[8125, K-JAM, P4300, MDA Vario Software Upgrading] mehayuk:
Make Your MD Vario Work Better

This document is to save you time and make life easier. Updated from my earlier version.

ROM Update

Current Operating System: 1.6.2.4 (updated 9th March 2006)

Updates and instructions available at:

http://t-mobile.iris-global.com/download_manager_mda_vario.html

If the device appears locked at any stage, please check first the keypad lock isn’t “on”.

UNLOCKING THE SIM

So you can use it with any SIM card eg abroad on holidays with local SIM cards to reduce cost

Go to http://xdaforums.com/

Do a search for the program lokiwiz (current version at this time is 0.3a)

Follow the instructions.

To download it, you must log into the site first. Then the link to the download is displayed. Download it to somewhere on your PC.

	Take out the SIM of your Vario

	Synchronise with PC via activesync

Copy enablerapi.cab to your PDA device (file from lokiwiz zip folder, in utilities folder. It is a zip file and not to be confused with enablerapi.bat)

	Run enablerapi.cab from your device

	Then run lokiwizmsl.bat from your PC, let it run in the DOS window

	DON’T CLOSE THE DOS WINDOW

	If successful, you’ll see your SIM unlock code – write it down

	Now insert a new SIM card and enter that number to unlock your phone

	Once complete, remove SIM card and re-insert your original SIM

	You’re done

Hard Resetting MDA Vario

There are different severities of hard resetting your MDA vario. Which one you use depends on what you are trying to achieve. If your phone is stuck and wont let you play, try the hard core resets (progress from method 1 (less sever) to method 3 (most severe). If it’s just a bit slow, try the soft reset.

HARDCORE RESET 1

start>settings>system tab> Clear Storage

This will still clear all your data and all the programs you have loaded onto your device. You’ll need to start all over again.

HARDCORE RESET 2

I hold the Comm and Voice Button (top two buttons on the side) AND the camera button (bottom right). Keep them pressed in and hit the reset with your stylus. Keep pressed in and let go of the stylus. Release when you see the following message:

PRESS Send to restore factory default,

SEND is the green lift up phone button on the left

It will do a brief format and restore to factory settings.

HARDCORE RESET 3

If your MDA wont budge with HARDCORE RESET 1 or 2, try this:

Enter Bootloader, - hold the "camera" (bottom right) and briefly press the reset button, don't release "camera" until you can see colour screen, connect USB cable, and start to re-flash the ROM (download the latest flash rom update from http://t-mobile.iris-global.com/download_manager_mda_vario.html

SOFT RESET METHOD 1

This is the lightest of the reset methods. This is the one to use if you want to reset your device without having to re-install all your personal programs and data

 Simply press the reset hole with your stylus on the right hand side of the MDA device.

Essential and Non-Essential Programs

See at the end of this document for a guide to some good programs “out there”. Try and decide which you feel are essential must haves and which are not necessary but useful (non-essential). Make two columns on an A4 sheet because this will come useful when setting up you Vario as detailed below.

Setting Up Your Vario for the First Time

1.	Unlock your SIM card as above if you ever plan on using it on another network – If you got your phone from T-mobile, it’s likely that they’ve locked it so that you stay with them. However, it is your phone and it’s not illegal to unlock it: so unlock it in case you want to use it with another mobile network provider or even use a different local SIM card for instance when you are on holiday in Spain or somewhere (much cheaper way of making calls whilst abroad)

2.	Install all the ESSENTIAL programs you will always want

3.	Tweak the settings of all the programs you use eg setting Mobile Word to store documents on the storage card rather than eat away at your valuable device storage space. A full list of tweaks for programs I use can be found in the “Program Configuration” section at the end of this document.

4.	Now BACKUP that device using software like SPB Backup so that you can always reset your device to this point if you ever get “stuck”. Call it something like “BACKUPESSENTIALPROGSANDTWEAKS”. ENSURE ALL BACKUPS ARE STORED ON THE SD CARD. With a program like SPB Backup, the backups are stored as self executable files on the storage card so that when your MDA goes pear shaped, you can simply reset it, insert your SD card and click on the back up file to restore your device without having to even load SPB backup again! How cool is that? Especially when you are on the move.

5.	Then install the Registry Wizard program to help you tweak your PDA phone. You can download it here

http://xdaforums.com/viewtopic.php?t=39725&highlight=registrywizard

but you have to have logged into the site to see the downloadable files.

This really is a super program that you’ll be glad to have installed. However, I found that if you change the default input from keyboard to something else, your device may lock itself; leave it at keyboard and everything should be Ok.

To install, download the latest version or RegistryWizard AND the OpennetCF programme to your storage card. These are cab files and they might appear like zip files. Insert the SD card back into the device and navigate to where you stored them using your device’s file explorer (or something similar). First install the OpennetCF program (bottom of the list of the downloadable files in the link above) into the device memory. Second install the latest version (1.0T) of the RegistryWizard to the device memory. You install them simply by clicking on them. Once installed, soft reset the device (

Now tweak it as required

6.	Install the camera patches – to make your camera work better

You can find the files on these links: (again, you need to be logged in to see the downloadable files)

http://xdaforums.com/download.php?id=10524 : for the camera fix which gets rid of any speckling (a permanent fix that remains on hard resetting)

http://xdaforums.com/download.php?id=10396 : a fix to make the camera image more sharper (needs re-installing after any hard reset)

http://xdaforums.com/viewtopic.php?t=45123 : a list of discussions about these two fixes

The camera will work best on the auto setting and much better than before.

If you know how to registry tweak, consider this:

Increase camera frames per second: this tweak will let you increase the frames per second of the video camera to make more fluent movies:

HKey Local Machine\Software\HTC\Camera\ReParam\MP4Large (or Medium or Small).

Change the FrameRate value from 10 (default) to 19. Above 19 it is laggy .. so don’t go above it.

7.	Synchronise your device with your PC to load calendar, diary and contacts.

8.	Alter active sync settings to how you want them eg Tools>options>email; set to 2 weeks, 5Kb, max 50Kb attachments, Click OK. PDA will re-synchronise

9.	Consider backing up again after this point. Call it something like Backupstage2. If your device causes problems for what ever reason, you now have two options where you can reset your device to.

10.	After that, you can start installing programs that you’d like to “play” with. If things go wrong or the system slows down, no worries  you have a backup of the essential ones anyway.

A Note on the Two Backups

You might be wondering why the need for the two types of back up. Let me make this clear: you only need to do these backups ONCE. The two back ups then give you the flexibility of restoring to whichever point you want to when the need arises. Don’t ever delete these three backups.

Having said this though, don’t forget to regularly back up your device just to keep the most up to date back up at hand in case your battery goes dead and you simply want to restore it back to the last configuration (with email, calendar and contacts data). SPB Backup utility is ideally placed for this.

Resetting Your Device – if it starts to play up

1.	Consider a soft reset, if this fails then do a hard reset (details above)

After the hard reset:

2.	Run your back up program eg “BACKUPESSENTIALPROGSANDTWEAKS” ( to re-install all your ESSENTIAL programs

3.	Then install the registry wizard program to help you tweak your PDA phone

4.	Install camera patches (if you’ve installed the de-speckler before, u don’t need to do this particular one again)

Remember, install OpennetCF cab file first into the device memory; second install the latest version (1.0R) of the RegistryWizard.

Now tweak it as required

5.	Synchronise your device with your PC

6.	Voila! Your ready to go.

1. Essential Programs – all on www.handango.com

Program	Location to Save to	Notes

Pocket Informant	DEFAULT DEVICE	Great diary, contacts, tasks program; use international version

SPB Pocket Plus	DEFAULT DEVICE	for the X close button utility

Solvoed EngSpa Ultralingua	SD CARD	Spanish Advanced Dictionary

Paragon Spanish Sound Gold	SD CARD	Spanish Sound Module for the dictionary

SPB GPRS monitor	DEFAULT DEVICE	Monitor your data transfer when browsing the web to ensure you don’t exceed your monthly limit

SPB Backup ABSOLUTELY ESSENTIAL SD CARDSimply the best backup utility – backs up registry, PDA settings and programs all into one little executable program that you can save on your SD card and restore without even needing SBP backup loaded when your PDA goes funny

Vidya Pocket Registry Editor	DEFAULT DEVICE	Necessary for making the registry tweaks outlined below. Simplifies registry editing.

OMAP overclock ABSOLUTELY ESSENTIALDEFAULT DEVICE	The MDA Vario has a TI OMAP processor running at 180 MHz. With this utility, improve performance by increasing it to max 240 Hz (some say 264Hz is the upper limit). Read instructions below; need to add an instruction to the startup menu to ensure it always runs at the set rate on soft-resetting the MDA (rather than defaulting back to 180 MHz)

Memmaid Tweaking program DEFAULT DEVICE	Again, needed for processor clocking, BUT has a great clean utility to clean out all the crap that cumulatively builds up with use.

Resco File Explorer SD CARD	Super program for finding the files you want. Much better than the file explorer in WM5

SMARTSKEY ABSOLUTELY ESSENTIAL	DEFAULT DEVICE	A nifty little program that enables you to operate your MDA with one hand without the need for getting out the stylus. It does this by reconfiguring the buttons on your PDA so that a quick press of them does what they already do but a longer sustained press adds new functionality.

Read instructions below; the program already has an inbuilt startup instruction to set it to restart on reboot; smartskey will automatically set the OMAP clocking facility to 240; this means you can install OMAP and let smartskey do the tweaking.

NON ESSENTIAL PROGRAMS:

	Home pocket mobile inventory

	My Last Cigarette

	Speedreader (heavy and slow on CPU) vs fast reader

	Vito sketch artist

	Lexionary/English Pro Dictionary

	Bible

	Turboinvaders

	Microsoft Arcade Pack

	Palm games for pocket PC

Specific Program Installation and Configuration Instructions

Today screen = main screen you see

Pocket Informant

Start Pocket Informant (say yes to colour schemes)

Yes to customise it

Yes to make it the default

Add registration code

Start outlook messages on today screen

Menu>tools>options>storage

Click store attachments on storage card

Click  empty deleted items immediately

SPB Pocket Plus

After installing, remove the pink colour on the bar at the bottom: start>settings>personal>today>appearance; select windows default

On today screen tool bar click the system tab of SPB Pocket Plus

Click the house to get the screen display you want (takes time – I like the 5th one)

Then press right hand corner of screen (to the right of where the time is at the top)

Select options

Remove (uncheck the box):

	Safe mode

	Buttons

	File explorer and

	Today plug in

Click ok

OMAP Overclock

Instructions for overclocking Wizard (tested on Imate K-JAM). Use at your own risk!

1. Download the following file and unzip. Save the OmapClock.exe to your \Windows folder on your device: http://xdaforums.com/download.php?id=9181

2. Open File Explorer on your device and open Omapclock.exe. Find the maximum speed that your device will handle without locking up. On each test, test all applications you use. This is important because once you place this in your startup, it will load up automatically and could cause your device to stop responding! 240Mhz works for me. Suspending the device at this point will cause the speed to be reset back to default. Execute Windows\OmapClock.exe again if this happens and you want to continue testing.

3. Download and install Resco File Explorer 2005: http://resco.net

4. Open Resco Explorer and go to the \Windows folder. Locate the OmapClock.exe file and hold the stylus on this file until menu pops. Choose “Copy”.

5. Now browse to \Windows\Startup then hold stylus in an empty area and when menu pops, choose paste shortcut.

6. Hold the stylus on the newly created OmapClock shortcut and choose Properties then click the Shortcut tab.

7. Target should be: “\Windows\OmapClock.exe” –clock 240

Change the 240 to the clock speed you tested in step 2 above.

8. Soft reset and test. Suspending the device will reset the device back to the default speed. This is a secondary test to make sure the device does not lock up!

9. Download and install DinarSoft MemMaid: http://www.handango.com/PlatformProd...23995&R=123995

10. Open MemMaid and choose the Notification queue button/tab on the bottom (second from left) then click the ADD button.

11. For Program, click the browse button and browse to the shortcut you created in steps 5-7. The location of the shortcut is \Windows\Startup.

12. From the event dropdown choose “The device woke up”.

13. Click Add.

14. Soft reset and you are done. The Clock speed will remain at the specified speed you specified in step 7 even when the device comes out of suspend.

Source: XDA-Developers

SmartsKeys

Enables mapping holding softkeys to close apps, open start menu, turn volume slider into scroll slider. Absolutely, the best software I've used on my device. Makes one handed use a breeze. Must register with XDA Developers to download.

The following functionality can be enabled by running the program:

•	Tap soft key: orginal Soft Key functions

•	Tap and hold left Soft Key: Start Menu

•	Tap and hold right Soft Key: Close/OK button

•	Volume Slider at the left = Page Up and Page Down

http://xdaforums.com/viewtopic.php?t=41060&sid=fe9919e547cea5c146f1de0d7156a30a

To reset to default, soft reset the phone.

To make the program run after reset, put a shortcut at /windows/startup

Smartskey now includes a configuration file so you can make your own settings like which Soft Keys to alter, whether to use the Close/OK function to really close or only hide a program and an exception list for the Close/OK function.

That’s all great, but the best enhancement is the integration of the OMAP overclock program. From Smartskeys configuration you can overclock your processor to a configurable speed at start up, and even better, have that automatically activated after your devices comes back up from a soft-reset.

You can find Smartskey on

http://htcwizard.westlands.org/wp-content/uploads/2006/02/smartskey0.4.zip .

It includes the program itself, the configuration file and a readme.pdf . It does not include the OMAP overclok program, but I have it here for you:

http://htcwizard.westlands.org/wp-content/uploads/2006/02/OmapClock.exe

2. More MDA Vario Settings to Alter:

Word

Open Word

Menu>Options

Check the box “Save to storage card”

Other Settings

Check the box “Remove from display” (start>settings>today)

Check box “Cleartype”

Start>Settings>Personal>Input>Word Completion>Uncheck “Suggest words when entering text”

Start>settings>Personal>Menus: select which 7 programs you want listing in the start menu

Start>settings>Personal>Owner Information>Set Stuff in Identification; also look at “Notes” and “Options” tabs

Start>Settings>Personal>Today>Items tab: Decide which programs you want in “Today” screen

start>settings>system tab>Regional Settings>Choose your location

Start>Settings>Systems Tab>Screen>Cleartype tab>Enable ClearType

Registry Tweaks

(If you have installed RegistryWizard, you don’t need to read this section as you can do it all easily from that program)

These are all quotes I've compiles from other forums. I think I've done most of these and they work. Select whichever you would like to apply to your MDA device. You're going to need a registry editor. I strongly recommend Vidya Pocket Registry Editor. After you have made all the changes you want, soft reset the device to get them to “kick in”.

Improve Performance Generally

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\StorageManager\FATFS\CacheSize=8192

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\StorageManager\FATFS\EnableCache=1

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\StorageManager\Filters\fsreplxfilt\ReplStoreCacheSize=8192

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\StorageManager\Profiles\

MSFlash\FATFS\Filters\DataCacheSize=8192 [this needs adding]

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\StorageManager\Profiles\ MSFlash\FATFS\Flags=40 [this needs adding]

All values are D-values

Caps/Shift Keyboard Notifier on Screen

Go to:

\HKCU\ControlPanel\Keybd

Create the registry entry called EnableIndicator and assign the DWORD value of 1

After soft-resetting the device, an indicator will appear next to the keyboard icon on the bottom of the screen! Tapping the Shift key shows a "C" while tapping the Dot key shows a dot! Very cool!

Keep the GPRS Connection Active At All Times

Remember, you’re only paying for the amount of data that is transferred; so why not keep the GPRS connection active all the time rather than waiting 1-2 mins for the device to connect every time you want to browse the net? You don’t pay anything for an active GPRS connection when you are not in internet explorer.

HKLM\Comm\ConnMgr\Providers\{7C4B7A3...}\Connections\GPRS...\

change value "AlwaysOn" from 0 to 1

Store Internet Clutter on Your SD Card to Save Device Memory

Put IE cache on storage card instead of memory; this increases the performance of your device. This hack will increase your available ROM memory and people have reported storage gains of over 9 mb. You will need to have a storage card with some free memory installed to utilize this hack.

First open up internet explorer and navigate Menu>Tools>Options>Memory

Press the delete files button to clear the cache

Press delete the cache

Press delete the history

Then open up file explorer from the programs folder in the start menu.

Navigate to the Storage Card and make sure that you are in the base directory of the card.

Then create an I.E. folder and within that folder create a folder called “cache” and “history”

Open up a registry edit program

Navigate to "HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Shell Folders\Cache"

Change the default value "\Windows\Profiles\Guest\Temporary Internet Files" to "\Storage_Card\ie\cache"

Change the other values in the Shell Folders section of the registry to the folders you created and then soft reset.

Be warned that you will create errors in I.E. if you do not have a storage card inserted with those directories on it while you are surfing from now on.

Get a Different GPRS/EDGE Icon

Registry: HKLM\Drivers\BuiltIn\RIL

Key: EnableDifferGprsEdgeIcon (dWord)

Value: 0 = disabled

1 = enabled

Disable SMS Received Notification – switch it off if it annoys you

Hkey_current_user\software\microsoft\inbox\settings\SMSDeliveryNotify

Change Dword: 1  0=off

Disable Message Sent Notification

Registry: HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Inbox\Settings

Key: SMSNoSentMsg (dWord)

Value: 0 = disabled

1 = enabled

Turn On GPS Application (GPS not GPRS ie Navigation Stuff)

First of all, your MDA does NOT have GPS built-in; let's make that clear from the start.

However, Windows Mobile 5.0 includes a GPS Control Panel for ease of configuring Bluetooth GPS devices. This includes creating 'virtual ports' so that multiple programs can access the same NEMA GPS stream from said BT/GPS device. This is helpful for anyone who uses GPS for Navigation, War-Driving and lots of new emerging location-based programs which use GPS information available to your MDA.

Unfortunately, the Registry Wizard for tweaking the MDA available in this FAQ and over at xda-developers does not work with the T-Mobile ROMs. You have to manually edit the registry by following these instructions:

Go to: HKEY_LOCAL_MASCHINE\ControlPanel\GPS Settings

Delete the DWORD marked "hide"

Add a DWORD called "Group" and give it the value of "2"

The GPS panel will now show up in your connection settings

***Note: You must delete 'Redirect' and 'Hide' keys completely***

Soft restart, wait 30 seconds, restart and viola, GPS Control Panel is now enabled.

NB 2=show; 1=hide GPS icon

How I set-up (after BT pairing with the GPS)

Open the new GPS Icon, I then set my GPS Settings on the MDA for 'GPS Program port:' to COM8 (the 'virtual port' for your programs to access the same GPS data) .

Then set the 'GPS hardware port:' to COM6.

Also set the Baud Rate to 9600 (default for my BT/GPS unit)

Check the box 'Manage GPS automatically'.

I'm using WiFiFoFum2, Socket MyNavigator and VisualGPSce to simultaneously run utilizing my BT GPS device. It works flawlessly.

Enable 802.11g WIFI Speed (rather than the default 801.11b)

For more info:

http://xdaforums.com/viewtopic.php?t=38898

1) Locate the following key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\COMM\TNETWLN1\PARMS

2) Add the following key:

name: dot11SupportedRateMaskG

D value: 8

Glyph Cache

Your MDA uses a section of the memory called glyph cache to store your fonts' glyphs and other graphical outputs for things like gaming. You can modify standard graphic rendering so that games run more smoothly with faster graphics. Noted improvement especially for racing, action and arcade games.

Enable Cleartype in Landscape mode

Clear type smoothes the edges of screen fonts for many programs to make reading easier and make your device appear more slick. You can turn this on by going to Start>Settings>Systems Tab>Screen>Cleartype tab>Enable ClearType

However, if you view anything in Landscape mode (by opening the keyboard for instance); for some reason, landscape doesn’t work in this mode. To enable it in landscape mode too, do this to the registry

HKLM\System\GDI\ClearTypeSettings

Key: OffOnRotation (string)

Value: 0

(NB 0 = on; 1 = off)

Hide SIM contacts

Registry: HKCU\ControlPanel\Phone

Key: ShowSim (dWord)

Value: 0 = hide

1 = show

Alter Horizontal Scrollbar Width

Registry: HKLM\System\GWE

Key: cyHScr (dWord)

Value: 13 = default

Alter Vertical Scrollbar Width

Registry: HKLM\System\GWE

Key: cxVScr (dWord)

Value: 13 = default

Alter Taskbar Date/Time

Registry: HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Shell

Key: TBOpt (dWord)

Value: 0 = Nothing

1 = Time

2 = Date

3 = Time and date

Enable Bluetooth Receive

Registry: HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Obex

Key: IsEnabled (dWord)

Value: 1 = enabled

2 = disabled

Increase Font Cache

Registry: HKLM\System\GDI\SYSFNT

Key: CS (dWord)

Value: 0 (Default)

4096

8192 (preferred)

16384

Store Internet Clutter on Storage Card

Registry: HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Exp lorer\shell Folders

Key: Cache (string)

Value: \Storage Card\Temporary Internet Files

\Windows\Profiles\guest\Temporary Internet Files

Disable IE background sounds

Registry: HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main

Key: Play_Background_Sounds (dWord)

Value: 1 (Default)

0 Disabled

Alter the Default Input Method

Registry: HKCU\ ControlPanel\SIP

Key: DefaultIM (string)

Value:

Keyboard {42429667-ae04-11d0-a4f8-00aa00a749b9}

Letter recogniser {42429690-ae04-11d0-a4f8-00aa00a749b9}

Block recogniser {42429691-ae04-11d0-a4f8-00aa00a749b9}

Transcriber ***0034DD0-2AD4-11d1-9CB0-E84BE8000000}

Phone pad {51A2CB38-154E-4C92-A625-A83871C99EC2}

OTHER USEFUL THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW

Changing the Clock

You can change out of 24 hour clock mode by going to regional settings and choosing a non-capitalized option like hh:mm:ss

Switching between vibrate and ring mode

Hold down the Comm Manager button for a second or two on the side of the device above the volume slider. This will toggle the unit between silent (with vibrate) and your regular ringer on settings.

What do the LED lights on the front indicate?

Left LED:

Blinking blue - bluetooth enabled

Blinking green - Wifi enabled

Right LED:

Blinking green - Phone enabled

Blinking orange - Battery Low

Solid orange - Charging Quote:

Note: the right led blinking orange could also mean that you have an alert in addition to the low battery. It is dependant on how you set up your notifications.

Installing Your Own Sounds for Ring Tones, Alarms and Notifications

You need to have a set of “ring tones” and “alarms and notification sounds” in two separate folders to begin with on your PC.

Make sure those in” ring tones” are in mp3 format

Make sure those in “alarms and notifications” are in wav format

Connect and synchronise your device with the computer

On your PC:

Open the ring tones folder

Copy the mp3 files you want

On ActiveSyn, Click on Explore>My Device>Windows>Rings Folder

Paste them there

On your PC:

Open the “sounds and notifications” folder

Copy the wav files you want

On ActiveSyn, Click on Explore>My Device>Windows

Paste them there

That’s it. Now you should see them all. If you can’t see one or two, it is probably because they are too big in size.

Also I neglected to mention that you can load them on the minisd card (obviously if you have one) to the root folder and they will work. To change it to your new ringone, go to settings > sounds and notifications > notifications tab > change the event to incoming call check play sound and select the sound

Bluetooth Messaging

I've seen people send and receive messages via bluetooth with regular phones like Nokia, and I was wondering whether this is possible with a T-Mobile Vario (Windows Mobile 5). Would I need to install any application for this? Thanks.

Well i think theyre not really sending SMS Messages.. these are actually Notes. You don´t need a program for it. Just create a new Note/Text-File and send it via Bluetooth!

I hope this document has proved useful.