Registry Tweeking - 8525, TyTN, MDA Vario II, JasJam ROM Development

We all believed that we can improve some of our devices by tweeking the registry. Why dont we all share our knowledge and at the same times will make our self understand more of winmobile registry. And as usual proper precaution must first be taken.

Read the section tweaking the hermes registry in wiki

Related

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

File-based registry with WM6?

I'm curious to see how many people are using the file-based registry with whatever version of WM6. Please post any thoughts you might have on performance or otherwise...
Well it appears this question hasn't exactly set the Forum on fire. Does a File-based Registry make any difference at all in WM6?
I've automatically carried this feature forward from my WM5 days, but I'd be curious to know what people think!
file based registry
Given that the registry is typically read from a flat file at the bottom of the stack anyway, I don't get this question. Any links to MSDN docs on this new feature?
At the risk of sounding even less technical than I am, it's my understanding that with a Hive-based registry, every soft reset effectively resets the the registry to the OEM defaults. Changes seem to take a long time to get written to the registry in the hive model.
It had been my experience (and my reading) that switching to the file-based model ensured that all changes are preserved across soft resets.
If I'm misunderstanding (which is entirely possible), please somebody let me know...
goestoeleven said:
At the risk of sounding even less technical than I am, it's my understanding that with a Hive-based registry, every soft reset effectively resets the the registry to the OEM defaults. Changes seem to take a long time to get written to the registry in the hive model.
It had been my experience (and my reading) that switching to the file-based model ensured that all changes are preserved across soft resets.
If I'm misunderstanding (which is entirely possible), please somebody let me know...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yes and no... Coders are 'required' to perform a 'flush' of the registry hive after modifying it, this then writes the changes to flash... if this is not performed then simply resetting the device after changing the registry will not work... but a routine flush is run every 5 minutes or so i believe by the OS
also, doing a manual power down (press/hold power button then tap yes for shutdown message) will flush the changes as well.
@Walsh & @Sleuth, so your opinions/recommendations on Hive vs. File are?
goestoeleven said:
@Walsh & @Sleuth, so your opinions/recommendations on Hive vs. File are?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I particularly like Hive based...
I concur....
Thank you, gentlemen!
It sounds like File may help compensate for bad coding practices, but it may not be worth it
Goestoeleven, do you happen to use cleartype in landscape?
Im still using twkcl to keep the settings, and I remember reading in the past that with the registry file based that the cleartype tweak would stick for people, also you can limit the PIE cache in the registry, but that is another that doesnt stick, wondering if goin to file based would keep those settings, Ive never checked into it myself.
Sorry, but I'm not a ClearType user (always seems blurry to me).
goestoeleven said:
Thank you, gentlemen!
It sounds like File may help compensate for bad coding practices, but it may not be worth it
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually, I would tend not to think about bad coding practices. It's just a matter of technological evolution.
Back in the times when we were still using PocketPC - pre WM era, you don't ever need to flush the registry at all since everything's stored in RAM when there was no persistent storage. You must give it power anytime anywhere. The registry would still be there even if you reboot it both by normal software reset approach or by pressing the reset button. The RAM always keep the contents no matter what.
This was rather painful since WM5 devices came in 2 flavors, some earlier ones without persistent storage, while later ones got it. For those with persistent storage, the device effectively became a desktop computer - if you rush to reset your computer by pressing the reset button instead of using the restart command, I am sure files and many stuff would gone, not to mention registry settings. The same applies to WM5+ devices with persistent storage.
Because of this, developers need to modify their programs to call the registry flush function to make sure everything's saved. This is something that takes time for every developers to become aware of this issue and fix it.
M$ really should take up some of the responsibilities. A program is WM5-compatible even if it doesn't flush - since those devices w/o persistent storage that uses RAM-based registry don't have to. But when the same program is running on a device equipped with persistent storage and with hive based registry, it fails to flush and hence cause all the confusions amongst users and developers.
Back to the issue that which one is better, I am assure you that RAM-based registry is BAD in terms of performance. In this mode, any call to flush will cause the entire registry to be written to storage. If say all programmers are all with good WM6 programming practice, performance would definitely be an issue. On the other hand, hive based registry uses memory mapper IO and only the affected data would be written to storage if flushed.
That's why M$ made hive based the default for WM6. In a MSDN article it also said that it does not support the use of RAM-based registry. But I am not quite sure of what they mean by "not support the use" - it probably means that you can't even change the registry type to RAM-based anymore.
Reference:
http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa910532.aspx
http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa910676.aspx
BTW, I think the name "file-based registry" is misleading - first, hive based registry is still being saved in a file somewhere. Second, M$ calls is RAM-based registry in the current MSDN articles.
I don't know how the term "file-based" comes up - perhaps those tweak* programs invented it?
Forgive me if this is irrelevant to this thread, but ChaoticDruid's post above is kind of related to my problem. I have an HTC P3600. I have used Resco Registry (setting "OffOnRotation" value to 0), TrinityHacks, Tweaks2k2, Sktools, Molski.Biz in order to have cleartype in lansdscape orientation, but none of them worked. After the first soft-reset, cleartype fonts appear on landscape, as they should. But after the second soft-reset they disappear.
By the way, after the first soft-reset, using Resco Registry I noticed that the "OffOnRotation" value is set to 1, even if the cleartype fonts are activated at that time.
Since you refer to registry, I thought you might have a solution to this problem. If anyone knows how to fix this, please let me know.
P.S. Notice that I even waited for 5 minutes and then I pressed-and-hold the hardware on/off button (as far as I know this is the only way to save any changes before a soft-reset).
Thanks!
Since

hiding applications list in add/remove programs in wm6.1

hi guys,
Will u please enlightened me how to hide some particular application(s) list (without uninstalling) in add/remove programs in wm6.1 through registry.
thanks.
regards,
tejen
Yes I'd like to know too. When there is an error in the uninstallation process; the program can be removed from the list without actually being removed. There must be a way...
on pc's the items in the add/remove prog list mirros a list in the registry
if the same goes for pda's it's just a matter of removing that entry
Rudegar said:
on pc's the items in the add/remove prog list mirros a list in the registry
if the same goes for pda's it's just a matter of removing that entry
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
right!! it's in the registry, but actually I can't figure out it in wm6. For wm2003se it is in
HKLM\Software\Apps\particular program name\
- for hiding the reg_dword value of "Instl" should be 0 to enable it again it should be 1.
But it doesn't make any difference in wm6.1 !!
Does anyone know where is the list of Add/Remove in WM6.1 registry???
Bump for someone who knows the answer to this!
It's in one of the data stores, and those are AFAIK undocumented. I wrote an app once to remove something from the list but it was tricky. I'm not sure, but one of the tweak tools (I think SKTools) can do this as well.
Ahm yes, I looked at my old code, this is what you need to remove:
HKLM\Security\AppInstall\<AppName>
HKLM\Software\Apps\<AppName>
And here comes the tricky one: the installation record in mxip_swmgmt.vol, which is tricky. See CeMountVol in MSDN.

Does SASHIMI work on Vogue?

I was just wondering if anybody has tried using the SASHIMI autoinstaller on their Vogue? I says it's for Kaisers and I did not find any post that mention of people using it on a Vogue.
black_mamba said:
I was just wondering if anybody has tried using the SASHIMI autoinstaller on their Vogue? I says it's for Kaisers and I did not find any post that mention of people using it on a Vogue.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Probably should have posted this in the main thread for SASHIMI...since as you state I developed it for the Kaiser... no Vogue users may have heard of it.
SASHIMI should work on any WM device with a QVGA resolution (240x320) and a Storage Card that is referenced as "\Storage Card"
I don't know squat about the Vogue, but if those are true then it should work.
If the above are not the case, I can look at porting it over to the Vogue if you or anyone else is willing to test it out for me.
thanks
Awesome, I'll try it out on my next upgrade. I thought about posting it in the Sashimi thread, but just like you said, being in the Kaiser forum, I didn't think many Vogue users were aware if it. Had 0 results when I searched for "vogue". Yes, it's QVGA and has \Storage Card folder so it should work. Thanks for your hard work!
You are right, I have never heard of this.
I tried it out and ended up with really bad stability issues. Can't guarantee it was related to sashimi (because it makes no sense at all), but the only extra thing I installed was mortscript.
Red49er said:
I tried it out and ended up with really bad stability issues. Can't guarantee it was related to sashimi (because it makes no sense at all), but the only extra thing I installed was mortscript.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The only reasons I stated that SASHIMI may not work on devices other than the Kaiser are:
1) Storage Card naming issues - This should be resolved in the 4.3 beta which is available.
2) Non-QVGA devices - This may cause SASHIMI to look strange, as the fonts won't be scaled properly. In addition, the automated Storage Card install mode ("SC") may not work since it relies on screen taps that are based on a QVGA screen.
SASHIMI is just a mortscript that calls upon a couple 3rd party apps (Dot Fred Task Manager and SKTools) to do it's work.
It should run on any 6/6.1 device that is QVGA.
I need you to define "really bad stability issues."
Nothing SASHIMI does natively should compromise the stability of the device. Now, if you are using SASHIMI to install reg entires, XML files, cabs, etc... then anything you choose to install may cause a problem.
Make sure you are not blaming the gun for what the bullets do.
why i have this?
It works. I have used it. However, since it replaces registry keys it tends to fragment the registry quite a bit. I've noticed my phone being slow and unresponsive after using it.

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