[Non-Touchscreen Windows Mobile Other] Menneisyys:
UPDATE (03/14/2008):

a. unfortunately, the WM2003(SE) Jbed version has turned out to be only compatible with Pocket PC Phone Edition devices, NOT plain (phone-less) Pocket PC’s. There still aren’t WM2003(SE)-compliant SMS.dll and phone.dll files. These two files are needed on WM5+ standard (“classic”) Pocket PC’s to make Esmertec’s products / Jblend work. While the “hacked” DLL’s are compatible with WM5+, they aren’t with previous operating systems. That is, you’ll need to wait for a WM2003(SE)-compliant set of “hacked” DLL’s to be released.

Also note that there are some WM2003SE Phone Edition models that seem to be completely incompatible with; most importantly, the Qtek 2020i.

Also note that some? all? of the (again, currently, only WM2003(SE) Phone Edition-compliant – do NOT bother if you only have a phone-less PDA!) contain wired-in paths. For example, the one linked to from THIS page (see daemonpnz’s post at 10.02.08 10:22:56) must be extracted to “\Storage Card\jbed0524\”. Should you want to put it somewhere else (because, for example, your PPC PE device is a non-English one), you’ll need to hexedit Jbed.exe inside the RAR file and change the two occurrences of the above path to your liking. An example showing changing the space character to a B in "Storage Card".

(Incidentally, the reason for this was the following: I’ve tested it on my HP iPAQ 2210, which is a dual-slot machine, using the card names SD Card and CF Card. As you aren’t allowed to create a directory named “Storage Card” in the root of the file system, I had to hexedit the file so that it uses another name. “StorageBCard” can already be created. Note that, as the HP iPAQ 2210 is a no-phone device, this didn’t help much as it still refuses to run. Again, because of the still-missing, WM2003(SE)-compliant SMS.dll and phone.dll files.)

I let you know when Jbed becomes compatible with non-phone pre-WM5 devices.

b. I’ve also tested some of the versions linked from the 4PDA.ru thread on my HTC Vox (s710) to find out whether they’re any good compared to the old MIDlet managers; particularly Cloudyfa’s version - the version that, so far, I’ve recommended to all MIDlet users (unless in need for M3G (3D) support.). These two are both “fixed heap” versions; some of the less simple games (for example, DoomRPG) and benchmark apps with large memory requirements are stated to run much better / more reliably in the fixed heap versions than in the regular ones (for example, that of Cloudyfa) because of the much bigger available memory. I haven’t tested the effects of this myself.

1. JBed3dMod_HeapSizeFix (that is, 3D-capable Jbed version, based on 20070524.2.1, with fixed heap)

I was really interested in how this (and an additional, hacked file available for download HERE - just overwrite JBed.exe of the original, already-installed version with JBed3d_SreenFix.exe after renaming) worked because, at 4PDA.ru, there’s a version that promises flawless, screen problem-free functionality on MS Smartphones also compatible with the excellent Gmail client MIDlet.

(Also see THIS (original HERE) for more info; see freesunny's post at 10.01.08 10:56:06.)

So far, it seemed impossible to make the latter (the Gmail MIDlet) flawlessly work on MS Smartphones under any version of Jbed. An example of the display problems the non-hacked version (or any Jbed version) can be seen in the following screenshot:

Unfortunately, the hacked version (after overwriting the EXE file with the separately downloaded JBed3d_SreenFix.exe) doesn’t really work with Gmail: while indeed the entire screen estate is used, the three lowermost menu items (Search, Compose New, Exit) aren’t visible, just like with the non-hacked case:

Note that essentially the same results from the 4pda.ru folks can be HERE. The same problem also exists in Portrait mode, not only in Landscape.

All in all, while it’s certainly a step in the right direction, you will still have problems with (at least) the Gmail MIDlet. If you absolutely hate the missing display area in the MIDlet listing on MS Smartphones with the old Jbed versions, you might want to consider upgrading, though.

2. I’ve tested JBedModHeapFix (02.01.08) too – a somewhat extended and fixed Jbed version. While it does have certain advantages over Clodyfa’s version, it entirely lacks music support and is based on the 20070802.2.1 version – that is, the same “old” version as that of Clodyfa and not anything newer. I don’t really recommend it if you need sounds / music, which is excellent in the Cloudyfa version – again, unlike any other (earlier!) versions I’ve tested, including earlier Jeodek versions like the 20070425.1.1 version coming in the original (and just-updated) firmware of the HTC Vox / s710 and having very bad and distorted sound.

Note that the Jbed version lacks the the English jbed.exe.0409.mui file – it only has the Russian localization, that is, jbed.exe.0419.mui. This means, unless you copy the (standard) jbed.exe.0409.mui file from, say, the Cloudyfa version to the new one, it’ll have messed-up, invisible menus.

I’ve also tested whether these two versions, finally, fix the two biggest problems with the Cloudyfa version:

it’s not possible to install Cloudyfa’s version on the storage card: with the new Jbed version, it’s possible – without any manual hacking. In this regard, it’s much more recommended than Cloudyfa’s. (Haven’t tested the Jbed3D version in this regard.). That is, you can safely direct the CAB installers to install the managers onto a card: they WILL be installed there, not taking up any built-in storage.

with Cloudyfa’s version, it’s not possible to start MIDlets from inside the Jbed interface if you use a localization using not strictly Western characters:

Fortunately, both the non-3D and the 3D versions available at 4PDA.ru are compatible with non-Western regional settings, unlike Cloudyfa’s version.

(Note that, in the original Cloudyfa version, you can still execute MIDlets via a direct invocation link file if you have an otherwise incompatible regional setting, circumventing the standard interface listing all your MIDlets. This, however, needs some additional tinkering and, again, you won’t be able to select the MIDlet you’d like to run from the built-in list of the MIDlet manager. Also note that I’m speaking of the generic Regional settings, NOT the language of MS Smartphones (you can easily change the entire interface language of MS Smartphone devices.). Your MS Smartphone language may be, say, East-European; if you still use some non-Eastern regional setting, the apps started from inside Cloudyfa’s version will still run and you won’t need to use direct invocation link files.)

Also note that neither of these versions have any sound emulation. This, again, isn’t a change from the previous 3D (M3G)-compliant version but can be VERY bad news for plain non-M3G-compliant Jbed users, as, again, the Cloudyfa version has excellent music / sound emulation. That is, stick to the latter if you need music.