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

You can probably guess what I do to put food on the table and a roof over the family's head.

It is hard enough to debug with the proper tools, a well defined problem space, and a repeatable process. I lack the first, but I found the third. These posts are my attempt to contribute to the cecond. I find that more relevant information is better, and hopefully, these posts fall into that category.

If only Money exhibited a problem, I would suspect that Money was the problem. Money is not the best, but because it can work with WM5, I can accept its limitations. I would also prefer using your 2.3 w/CF2 ROM. I may have to use the Cingular 2.25, but I should be able to manually install the extras.

(1) I installed 2.3 w/CF2.

(2) I disconnected during reboot.

(3) I deleted the ActiveSync partnership.

(4) I reconnected.

(5) ActiveSync created the partnership.

(6) I deselected all Sync options.

(7) ActiveSync found the changes.

(8) I installed only Money.

(9) ActiveSync began Synchronizing.

(10) No “Reading Device Databases” screen.

(11) 10 minutes of Synchronizing.

(12) I pressed the Stop button.

(13) 20 minutes of Stopping.

(14) Verified no activity for the WCESMgr.exe Process.

(15) I killed the WCESMgr.exe Process.

(16) I copied the files from the \Rings dir to my HDD.

(17) I deleted all files in the \Rings dir.

(18) I could not delete the dpadctl.mid file.

(19) I noted that it is a System file.

(20) I copied the .mid, .mp3, .wav, and .wma files to my HDD.

(21) I tried to delete some of those files.

(22) WM5 threw an error.

(23) I understood why you addressed the hidden files and subdirs.

(24) I did a soft reset.

(25) ActiveSync had the same problem.

(26) The “Reading Device Databases” screen came up.

Originally, I had your 2.17 w/CF2 ROM installed, and PPCProfilesPro & Money were installed. I skipped your TEST2 ROM and Cingular's 2.25 ROM. When you posted your 2.3 w/CF2, I downloaded and flashed, but PPCProfilesPro & Money had problems. I flashed with your TEST2 ROM, but the problem still was occurring. I then flashed with your 2.17 w/CF2, and there was no problem. Each time, I installed both PPCProfilesPro & Money, and both had problems except on the 2.17 w/CF2 ROM. This established that the Money problem was not being caused by file corruption.

I then flashed with the Cingular 2.25 to determine if the problem was being caused by your ROMs. I only installed the PPCProfilesPro app because I did not want to corrupt my Money files. I was also getting tired of monitoring and killing the WCESMgr.exe process. If Money had a problem, PPCProfilesPro also had one. I decided I could recreate your 2.13 w/CF2 ROM by flashing with the Cingular 2.25 and manually installing the extras.

Because I added the files from my HDD to the PPC device, the files were never in the raw ROM, and I was able to delete the ones I had added. I knew that some were in the raw ROM (Dogbark.wav), and they could not be deleted. I was not aware that the files installed with the Cingular 2.25 ROM were also in the raw ROM, but since everything worked properly with those files anyway, I was not concerned with them.

I expected to find a corrupt file(s) that I copied from your ROMs. My plan was to identify that file(s) and to delete it. After adding the batch of files that caused the problem to re-occur, I began deleting five at a time, and after the first five were deleted PPCProfilesPro started working. I then began adding them back one at a time. The last file caused the problem, and after deleting it, I started to add the remaining batches of files. The next batch also caused the problem to re-occur. I again started the process to find the corrupt file, but each file I added seemed to cause the problem. It seemed unlikely that six files in a row would be corrupt. It occurred to me that the number of sound files may have been the cause.

I was not aware that the files in your ROM were in the raw ROM and that they could not be deleted. I thought I could flash using your 2.3 w/CF2 ROM, delete some unused .mid & .wav files, and have a working System, but I now see that will not work. I have not had any of the other problems tylr is experiencing, but I have not had the chance to test any other apps. Unfortunately, I will have to use Cingular's 2.25 ROM.

I apologize for not being clearer in the first post. It is always clear in my mind, but that does not help other folks. Hopefully, I have not bored you with the re-hash.

One thing I forgot to mention in my original post was that I did have a problem adding some of the files. Some of the files would hang while they were copying, and cancelling the copy operation would not respond. I disconnected, reconnected, and did not include those files in the batch I was trying to add. This was another I thought I was looking for a corrupt file. The files that I could not add to the device /Windows dir did play on my machine, but this did not surprise me because, files that one app complains about being corrupt can be opened in another app with no problem. I did not investigate any of the other possible vectors.

What I do not understand is why a sound file would cause a problem with Money opening the database. I am assuming that the database referenced pertains to Money, but it may have been trying to open a System file for some reason.

I suspect that whatever is the mechanism of the problem, it is manifesting itself in Money and the PPCProfilesPro apps, but other problems could be caused by the same mechanism. With my latest test, causation between the two apps seems unlikely, and there may be no correlation either. I could be wrong, and it would not be the first time.

If I am not mistaken, your 2.1 ROM has AKU2.0, and it did not have the problems that AKU2.2/3 is having. The GSM connection dropping problem indicates to me that AKU2.3 has a number of problems. I have not experienced the dropped calls, but I just flashed on Wednesday. MS releasing a buggy Service Pack has happenned more than once. If I recall correctly, SP4 for NT4 was to fix the problems SP3 caused, and SP6 had to be replaced with SP6a.

If anything else turns up, I will let you know.