[Windows Mobile Development and Hacking General] HarryTheSatman:
G-alarm on I-mate Jasjar (HTC Universal): problems from sleep modus + boot errors

Hi,

I recently uninstalled EnAlarmPPC, to give G-Alarm a try. At first look great interface. Love the big buttons and large tekst and up/down arrows. Very easy to work with. This being said, here is my problem. I am running it on a Jasjar WM5, 64 Mb storage on board, and a 2 gig memory card. I installed it on the card, as I need the storage memory for loading apps like IGO8, that are very memory demanding. (status now is storage free=2.88 Mb, Program free=23.71).

After installation, I got the error message about the new .net 3.5 frame work. I had 2.0 on my card, so I installed 3.5 and the other required (database)app on the card too.

All works fine once the system is up and running. But I have a few hick-ups: When booting, first message that shows is:

GAlarmreload.exe : the file 'GAlarmReload' cannot be opened. Either it is not signed with a trusted certificate, or one of it components cannot be found. You might need to reinstall or restore this file.

I can load the G-Alarm program by clicking the icon. I can set the alarm to go off like in 5 minutes from now. Click OK. Then exit. Waiting... alarm goes off. Works fine. (phone is connected with usb cable to my laptop for power/charging)

Test # 2: Secondly, I do the same but now I push the power off button from my Jasjar. Still connected to my laptop. Waiting... Alarm starts, but there is another screen on top of it, covering the entire screen : My info (comes from the phone settings in Jasjar). I first need to touch the screen to get this out of the way. Now I can stop or snooze the alarm.

I also had "enter password when not active for xx minutes" enabled. This caused the password window from Jasjar to come first, required to enter the password, then stop/snooze the alarm. (kind of difficult when you are barely awake, not entirely focussed yet, and need to enter a password before hitting the snooze button...). So I have to turn this off, causing a security breech: If I ever should forget my phone in a hotel room, the finder has full access to my stored information.

Compared with EnAlarmPPC: this program bypassed both "My info" and "password".

Test #3: same as # 2, but not connected to my laptop. Alarm won't go off. Screen remains dark (powered off). When pushing the power button and tapping away the "my info" page, the alarm goes off. Again here compared with EnAlarmPPC : The program woke up my PPC and the alarm when off.

I must admit that I had EnAlarmPPc on my main memory. this because the script could not find the exe file when resided on the memory card when running on low battery. As long as I had enough battery capacity, all went well. But once it gets critical, the OS cuts down the power supply to the card reader to save power. And this means of course no alarm anymore... But that was the only reason why I had it on the main memory.

For what concernes memory consumption for G-Alarm, 3.5 net frame and database app, that is kind of a different story. The entire set of cab files needed is about 4,3 Mb. And that is in compressed condition... So the reason is obvious why I prefer to have all this installed on the memory card.

I give you all this information, so you have some thoughts for the "after-mathttp://xdaforums.com/images/icons/icon10.gifh". ;-). For the time being I will rely on the alarm clock of my wife on the other side of the bed :-). Looking forward to your comments.

EDITED : Did some changes. Kept CF3.5 and SQL on the card, but reinstalled Galarm on the device. Seems to be working. About the password issue: I found this on the website from EnAlarmPPC (maybe something you could consider including in your software ?):

***********************************************************

Using the Pin Code option the code of your mobile is automaticly entered at the biginning of an alarm.

In "preferences → password" the owner of the Pocket PC can enter a code with wich the mobile will be locked after some time of inactivity. This can by quit anoying if the mobile is reactivated by an alarm. That is why in this option you can enter your pin code which is then automaticly send to the code request on every alarm activation.

There are some restrictions to this function:

* The Option is only available in Windows Mobile 5

* Only the four digits code is suported, not the alphanumeric password

The code is stored encrypted by the program in the registry so it will not be possible for another user to readout your secret code.

***************************************************'

This would solve the security problem. I was thinking about the "my info" page. It seems logical that it pops up and stays there, since this is the only way to inform a potential finder who the owner is of the device. (in case the finder has no intention on returning the unit, I have installed "the ultimate anti-theft software which sends me his number by sms to a second predefined number, plus a second app that sends me his approx GPS coordinates, hehe (but that is an other story for a different thread !))

I also disabled the power off after xx minutes inactive when on battery power. I am unsure if the power-off button does the same... But we'll wait and see :-).

I'll let you know how things work tomorrow.