[8125, K-JAM, P4300, MDA Vario Software Upgrading] xdadevelopersuser:
Re: issue with this ROM

I had the same problem with Money, but I fixed it last night. The problem went away when I deleted some of the sound file from the \Windows folder. The problem began after I flashed my 8125 with Summiter's 2.3 w/CF2 ROM. The solution was found using Cingular's 2.25 ROM, and I am going to re-flash using Summiter's 2.3 w/CF2 ROM to see if it still works. Below are the details.

Problem Summary

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I was on Summiter's 2.17 ROM, and it was working fine. I skipped TEST2 ROM and Cingular's Official 2.25 ROM. I flashed with Summiter's 2.3 w/CF2 ROM. When I installed PPCProfilesPro v3.00a, the Ring Tone and Bluetooth drop-downs on the Setup screen were blank. The sound drop-down on the Notifications screen was populated. I never could figure out what was wrong, but I decided I could live without it. After I installed Money, I had the same problem with it hanging on the "Reading Device Databases”.

I tried deleting the ActiveSync relationship, opening/closing Money, setting/removing a password, and allowing/denying Money an internet connection, but nothing fixed the problem.

I decided that I could not live without Money. I dropped down to Summiter's TEST2 ROM, but the same problems occurred. I dropped back down to 2.17 ROM, and the problem went away. I decided to try Cingular's 2.25 ROM, and I would manually add the parts including CF2.

I gathered up all the parts I could find, copied the sound and theme files, and I flashed with Cingular's 2.25 ROM. I made a few changes to the settings through the Control Panel applets, installed PHM RegEdit, and installed PPCProfilesPro. I checked the PPCProfilesPro Setting screen, and the drop-downs were populated. I thought that something in the MS AKU2.x must be buggy, and I would recreate Summiter's modifications manually.

Three hours later (after making registry changes, setting changes, adding sounds/themes, and installing applications) I decided to customize PPCProfilesPro before installing Money. When I went to the PPCProfilesPro Settings screen, the problem had returned. I did not add Money due to laziness, but I am fairly sure it would also not have worked. I tried a soft reset hoping the problem would go away, but I was not that lucky.

At first I thought either the registry changes or the Zoki's A2DP Hack was causing the problem, and I could back out the changes and/or uninstall the A2DP Hack. Again, no luck. Finally, I decided to re-flash again using Cingular's 2.25 ROM. I would check the PPCProfilesPro Settings screen after each application installation. It was still working after I got the suspect apps installed, and so, I decided to try some registry changes. These also went in with no problem, and I began to suspect that either a sound or theme file may be corrupt. Adding the themes did not cause the problem. I began to add the sound files, but to isolate the problem, I copied them to the \Windows folder in batches. I would check the PPCProfilesPro Settings for changes.

I isolated the file that would cause the problem to occur, but I wanted to be sure that it was a corrupt file problem. It turned out that it was not. Any .wav or .mdi file added to the \Windows folder would cause the problem. I should have copied another non-sound file into the \Windows folder to see if that would also cause the problem, but I did not think about it at the time.

I have deleted all the extra sound files I do not use. I did not delete any files that I thought may be System sound files, and a few (especially, Dogbark.wav) cannot be deleted. It seems that things are running faster, but that may be my imagination.

I finally installed Money, and it Sync'd without a problem.

Problem Solution

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Delete the extra sound files.

Solution Notes

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The actual problem may not be the number of sound files. There may be some limit on the number of files in the \Windows folder, and if this is the case, it may or may not include the files in sub-folders and/or the sub-folders. Using the \Windows\Rings folder may also be a solution, or moving the files to the Storage Card.

The problem solution does not seem to be relevant to the problem symptoms, but it did work for both PPCProfilesPro and Money. The Ring Tone drop-down on the PPCProfilesPro Settings screen makes sense. I also expected all sound drop-downs to be blank, but this was not the case. The Notifications screen in PPCProfilesPro has a sound drop-down which was not blank, and the Ring Tone drop-down on the Phone tab of the Control Panel Phone applet also was not blank.

The Ring Tone drop-down on the PPCProfilesPro Settings screen has two entries for each sound on all the ROMs I tried. I originally thought it was listing the files in both the \Windows and \Windows\Rings folders, and this was causing the double entries. My Windows\Rings folder is now empty, but the drop-down is still listing each sound twice. It also includes the file extension and file name, but I am not sure if this has any relevance.

Why the Bluetooth drop-down on the PPCProfilesPro Settings screen would be blank is not readily apparent. The list is hard-coded with four choices (On, Off, Discoverable, As-Is), and it should be populated from the source code. Moreover, why any of this would cause a connection problem for Money is also baffling, but if the number of sound files was the direct cause, this may also be causing other mysterious problems.

I will be flashing with Summiter's 2.3 w/CF2 ROM later tonight, and with any luck, this will be the end of this problem. Since the solution has only been tested using Cingular's 2.25 ROM, it is possible it will not be applicable to other ROM versions. YMMV.

Observation

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Having a huge number of fonts installed in Windows would cause the system to slow down. I am not sure if this is still a problem with XP, but if I remember correctly, Windows would load all installed fonts into memory including fonts never used. A similar problem may exist in WM5.

Coda

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I have been lurching here for several months. Ths is the first time I have de-lurched on any BB, forum, or Newsgroup. Summiter your outstanding contributions to this forum are the cause. Hopefully, you or the other folks here can derive some value from this post.

BTW: I have noticed that there has been no application of Godwin's Law on this forum that I could find. I am impressed.

Back to lurch mode.