[8125, K-JAM, P4300, MDA Vario Software Upgrading] andygreen:
I've installed the new iMate ROM on my 8125 (after backing up old files) - I used aWizard as advised in other posts to unlock, then just ran the iMate executable and it took care of the rest. I hit the "cancel" button at the screen where it prompted me to select an operator. It then proceeded to go through other automatic setup stuff - I had to step away from my desk - and when I came back all was finished, and I was the proud new owner of a way better phone. I have a bonus Backgammon game too. :-) I uninstalled the version of Skype that was pre-installed and put on the latest 312MHz version from Skype. Tested that last night with CPU at 240 (overclocked) and it seemed to work fine.

I didn't run any of the 8125 extended ROM cabs.

I programmed in wap.cingular as my GPRS access (using Cellular Line (GPRS) as the selection), changed PAP to CHAP in GPRS settings, and everything seems to work fine. I don't use MMS, so I haven't set that up yet.

Radio seems same or slightly better - maybe a 5% to 10% improvement.

Phone is more responsive to call and hang-up keys.

Installed MS Voice Command 1.5 - works fine. Tried it with Bluetooth headset registry tweak (http://xdaforums.com/viewtopic.php?t=41559) and a Motorola HS820 headset, and it works, but the voice recognition through the headset is 60% accurate, so I went back to just using Voice Command directly on the phone.

Running Smarkey tweak (http://xdaforums.com/viewtopic.php?t=41060) that stays resident through soft resets, and overclocking to 240 permanently. Many thanks to Water for this tweak! Everything is snappier, battery life seems fine. Wifi works fine with WEP and WPA access points. Push email works fine. ActiveSync works fine with USB and bluetooth, using ActiveSync 4.1 on XP laptop.

On the original Cingular 8125 ROM, I had a strange audio problem where the music or audio subsystem would sample faster, causing all recordings and playback to sound like people were breathing helium. Even my PPC guitar tuner software got skewed and reported wrong notes by about 20%. MS Voice Command responses sounded like the machine was breathing helium. After a soft reset (which took over 3 minutes), this would go back to normal.

I haven't seen this problem on the new ROM yet - but it's only been 24 hours. New ROM soft reset is just over a minute.

On original Cingular ROM I had a problem with Pocket Excel prompting me to save synced files with new names every time I edit them -- I'm using Office 2003 on the laptop. Still seeing this problem with new ROM.

On a side note: strange problem I've found with ActiveSync 4.1 and my Thinkpad - once I sync via USB, my thinkpad can no longer connect to WPA wifi networks, but can connect to WEP networks just fine. One web page (http://www.pocketpcfaq.com/faqs/activesync/tshoot-as4x.htm) lists this is a known problem with Intel 802.11a/b/g adapters -- maybe an updated driver in the future will fix this. Not a huge problem - I can sync with bluetooth with no problems however.

Andy

WIZA100

ROM version 2.16.9.1 WWE

ROM date 2/6/0/6

Radio version 02.07.10

Protocol version 413.1.03

ExtROM version 2.16.9.101