[MDA III, XDA III, PDA2k, 9090 Software Upgrading] Chef_Tony:
about storage locations:

the blueangel as shipped comes with the following memory specs:

- Extrom 16 MB

- ROM 32 MB

- RAM 128 MB (devides itself dynamically into storage space and actual RAM, program memory)

- Storage 43 MB

the programs by default installed into the ram, your pim information was stored there, too. that is why whenever the device ran out of power for a longer time, everything was lost. it was like a hard reset.

you got that right there is 96MB of rom (rom, extrom and storage) which does not get lost in case you run out of electricity.

but the ram of 128MB was cleared, whenever that happened.

the new memory in wm6.5 is:

- (old) extrom 128KB (empty)

- ROM 32MB

- Storage: 60MB (old storage 43mb+extrom 16mb)

- RAM 128 MB (90mb show up in memory)

that seems like not much of a difference so far, but it is.

what took me long to understand is:

your RAM is now ONLY RAM, it is just used like the ram on a pc, it is completely just for working the programs and the UI, and NO storage space at all, that is why you don't have the bar to set the ratio between program and storage memory anymore.

and while in wm2003 the Storage is shown in explorer like a memory card, now you access the storage simply as \\blueangel\

this means, although the numbers are similar, e.g. when you run out of power or don't touch the device for a month, still all your data will be saved, that's because nothing is stored in ram anymore and that makes the hard reset more complicated, because you manually have to choose, that you actually want to format the storage, because the power+reset empty the ram, which was enough to format the old OS's storage, as it was battery-dependent.

in general that means, you have a little less storage space, because your ramdrive will be gone, but therefore the device is much faster and installing on the sd card is easier now (needs no extra program like cab installer, you can always pick the drive you want to install to.

to make that more visual, i post a screenshot below of my memory state at the moment.

for the second part, yes you are right, the extrom is an extra file, which needs to be extracted and then the folder extrom needs to be put on an sd card, which causes the before mentioned taking out the card and putting it back in for the first start.

to quote the thread, where you got the rom from ( http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=482997 ):

"R6.1 Release (this does not mean that this is windows mobile 6.1)

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Rapidshare: R6.1 ROM | EXTROM

Megaupload: R6.1 ROM | EXTROM

Ziddu: R6.1 ROM | EXTROM

21202 Fixes - This cab should fix the ability to make audio recording of the call, also should fix the show of the G icon and the status for gprs connectivity"

there is an extra download link for the extrom.7z file

and finally, you have to devide between the 2 different extroms:

- in wm2003 there is an extrom stored in your device, that is the one that you resize to 128kb and practically eliminate

- in wm6.5 you put your extrom on the sd card for one time use.

that is exactly the point of resizing the original extrom. since you only need the extrom when you hard reset, which you probably don't do, when on the road, you don't need to waste those precious 16mb on your device for installation files, that are hardly ever used. plus, with the resizing and deleting of the original extrom, you make the device look for the extrom on the sd card.

but your question is fully justified, you see, your shipped rom is bigger than the cooked roms here, because it contains the actual rom, the extrom and a radio rom. that is called a baked rom, where everything is packed together and whatever state the device is in before you flash this, you definetely have the state you want afterwards.

many devices, like the HTC Universal for example are still flashed with the extrom and it is not as easy to customize it.

to customize the extrom:

you extrom folder will contain a file called cfg.txt, which will contain something like this:

LOCK:Enabled
SHOW:\Storage Card\EXTROM\Custom.bmp
CAB: \Storage Card\EXTROM\ADC.cab
CAB: \Storage Card\EXTROM\A2DPFix.cab
CAB: \Storage Card\EXTROM\Extrom_version.CAB
CAB: \Storage Card\EXTROM\GoogleMaps.cab
CAB: \Storage Card\EXTROM\HTC Large Title Bar.cab
CAB: \Storage Card\EXTROM\HTC_Task_Manager_2.1_34837.5.cab
CAB: \Storage Card\EXTROM\HTC_Touch_Calculator_Skin.cab
CAB: \Storage Card\EXTROM\HTC_WMP_Touch_Skin.cab
CAB: \Storage Card\EXTROM\Office_6.1.21202.cab
CAB: \Storage Card\EXTROM\PHM Regedit.cab
CAB: \Storage Card\EXTROM\PIE8_Flash3.1_21202.cab
CAB: \Storage Card\EXTROM\pocketrar.cab
CAB: \Storage Card\EXTROM\psShutXP.cab
CAB: \Storage Card\EXTROM\RDM_21202.CAB
CAB: \Storage Card\EXTROM\sipchange.cab
CAB: \Storage Card\EXTROM\skybox.CAB
CAB: \Storage Card\EXTROM\skybox.CAB
CAB: \Storage Card\EXTROM\SMS Delivery Receipt Fix
CAB: \Storage Card\EXTROM\WMWidgets.cab
CAB: \Storage Card\EXTROM\youtubeplay.cab
LOCK:Disabled
HIDE:Enabled
EXEC: \Windows\DelCDetect.exe
HIDE:Disabled
RST: Reset

as you can see, there are a few commands, that shouldn't interest you, it is the (un-)locking of the screen and keys there, the important thing is the list of cabs. it will match the list of cabs in the actual folder, but you can also change the contents of the folder to whatever you like, you just need to adjust this list of cabs, because that is the procedure, the extrom is installed by. you will see, that this list varys from the one in your extrom, as i customized mine already.

i re-flash my device pretty often to test new roms and when i know what extra programs i need, like google maps, tcpmp or youtubeplay, i simply put them in the folder and in this list, and they install automatically after the rom upgrade. also you'll see, that for example arcsoft mms, and adobe reader are removed from the list, as i never use them.

ok, this was a little more than what you asked for, but for fully understanding what that extrom is, and how to work with it, i thought this might all help you. i fully understand that you want to be sure to understand what you are doing first, before you actually do it and i appreciate that, many people here start off wrong and then post a question, when they screwed up their device ;)

sorry this took me so long, but it is a heck lot of text i wrote there. ;)

greetz

Chef_Tony