Develop Bugs

Application security

Hi!
I made this thread to clarify a few things about the application secuirity feature that allows only signed programs to run.
First, does an universal solution exist to remove this lock? After reading a lot of forums I only got more confused on this.
I also read that Orange users can ask them to remove the limitation. Are there experiences with other providers? (Paticularly German ones?)
Finally, I read something that I interpreted as if it is requested by the service providers. So if I buy a PDA at a store for full price and without SIM-lock, then will it be free of this limitation?
Thanks: Gabor

You misunderstood the issue.
WM 5 and newer OS do include security features that limit unsigned programs but not in any way that should concern the average user.
Basically if you install an unsigned app you will be asked if you want to run it or not by a pop up. This is similar to Windows XP with SP 2.
The real restriction is on replacing system files but freeware almost never does this.
There is no generic way of changing security polices because you need a registry editor signed by a trusted certificate and such things are not available to the general public (one was leaked for the HTC devices once, but they removed that certificate from newer models).
Also operators generally don't mess with security settings so it does not matter where you by the device.
The real problem is with smartphone devices (the kind without the touch screen) which can be locked completely to application installation.
Thats when you need to go to the provider for an unlock and thats when you may prefer buying one with cell co independent brand.

Maybe I interpreted it wrong, but I read things like "your phone must be application unlocked to use our program" or "please help, this program does not run on my PDA because it is not signed". I read the latter in relation to some game (they are not very likely to touch the system files as far as I know). Or is this a different thing from "application security"?

Well one type of application I know of that requires application unlock (on smartphones at least) is language support, like Arabic or Hebrew.
As for the second quote, since I don't know were it came from, there is no way of telling what the problem really is.
Personally I never had a game (or any other app) fail to run because of signatures.

Then I misunderstood it. I based my belief on J2ME, which needs digital signature even to make a TCP connection or send an SMS.
Is intercepting, swallowing and posting keyboard messages also permitted for unsigned apps? (I want to remap certain keys to arrow keys to make action games playable on the MDA Compact III, and other PDAs that have a trackball instead of arrow keys.)

Finally I found that one can generate his/her own certificate and sign stuff with that. As the last solution, when unlocking attempts fail, one can sign the desired programs.
Link: http://www.codeproject.com/useritems/signcode.asp

True, but I don't think you read it through. Creating your own cert and signing with it is easy, but you need to unlock security if you want to install your cert on the device.
Unless you install your custom certificate the device will not recognize it and treat the file as unsigned. This is a kind of 'catch 22', but if it wasn't so the whole certificate thing would be a complete waste of time (not that it isn't right now).

I read it thoroughly, in that article there was no mention of this.
My purpose is to detect and modify certain keystrokes on a HTC Artemis (a.k.a. P3300, MDA Compact III) in order to emulate a D-pad to make some action games playable (it has a small trackball instead of arrow keys). Will the security system prevent me from doing this?

I don't think you need to worry about certificates here (unless you are making a commercial product and can't have the user prompted with a question of whether to run the app).
Artemis is a PPC not Smartphone and security there is more relaxed so you should have no problem.
As for the article, they describe how to install the certificate, but neglect to mention that unless your provisioning cab it self is signed with an already recognized certificate it won't install.
By the way, if you have WM 5 or even WM 2003 Smartphone SDK you will find test certificates there along with a cab that installs them. This will save you the trouble of creating your own certificate but unfortunately that cab is not signed as well.

Thanks for the info.
The prompt can be turned off with this app: http://www.tweaks2k2.com/portal/filemgmt/singlefile.php?lid=16
It worked on my friend's MDA Compact 3 (the one I plan to buy).

So did you unlock your phone? i can't do that with mine...

Extracting Native APIs? Possible...maybe.

Okay, so since the unlocked emulator has a file manager and task manager, does that mean it would be possible to extract them and run them on an actual WP7S device? And if that was possible, would it also be possible to extract the Native APIs from these apps? I'm fairly certain that they use Native APIs because ordinary apps can only access their own directory. I'm not very smart with these things, so sorry if it's obviously impossible or something.

It's wince - the native API is always there, where do you want to extract it from? Also some people figured out most WP7 apps from the emulator ROM are written in native as well. it's always here.
But you can't just put file manager on a WP7 device because there's no access for you to put anything on it, except apps from Marketplace you got the picture? even if we could cook our custom ROMs in the future the only thing we could do is throw in our own DLLs, services or background tools on it and customize it a little. I still doubt you'd be able to develop real WP7 style apps like a file manager or registry editor because the GUI is supposed to be written in Silverlight/XNA. And from those frameworks you can't access the native API unless Microsoft would add support for it.
101% dumb phone. If you think about it then WP7 is even WORSE then iphone.

But what if you could use Visual Studio to load it onto the device? If you look around in it, there is an option for that.

Actual devices will have to be unlocked for developement purposes to allow sideloading through Visual Studio and even then I doubt the system would be able to deploy native code. Developer phone means a yearly fee for membership in the MS developer programm.
I don't think that using native APIs from managed code would be impossible in the SDK - carriers, e.g. will be allowed to use it, but for normal applications the Security Context in .Net would prevent the programm from calling them (Code Security Managers are configurably available in Java and .Net from the beginning, so i believe that would be what MS uses to block access).
And of course programs using those wouldn't get on the marketplace.

Oh, too bad then, but thanks for your response anyway!

Fdo35 said:
Okay, so since the unlocked emulator has a file manager and task manager, does that mean it would be possible to extract them and run them on an actual WP7S device? And if that was possible, would it also be possible to extract the Native APIs from these apps? I'm fairly certain that they use Native APIs because ordinary apps can only access their own directory. I'm not very smart with these things, so sorry if it's obviously impossible or something.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Okay, the issue here is the lack of a few key DLLs: Windows 7 Series will not offer GDI most likely (I'm downloading the emulator set now, and will confirm this soon) and will lack comctl32.dll and the like, removing these functions. As it's been stated before, like Windows 7 uses the 6.1 NT Kernel, Windows Phone 7 series uses the 6.5 Windows CE kernel, at least, last that I've heard. It would then be both possible to bring Windows Mobile 6.5 DLLs over, but anything that calls GDI will not work. Solution? Make a mock GDI that uses the new render.
This isn't new either, Windows 7 uses WPF more than ever (Which composes most of the games as well as Windows Media Center), which is a 3D accelerated and fancier way to draw to the screen, and Windows 7's GDI subset has been updated to allow hardware acceleration granted the graphics card allows it (It's actually something the video card driver must tell Windows, as MSDN states)

Deploy native code, no. Run it, of course
I'll be investigating the possibility of native code here shortly. Chances are, you will need to set the target to ARMV6, and set the compile type to Native, not Windows. Most developers, if not all, probably have overlooked this.

I would expect that it'll require privileged access to run native code, so you'll need to solve the code signing problem.

ThymeCypher said:
Okay, the issue here is the lack of a few key DLLs: Windows 7 Series will not offer GDI most likely (I'm downloading the emulator set now, and will confirm this soon) and will lack comctl32.dll and the like, removing these functions. As it's been stated before, like Windows 7 uses the 6.1 NT Kernel, Windows Phone 7 series uses the 6.5 Windows CE kernel, at least, last that I've heard. It would then be both possible to bring Windows Mobile 6.5 DLLs over, but anything that calls GDI will not work. Solution? Make a mock GDI that uses the new render.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, I doubt things like comctl.dll and some other things like GWES will be that big of an issue once Platform Builder 7 is released and we can just generate these components ourselves. Hell, adding back GDI support (if those rumors aren't just lies) may be as easy as replacing the GWES with a less crippled one generated by Platform Builder. Maybe GDI support is still compiled in but just doesn't output directly to the screen using the default graphics driver implementation. That's how the Dreamcast implementation of Windows CE was. To even see apps like IE on the screen, you need to copy the contents of the standard WinCE GDI output to a DirectDraw surface.
What I'm more worried about is the hackability of the hardware/software. I'm really hoping it's not as insanely locked down to the point to being unhackable like every Zune.

do you think Platform builder is still available for WP7? Since MS won't allow the OEMs to modify the OS I doubt that. Do you have a source? You've seen an announcement from MS or something?

RAMMANN said:
do you think Platform builder is still available for WP7? Since MS won't allow the OEMs to modify the OS I doubt that. Do you have a source? You've seen an announcement from MS or something?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Platformbuilder is for the OS, which is Windows CE. There is still some debate as to what version the emulator is running, leaving alone the possibility that the actual version of the OS may be different at release.
If the CE6R3 camp is right, you can get platform builder for that right now, though you wont have telshell.exe (WP7 replacement for explorer.exe), and the WP7 specific apps. It would be an interesting exercise to see if they could be run on CE6R3. If no one beats me to the punch, I plan on trying this for myself when I am less swamped at work.
If the CE7 camp is right, you will have to wait till MS releases that version to the public. And they WILL release it because there are far too many embedded systems outside of phones that run on CE for them to neglect it.

No, I was talking about the generic Windows CE 7.0 Platform Builder and not the OEM specific OAK for WP7S. Unless MS plans to completely drop their generic Embedded Windows CE offerings, I see no reason why PB 7.0 will not be released and help with hacking WP7S (if it is even based on 7.0). You always needed to be a large ODM and sing an NDA to use a Platform Builder addon/OAK for the MS platforms like Pocket PC. Those almost never leak and I can't imagine this would be much different.

RAMMANN said:
do you think Platform builder is still available for WP7? Since MS won't allow the OEMs to modify the OS I doubt that. Do you have a source? You've seen an announcement from MS or something?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, platform builder was used to build leaked wp7 arm image.
d:\wm700_6176\platform\common\src
\soc\qcom_v1\oal\power\sleep.c
It is from from nk.exe

use dumpbin.exe to get all methods in dll/exe

Porting application to work with windows mobile

I really want to port a small tool to be able to run my magic jack on my HD2. There is a really small and simple tool called MJMD5 that allows you to use your magicjack with any SIP client.
I have the source code for linux, possibly it can be compiled using cygwin for the HD2?
ftp://ftp.bauer-power.net/misc/magicjack/mjproxy.c.tgz
Also, there is a tool that works with windows, but there is a incompatibility with the GUI that isnt allowing it to run on my HD2, a small tweak should fix it.
ftp://ftp.bauer-power.net/misc/magicjack/MJMD5.zip
I am completely new to mobile software development so I hope someone could help me get this working!
Thanks

Is nobody willing to even put me in the right direction?

The source code is for a linux console app; you can't port that easily to WM GUI. You'd need the source code of the Windows exe. To my knowledge, there is no Cygwin version for WinCE yet, or were you referring to cegcc?! It could probably be ported as a console app anyway, but I assume that you want the GUI.
And using a console on the HD2 is somewhat problematic, as the OS has console debug output. I would not recommend that for user programs.

Yeah, I am referring to cegcc. I am not too concerned about the GUI, I just need the functionality, and this program doesnt really need a console, but just needs to be run with certain parameters which is possible with WinCE. So, does anyone know how to compile it for windows mobile?
I appreciate any help.

kkroo said:
Yeah, I am referring to cegcc..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OK; I'm reasonably sure that it can be ported with either cegcc or celib. I'd probably do it with celib. I have adapted celib to work with PocketConsole. I just tested my port of perl 5.8.8 on the HD2, and socket/internet functionality seems OK.
kkroo said:
I am not too concerned about the GUI, I just need the functionality, and this program doesnt really need a console, but just needs to be run with certain parameters which is possible with WinCE. So, does anyone know how to compile it for windows mobile?.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
About the Windows exe, it appears to be a .NET assembly. But it may not run on Windows Mobile because it is for the desktop Framework, and not the Compact Framework. .NET assemblies can be decompiled, however. Maybe that can help you too.

I don't have this MagicJack, but from what I read about it on the internet, I doubt that it can be used with Windows CE at all if you want to plug it into the HD2 directly, and the USB connector may be different as well. I don't know if that's what you want. Depending on how it communicates with its host, you may even need a driver for it. I think that the HD2 has USB OTG, but it may still not work without a driver. I would find that out first.

In terms of recompiling it, I am pretty sure it will work. Sorry but I am a bit of a novice at this, but how would I do either compiling option?
Thanks

I would use Dis# for decompiling; I just tried to decompile the exe, and that seemed to succeed. No guarantees though; not at all tested. You can have Dis# put the source files and project files in a subdirectory. Then I'd use VS2008 for compiling.
A quick test showed that the IniFile class of this program imports unmanaged functions from kernel32, which is not present on WM. The functions are GetPrivateProfileString and WritePrivateProfileString. I don't think that coredll has them, so porting would probably not be easy. This is a known porting issue; not very severe, but it's only the start. I think that ini files are regarded as legacy by Microsoft. The registry is used for settings.
The most logical thing would seem to me to contact the developer to write a CE version if the device works with generic CE USB drivers. And then you'd still have the connector problem, and possibly even an incompatible interface; I don't know how HTC implemented the USB port. This is assuming that you want to plug it into the HD2 directly. You are not clear about that, so I can't be more specific either.
http://netdecompiler.com/download.html

[HELP] Mango vs NoDo handling of Email Replies via Registry Hacks

Greetings:
I am trying to resolve an issue that seems much more complicated than it should be and that I have not been able to find any info on looking across MANY forums, boards, tech sites, etc...I also had this over in the QA board but I need some really in-depth feedback.
I use my WP7 phone for work (I have the HTC Trophy and am on Verizon). I am connected to an exchange server and everything works great EXCEPT email replies; the original email text is NOT included and needs to be especially for work. Reviewing other threads across the web it seems this is normally enabled.
I checked with VZW second tier support and supposedly this feature is turned off on the Trophy. Fine, so I dug around, found an obscure WM6.5 reference to a registry key, poked around my NoDo registry and by trial and error was able to enable it by adding this;
HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Inbox\Settings
Value Name – IncludeOriginal
Value Type – Integer
Value Data – 1
Works great. Now, I am a registered dev and went to upgrade to Mango 7712and did everything possible I could think of but I can not get this back no matter where or what reg edit. I also came across someone else on T-Mobile that had this feature enabled on NoDo and went to the Mango RTM and now it does not work. Maybe the core code and handling of this has changed in Mango; anyone else look at this?
Does the provxml reg edit for Mango on the VZW CDMA Trophy 7 work under any circumstances? It appears it is but it may also be keeping the provxml edits I make at the mid-step point in the Mango process (applied at the 7403 rev before proceeding to 7712). I make the provxml edits in Nodo using the older HTC Connection Setup (new rev does not work as described somewhere else). I then use it again at the 7403 step but have to switch to the new rev on 7712 (old no longer runs). Once I run the new rev HTC connection in Mango I can launch TouchXplorer and am unlocked. I can do all the same provxml processes (email new CustClear.provxml, copy, move, etc) but I am not positive edits are being made. But if my previous edits are kept (which all appear to be) why does my IncludeOriginal key not carry over?
Another note; it appears the main location in NoDo for this hack was HKLM (found using Reg Editor) and not in the HKCU like WM6. Looking at Mango registry dumps this is now in HKCU; is there more restrictive access to HKCU on the CDMA Mango or any version of WP7? I added a HKCU hack to the provxml at all steps just to have it there but did no good.
This brings up a good question - can you edit HKCU the same way as HKLM? I also see the key location I am after moved from Default.hv to User.hv when going from NoDo to Mango; does the provxml work on the whole registry or just the Default hive?
P.S. I have built a process to even get to where I can have TouchXplorer run on the CDMA device from a lot of other threads in this forum and greatly appreciate having everyone's knowledge to use. Thanks!

Getting desperate!
Does anyone have an insight to the registry of Mango and what the inbox/exchange/activesync keys are and what options are available? Or, does anyone know what email structure/client WP7 Mango is using now as far as emulator, provisioning, format (Windows CE 7, MAPI, etc...).
I am wondering if anyone knows to setup a provxml executable code that can provision the email client to override VZWs setting such that the replies to email include the original email text in the reply.
Thanks and appreciate any insight. There must be a way to tell the embedded email client on the phone to do what I want. I could do it in NoDo but the same reg hack is NOT working in Mango and I suspect it is due to a embedded client change in handling of email; I have verified I can make changes to the reg via the provxml method using HTC Connection in Mango.

Hi LiFePo4,
I'm having the same situation as you. I use Mango for work, absolutely love it. But I also do need the email trial in my replies. Hopefully someone would have found a workaround.

[Q] Develop Apps for Windows Mobile

I want to develop simple apps for Windows Mobile. I read that I can use:
---Compact Framemork. (I downloaded Sharp Develop, it is free. It also exist a program from Resco that speedup the development with C.F.)
--- C or C++ or C# (I don't know if WinMo understand these...)
---Visual Basic (is difficult and Visual Studio isn't free, but I found another program that allows to develop more simple)
---Mortscript (I think is the most simple)
---Which is the best and the most simple language?
---Where can I read or download tutorials?
---I can not develop simple apps with images and sounds yet.
Please Help!

I want to develop
-a lock screen
-an app that turn on and turn off the leds of my device
-an app that change registry values (without softreset the device)
-an app that can copy, cut and delete files
-a Soft Imput Panel (a virtual keyboard)

I haven't done windows mobile development in quite some time, so things may have changed a bit. But to help you out better, it would be good to know what version of windows you intend to develop for (I assume Windows Phone 7?) as well as any specific devices you may want to concentrate on, and what experience you already have with coding.
MortScript is probably a good starting point, though if you want to get some real functionality going, you should look at C#.net CF. Take a look at this MSDN resource: LINK. It should be good for getting started.
I think that for modifying the registry, working with LEDs, and for the software keyboard you may need to use C++ ... though I can be mistaken. I'm not sure how Microsoft has worked out libraries and privileges in WP7.

Cyclonezephyrxz7 said:
I haven't done windows mobile development in quite some time, so things may have changed a bit. But to help you out better, it would be good to know what version of windows you intend to develop for (I assume Windows Phone 7?) as well as any specific devices you may want to concentrate on, and what experience you already have with coding.
MortScript is probably a good starting point, though if you want to get some real functionality going, you should look at C#.net CF. Take a look at this MSDN resource: LINK. It should be good for getting started.
I think that for modifying the registry, working with LEDs, and for the software keyboard you may need to use C++ ... though I can be mistaken. I'm not sure how Microsoft has worked out libraries and privileges in WP7.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks CycloneZephyrxz7.
I want to develop for Windows Mobile 6.X for devices with WVGA resolution.
But with Mortscript I can do less things? Because I can only write scripts.
Do you know how is written a simple app like "ClearTemp"?
I wait other replies from Devolpers and people that used these languages...