Catshanghai

I have found a way to make Windows Mobile work for me by installing and using cooked ROMs.

I have had a love hate relationship with Windows Mobile 6 since I started using it last summer. I have enjoyed using it to write Emails, blog, IM, read RSS feeds, take snaps, edit documents, maintain a diary, keep contacts upto date, note ideas, view slideshows, twitter, add tasks and make the odd phone call.

The hardware is great. It is an HTC Hermes 200 that has been rebadged for various markets as Tytn, D9000 and the Dopod 838 Pro. I love the utilitarianism of the big screen, sliding keyboard and stylus. It is not as sexy as the Iphone, but it is more flexible and can do more. You see them everywhere around Shanghai. The Iphone cannot even do copy and paste and you are not yet allowed to install third party apps without unlocking it.

The trouble with Windows Mobile 6 (WM6) is that it often seizes or crashes at inopportune times and my new handset was getting stuck at least six times a day. The consensus seems to be that WM6 is a bloated mess with serious performance issues.

Fortunately, there is a community of hacker enthusiasts at http://forum.xda-developers.com who trade advice and fixes on how to get the most out of their smartphones. Some of them have rewritten the OS so it is more stable, has better features such as a decent PDF reader and makes better use of the hardware. These adapted versions of Windows Mobile are called cooked ROMs, which are free to download and install. I am sure they break Microsoft’s EULA, but MS should have released a stable OS in the first place.

Flashing a new OS to your phone carries a health warning. There is a risk that the upgrade will fail, which will turn your phone into a useless brick. Your handset should have a reliable ActiveSync connection to a Windows Computer where the flashing software is installed from. The phone should be fully charged and all data should be backed up. Some of the information on the xda developers forum assumed prior knowledge that I did not have, but this webpage from Mr Vanx is an excellent step by step guide that should get your phone ready for a flashing upgrade without any problems.

http://www.mrvanx.org/cms/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=62&Itemid=26

Mr Vanx’s guide shows you how to upgrade the bootlader software and the radio before installing the Black Majick cooked ROM. This process will work just as well with other hacked versions of Windows Mobile, including Custel, Dutty and Schap. Here is the link to the wiki containing all the links to various cooked ROMs for the Hermes 200.

http://wiki.xda-developers.com/index.php?pagename=Hermes_Cooked_ROMs

Other handset owners should search for the cooked ROM to go with their phone, whether it is an HTC Touch or Kaiser.

I installed Schap 4.31, because it is upto date and is getting good reviews. So far, I have noticed that it freed up a lot of device storage, runs quicker and does not freeze as much. The extra storage has allowed me to install all my third party apps direct to the device rather than to the microsd card. This is one of the main reasons it is now so stable.

Schap includes a better audio player called Audio Manager that does not skip.

It has support for microsdhc, which has cards available at 4gb and 8gb. The standard microsd format maxes out at 2gb.

There are a couple of snags. Live Messenger is still not working, although I use Fring for all my IM communication. Battery life seems to be slightly worse than before, but the overall improvements make this a really good upgrade. It also feels great to hack your phone successfully.