui how would you rate their stability, ability to customize, and ease of customization - and anything else to compare.
wm 6.1 prof
tp2 - t-mobile
tf3d 3.0
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I honestly haven't used the pointui interface myself yet, but I can say that SPB is ultra-stable (especially compared to TF3D and Sense), and presents a nice small load to the system resources. It's been around for years, and even ran smooth and stable on my previous HTC phone, the Wizard, which had barely a third of the processor power and memory capacity that the TP2 has. It's also about as easy to configure as a phone GUI can be, and extremely flexible and customizable....there's literally dozens and dozens of themes and styles available for it, both here and across the net, all of which are extremely easy to apply and/or switch between.
I'm not saying anything bad about pointui, I just don't know it. However, I do believe that SPB will have more "ready-to-use" stuff to find than pointui, just based on how often I see them.
Also, SPB allows you a free trial version, so you can give it a try without committing
sirphunkee is correct about Sbp MS. Compared to Pointui Home2 it is much easier to hit the ground running with it and is more polished overall with lots of customization. Both it and Pointui are very stable on just about any device. Both can get away with low memory footprints since they offload larger sized images to storage memory, though I'm not sure if MS can, but Pointui allows you set the image threshold to either use more memory for speed or more storage if you need memory to run more apps or stay stable. I've used all flavors Pointui and all the other UI's and I aways come back to Pointui, since it's scripting engine is just as powerful (C#-based) as MortScript allowing for extreme customization and speed at the OS level. Sorry rambling... to sum it up there are many UI's/Today plug-ins that are great and varied. I'll list some, but besides TF3D/Sense, Titanium the most integrated for WM the 2 imho that are at the top are Pointui Home2 and Spb MS3.5.
Here some others to try...
1. HomeScreen++ formerly BatterStatus very powerful Today plugin and great for integrating standard today screen with most PIM info or just having single screen for all important info.
2. iLauncher
3. ThrottleLauncher
4. Infinity
5. And more...
Again to me MS and Home2 are the best and both have trial versions that don't really expire. Go with Home2 if you need more functionality (PIM-wise) and love to spend time customizing otherwise go with MS3.5 if you want instant eye-candy and shorter prep time customization-wise. Both have all the basics and more to start off and both have great support communities (I'm a community dev on Pointui forums). Whichever you choose, these two, or some other will be a great choice.

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