*** GENERAL TWEAKS ***
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*** ALL SOUND INFORMATION HAS BEEN MOVED TO POST #2 ***
Here are a list of tips and tricks that I and other users have compiled for the Intrepid. I will try to keep this first post updated as thing develop. All these have been moved over from sprintusers.com, since they don't allow editing of posts after a limited time, and I needed to correct some errors in my posts. Now that ppcgeeks has created a forum for the Intrepid, I'm going to keep this here.
edit: long registry key strings are in code blocks here because forums seem to force spaces in weird places with long unbroken strings.
Hard Reset
So you installed something naughty that broke your Intrepid, and you can't get to the "clear all data" screen because it won't boot or you can't unlock the phone. (FYI don't try to install the haptic feedback program for a Touch Pro on the Intrepid.) Press the reset button on the side of the phone and hold the D-Pad center button until asked if you want to clear everything. Remove the MicroSD card just for safety. I did.
5-Column Small Icon Start Menu Tweak
http://forum.ppcgeeks.com/showthread.php?t=112010
Disable Threaded Text Messaging
HTC was kind enough to give us a choice in the matter here; Samsung not so much. I receive automated text messages from a remote server and they can't be lumped into a 'conversation', so I have to have a way to go back to the old boring way. Set:
Code:
HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Inbox\Settings\OEM\SMSInboxThreadingDisabled = 1
(thanks to mydigitallife.info for that tidbit)
Terribly slow response to button presses and screen taps
Open up your task manager. I'm willing to bet you've got way more stuff going on in there than you should. End some tasks and if necessary, soft reset; the problem will go away. Something is wrong with the Intrepid memory management, I think; it just lets things run until the processor is so bogged down it can't do anything.
Blurry Text
Turn cleartype off. On a screen with this low resolution, cleartype just doesn't cut it.
Switch Bluetooth Headset Button back to Voice Command
TellMe is OK, maybe a bit gimmicky and IMHO not ready for prime time. I suppose the day I can press the button and say "navigate to...", and it opens Sprint Nav and gets me there, then great. Until then, I miss my confirmations before dialing numbers and the sheer simplicity of Voice Command.
I changed a bunch of things, but I think this is what worked:
Code:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Bluetooth\AudioGateway
Change BTAGExtModule value from BTAGExtModule.dll to \windows\vcbthag.dll
You have to soft reset. Now when I press the bluetooth headset button I get MSVC, and when I press the TellMe button on the handset I get TellMe. Perfect. The only bug so far is that voice command announcements do not come over the BT headset, so I've been forced to turn those off (they only come out of the phone speaker).
.Net CF 3.5
I'm not sure what version of .NET compact framework the Intrepid ships with, but the .Net CF 3.5 CAB floating around seems to install just fine and does allow some programs to work (that did not work stock). So I suspect this phone ships with .NET CF 2.0.
GPS with older programs
The Intrepid has Windows managed GPS on port GDP9:. This port is inaccessible to some older GPS programs like iGuidance 3.01 and a few others. GPSGate (not free) is able to replicate the internal GPS data to a virtual COM port for those programs. I chose COM8 (it initially suggested COM2 but when I selected COM2 it said "port already exists" - I think it might be a bluetooth virtual port).
Newer GPS programs seem to be written to work with the Windows managed GPS without this limitation.
FYI I was not able to get the free GPSProxy program to see GPD9, though I haven't played around with it much so I'm not sure if it's my limitation or a limitation of the software.
GPS in General
I have to say, I'm pretty dang impressed with the GPS in the Intrepid. I don't know if it's the combination of a decent processor or something that's just better about this phone, but with my old iBlue and the built-in GPS in the Touch Pro, I could almost never get a fix inside my house, and even then it would take some time to get a fix. With the Intrepid, I get 5-6 satellites sitting at my desk and the fix is just seconds. And on this phone, route planning seems a lot faster in general (faster processor, I guess?).
I would have to give this phone thumbs up on GPS so far. One of these days I'll try taking it into the redwood forest and see if it can get a fix under a tree canopy. That's the real test for me...
No OTG Host
Since it came up with the last microUSB device I used (800w), I thought I'd check. The Intrepid does not appear to have USB OTG "host" capability. I'm not surprised, but it would have been kind of cool. I tried my OTG host cable from the 800w and even tried the drivers from xda-developers, no go.
Pocket Outlook Opens on Every Mail Check
It appears to do it when Pocket Outlook isn't open and a mail check is initiated. If Pocket Outlook is open in the background (showing in Task Manager) then it stays in the background even if an email check is initiated.
Here's what appears to to be the issue. XButtonSetting forces outlook to close when you hit OK. Disable that and it stays open in the background, which should fix your issue. You just have to watch your task manager a bit more closely and remember to close things now and then. Thanks to canestim at sprintusers.com for helping to solve this one!
Opera Mini
Ramz858 reports that Opera Mini works on the Intrepid:
http://forum.ppcgeeks.com/showthread.php?t=95721
Remove Startup Animation
Take the attached "StartUp.gif" and copy it to \Windows on your device. It will overwrite the version from ROM and remove your startup animation. I can't find the shutdown animation; let me know if you find it! I'm not sure if this actually speeds up the boot process, but I have to think that not running a 600KB animated GIF has got to help a little.
MindFrost XDA-DEVEL LOCKSCREEN FIX (with a Haus tweak)
Edit: there is one issue with this tweak. If the phone is locked and you get a low battery notification, the notification pops up right over the unlock slider so you can't unslide the lock (as me how I know). I sort of freaked out when that happened and I pressed a bunch of buttons and tapped the screen and eventually I got the lock screen to show in front of the notification, so I was able to clear it. Just something to be aware of.
This is improved as of 11 Nov. 2009. I tested MindFrost's lockscreen fix. It is intended to fix a delay, but it also moves the slider down to where your thumb is. Anyone who likes to use the phone one-handed will really benefit from this. Here is the original thread at XDA:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=527219
I chose the centered version of the MF82_QVGA_BothSliders_v1.1.zip. But I didn't like the fact that on the Intrepid (is it just this phone?) the clock text gets cut off at the bottom (here and with the stock ROM lock also). So I edited the CPR file to move the clock all the way left and make the font just a bit smaller. Take the attached cpr.txt file, rename it to just .cpr (remove the .txt extension I had to give it in order to upload it here) and put it in \Windows on your device. Soft reset, and lock.
You will notice (as others have) that when you have alerts (like SMS and email) and you tap the slider to show them, they pop up kind of over the slider. That's just because I didn't bother to change that, as I never really use that function. Feel free to tweak it and make improvements if you want that functionality to work better. It's pretty tight fitting on the 240px high display. Enjoy!
Tethering
Enough people are asking about this...you do not need special programs to tether. Of course no one here condones tethering without having a data plan that covers your tethering. This is merely for informational purposes.
HKLM\Comm\InternetSharing
You will see:
Extension: InternetSharingEx.dll
blank the value of Extension.
Soft reset. Go back and make sure the above change stuck. Rumor has it if you soft reset too fast after making a reg edit, it doesn't "stick". If not, try again, wait a few minutes, and then soft reset.
Go into Internet Sharing, select "SPRINT DATA" as the network connection (DO NOT CHOOSE ANYTHING ELSE) and connect. Sometimes it is necessary to start a data connection on the phone manually before running Internet Sharing. You can do so by opening Pocket IE, checking mail, or whatever.
Steps to connect:
1. Pair your phone and your PC (talking about bluetooth here)
2. Open ICS. Choose Bluetooth PAN and Sprint Data. Press Connect. If you've already paired, there's no need to make BT visible (sometimes ICS asks you this, I think maybe after every soft reset?)
3. On the PC, connect to the Network Access service on the phone.
(end post 1)