THREEFACES' Walk-Through: Installing/Customizing the latest NRG ROM [2.5 Edition]

THIS IS FOR MANILA 2.5. IF YOU'RE USING A 2.1 ROM GO TO THIS THREAD

[This is obviously out of date, but there is still some excellent information for new folks that isn't Rom-specific to Energy. Hopefully you'll find something useful.]

INTRODUCTION
These are not detailed instructions, per se, but rather a walk-through of my experiences installing and customizing the latest NRG ROM on my Sprint Touch Pro. Please note, this edition of the Guide is dedicated specifically to Manila 2.5. I don't think we've seen the last of 2.1, so I'm going to continue supporting my 2.1 NRG ROM Guide and Thread [linked in my sig or above]. I just want folks to know "where they are" to avoid confusion.

Because NRG has been releasing multiple versions of each ROM, the Guides are going to focus on the versions I prefer that I've been able to configure on my device for daily use. I typically flash every ROM version that's released, so if you have a build-specific question that you cannot find the answer to here, please PM me.


This is under construction, so please PM me if you have any suggestions or find issues with the information I'm providing. The majority of this is pulled together from a ton of resources and there are definitely instances where someone might not be credited...if you see something you created/recommended, again, PM me and I'll be sure to credit you properly. Likewise, if something should be removed, please let me know.

If you would like to write up an addition to the Guide, say for carrier-specific issues or any other area that has not yet been covered, feel free to PM me with the info and I'll be more than happy to add it.

Thank you to everyone who is referenced here in the Guide, NRG for the killer ROM, Codybear for inspiring the idea to convert this into a thread, the dudes from the NRG ROM Thread and the entire PPCGeeks Community for all of your hard work and knowledge sharing!

OK, let's see how we can get this set up to be the most helpful.

PLEASE DO NOT POST QUESTIONS HERE RELATED TO NRG ROM - THIS THREAD IS TO SERVE AS A RESOURCE FOR NEW USERS AND SHOULD NOT BE BOGGED DOWN WITH USER ISSUES. YOU'RE FREE TO PM ME WITH ANY QUESTIONS, BUT PLEASE KEEP THEM FOCUSED ON THE GUIDE. [New fixes, upgrades to software, new links, better recommendations, etc. are ALL welcome].

Link to NRG ROM Thread: http://forum.ppcgeeks.com/showthread.php?t=69545


BEFORE WE BEGIN, A WORD OF CAUTION
IMPORTANT! You should be very comfortable with the processes of locking and unlocking your phone, flashing custom ROMS…AND returning your phone back to a stock ROM should you need to do that. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, you should take a few days and do some research….read. Failure to do so will most likely result in your having a $600 paperweight. Don’t brick your phone – read and ask questions first.


HOW TO UNLOCK AND FLASH
Check this thread out: http://forum.ppcgeeks.com/showthread.php?t=69854

HOW TO UNLOCK AND FLASH FROM THE SD CARD
Check this thread out: http://forum.ppcgeeks.com/showthread.php?t=61333

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A PDF version of the Guide can be downloaded below. It may have slightly more up-to-date information than this thread and/or may include some extra links and additional information that I didn't see fit to post here directly.

Installing ENERGY ROM “Standard” – Sense 2.5
Build 21884: December 13, 2009 - DUSK THEME [max manila info is at the bottom of Guide]
[Guide Updated: 12/15/09]
A PDF Guide for December 16th Build 28014 can be downloaded HERE.
A PDF Guide for this Build can be downloaded HERE.

THE BASICS

These are NOT flashing instructions. Please visit the links above for the correct unlocking and flashing processes if this is your first time flashing a custom ROM. These initial steps are glossed over, since it is assumed that you have already learned to flash. This is just one last additional warning.

1. [OPTIONAL] Some users flash to a stock ROM before flashing custom. This step is completely optional, but recommended to help ensure a good flash. We call this the "flashdance".
2. Flash ENERGY Build 21877 November 27 ROM [Standard version] - Let the customizations run – the device will soft reset after it’s all configured.
3. Hard Reset [using wipe device] – after the customizations run and the device resets itself, you should perform a Hard Reset [using “Wipe Device” in START-SETTINGS-SYSTEM]. The ROM will run the customizations again, and will once again reset itself.
4. Once the device boots back up, take a moment to snoop around to make sure things are looking good and that the basic features are functioning for you [phone, data, gps]. You don’t want to customize your device to find that you need to hard reset and flash again because your GPS isn’t connecting or your data is inactive. This also helps to identify the root cause of problems. Once you start syncing data and adding cabs, it’s much harder to figure out what could be causing an issue you may experience.
5. You should now be looking at a basic installation of NRG’s ROM. Do the dance of joyness….you now have the power to move mountains!

SOME NEW THINGS WE SHOULD BECOME FAMILIAR WITH

2.5 is all new…it’s sweet! …just not 100% complete, and when you get to playing around with it, I think you’ll understand what I’m talking about. The good news is we can get it working for us, and take advantage of some cool new features, while we wait for a more complete port for our devices. J

First, TouchFlo is gone and will now be referred to as “Sense”. I’m going through the Guide to remove references to TouchFlo and writing in the new “Sense”, so let’s get used to it.

There is limited landscape support in this port of 2.5. From my understanding, it was ported from a WVGA device that does not have a physical keyboard, so it would make "sense" that 1. Some things on the screen may not fit as well as we’d like [our VGA screens are smaller] and 2. When we slide out our physical keyboards, the new Sense UI doesn’t know what to do. For landscape, there are some areas where we can get around this limitation and still use our keyboards – like texting. You can use your keyboard to type in the box, but will need to return to portrait mode to get to your send button. These are the kinds of things we’ll need to be mindful of until we get a version of 2.5 with landscape support. I do think you'll find that the lack of landscape really doesn't have as big of an impact as you might assume. Sliding out the keyboard to type never seems to be an issue in the areas where I would normally use the physical keyboard [email, text, internet, forms, etc.].

One last thing, there is no longer a Programs Tab. We now have quick links that display beneath the Calendar/Clock on the Home Screen. There are 9 quick link spaces, but only 6 are accessible to us due to our VGA screens. You can use a cab located in the customizations section to get 12 quick links, if the standard 6 isn't enough. I would also recommend using a program like RESTART to better organize your START menu, since you'll be going in there more often to pull up programs.

DUSK THEME
This version of the ROM comes with a new Theme cooked in called “Dusk”, and it’s is perfect for those who want a darker look to their devices. You can learn more about this theme here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=524797
NOTE: the theme was designed for WVGA devices, so not all of the add-ons will work for us. You’re going to want to do your research to avoid jacking up your configuration. As with any mod to Sense, always disable it before installing anything. Some folks complained about the clock in the Dusk Theme, and to be honest, it can be hard to read – you can still install NRG’s stock white clock [for 2.5 manila - cab linked below] and it will work perfectly.

RESTORING MY DATA [ActiveSync and MyPhone]

1. Reestablish your sync relationship with ActiveSync. I use ActiveSync to restore contacts, events, and email [through Outlook].
   • Make sure you check the box during the set up process to allow for wireless data connections while you’re connected to ActiveSync, or you could lose some phone functionality when connected to a USB.
   • I’ve read in some places that ActiveSync has issues with syncing “favorites” and “tasks”. I don’t know if this is really a problem or not, but I do not sync these through ActiveSync. If you have issues, you might try deselecting those two options.
   • If you have trouble with the PC recognizing your device go to START-SETTINGS-SYSTEM-USB Settings and disable the check box for “Enable faster data sync” underneath the ActiveSync listing. If this doesn’t help, try disconnecting the device from the PC and deleting the sync relationship with the device. Then reconnect and establish a new sync relationship.
2. Configured/Restored sync relationship with MS MyPhone – this utility is cooked in to NRG’s ROM under START-SETTINGS. It’s a great service for backing up all of your data…it will even back up your storage card.
   • I’ve run into problems with syncing with MyPhone before ActiveSync [after a hard reset]. I end up with duplicate contacts and some duplicate calendar events. Syncing with ActiveSync first, then MyPhone seems to eliminate these conflicts.
   • Even though I select “Automatic Updates” during the set up process, after I sync with MyPhone I go back into the program’s settings and make sure the sync schedule is properly configured. It usually ends up defaulting to “manual” after install.
3. You should now have a basic installation of the ROM with all of your data. This is a good time to make sure all of the data has been restored properly…poke around and look for duplicate items or missing data [check calendar items, contacts, and text messages in both Sense and standard “Windows” views to make sure they’ve restored proper]. If everything looks good, call your friends and challenge their iPhones to a duel!

CHECKING YOUR TIME AND TIMEZONE SETTINGS

1. Your timezone settings are configured in START-SETTINGS-Clocks & Alarms. Changes to your time and timezone settings here in Clocks and Alarms control how your appointments are displayed in the calendar. So, if you happen to notice your calendar appointments are "off" by some time, you should check these settings.

NEW MYLOCATION FEATURES

OK, 2.5 brings with it some pretty big changes, many of which are linked to the MyLocation feature. In World Clock, setting the city to “MyLocation” will keep your homepage updated with the latest weather for where you are [I always remove other cities which seems to help Weather updates]. Your Weather Tab will display the weather based on location…your Calendar’s Day-View will as well. This is a departure from the old method of using a custom city [with an edited manila file – weather database] to control many of these weather features.

For the 2.5 releases, I’m not using a custom weather database and just letting “MyLocation” do its job. FYI - Pressing on the weather area on the homescreen takes you to the Weather Tab. On the homescreen, press “Menu” then “Home Wallpaper” to select “Weather Wallpaper” and the home screen will animate based on the weather conditions [you will still be given the option of choosing your own picture to use behind the animation].

NOTE: MyLocation has taken up to 15 minutes to load up weather information in some cases…just an FYI, if you don’t see it immediately…just go on with your day and it should update. Additionally, I have found traveling around the country that MyLocation will produce different results [in some cases, none at all] depending on where I am. I believe the service is highly dependent on a user’s location and service [as the feature uses tower data to determine your location, not GPS].

Here’s some things to know about getting MyLocation set up proper:

1.Slide over to the Weather Tab in Sense.
2.Press the Menu softkey
3.Select “Settings”
4.Enable “Download weather automatically” and configure how often you’d like the device to check for updates in the background.
5.Accept the User Agreement and you should be good. The device will try to figure out where you are and display the weather. NOTE: MyLocation is what displays on the homescreen, Calendar Views, and on the Weather Tab unless other cities are selected.

SETTING UP EMAIL, ADJUSTING THE ACCOUNT OPTIONS, and RENAMING “OUTLOOK EMAIL”

1.Configuring Hotmail and Gmail accounts – I have two Hotmail accounts and two Gmail accounts that I like to dump into my phone. NOTE: You may want to archive some items from your inbox before setting things up – I’ve found that having a 1000+ messages can cause some issues initially syncing. To get things going:

• I set up my two Gmail accounts, since they’re the easiest to do. Just enter your information into the Email Wizard and the device will configure everything by itself.

• Hotmail works by syncing up with your Windows Live ID - it will automatically find settings and configure itself. This speeds up the set up process a little, but makes it difficult to add another Hotmail account [attempting to do so through the wizard will open Opera and ask you to log into Windows Live as a different user]. The good news is there’s a simple workaround [thanks, again, blockhead!]:

• Go to the email wizard or go to set up a new email account and select “Other”
• In the email address field type in an incomplete address “myhotmail@hotmail” and put something in the password field, then press Next
• The device won’t be able to auto config the new email account because those settings are wrong, so instead it will prompt you to configure the second account manually using pop settings
• Now you can enter in your real username [your email address] and password to continue.
• Hotmail settings are “pop3.live.com” and “smtp.live.com”. Outgoing server requires authentication. Use the same password for incoming and outgoing email. That should do it.
  

• NOTE: you can set up Gmail to sync with your Google calendars, contacts, and email through ActiveSync. It will conflict with any other Exchange Servers you may be syncing with. For more information, go HERE. This is useful if you’re having trouble getting some other email client to sync up with your device…you can bounce/sync information with a Google Account and use Google Sync to get the info to your device.

[OPTIONAL] – Rename “OUTLOOK” on the mail tab. [thanks tcbusch]
HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Inbox\Svc\ActiveSync
FriendlyName = "Outlook E-mail"

Adjusted my email account options:

• To adjust the “Account” options after you set up an account, open the inbox of one of your accounts.
• Press the Menu soft key and scroll down to “Tools”
• Scroll down to “Options” [if it’s grayed out, that means you’re currently send/receiving. Wait until the sync stops, then the option will be available].
• You can also set your attachments to save to the storage card from here, in the Storage Tab.

SOUNDS AND NOTIFICATIONS

• START-SETTINGS-Sounds and Notifications

• Call your phone to confirm your ringer settings work. This is a good time to identify a problem.

• [OPTIONAL-RECOMMENDED] There’s a program called “Keep My Tones” that works perfectly for saving your ringtone-contact assignments and all of your sound notifications for various events…great stuff for frequent flashers, check it out: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=540755
• [OPTIONAL] There’s a program cooked in to the ROM under START-TOOLS called Back Favorite People Up! …and it does exactly what its name suggests. You can use this utility to back up Favorite People and Custom Ringtones.

BACKLIGHT/POWER SETTINGS – Backlight Options.

• START-SETTINGS-SYSTEM-Power Settings
  • Adjusted backlight options. I like to keep the backlight on all the time and bright when connected to a power source, but use the dimming options to help save some battery life.
• [OPTIONAL – HIGHLY RECOMMENDED FOR BETTER BATTERY LIFE] Install Lumos. This program will automatically adjust your backlight to the optimal setting given the current light environment [this is all highly customizable to the user’s preferences]. It is also customizable to specific programs – for example, when I launch Navigation, Lumos knows to boost my backlight to a higher setting than any other program. I was put off by Lumos at first because it seems like a very complicated program to configure properly, but honestly, once you get it set up you’ll never have to touch the program again…and the battery saving benefits are impressive. Here’s some killer info from ASKWHY about this program and some help for getting optimal settings: http://forum.ppcgeeks.com/showthread...ht#post1084116

CUSTOMIZING THE LOOK OF SENSE – THE NEW SETTINGS TAB
So much new, so much new. There are some new options here in the Settings Tab that will help us customize 2.5 to our liking. Here’s a quick breakdown:

Personalize:

• Home Tab Wallpaper – There are three options here. I was able to get two to work [I don’t have animated wallpapers to test with]. Weather wallpaper will trick out the home screen to match the current weather conditions…it’s very cool. Picture wallpaper will let you pick an image from your device and use it as the background [selecting this option set the image as the background for all tabs, FYI].
• Lock screen wallpaper…guess what it does?
• Home screen Tabs – allows you to set which tabs are displayed in Sense and in what order.
• Font – allows for adjustment of the default text size
• Vibration – turns on/off haptic feedback.

Wireless Controls – Communications Settings
Sound & Display – for selecting ringers and such.
Data Services – controls how data is managed for Weather [same settings accessed from the Weather Tab], Active Sync, and Stocks.
Accounts – Manages Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter login. Your Uploader is also found here for pic and video uploads.
Location – controls how the Location service collects locational data. For MyLocation, etc.
Security – sets encryption, phone lock settings, and you can hard reset the device from here.
Application – remove programs or view your installation history.
SD Card and Phone Storage – shows storage usage
Date & Time
Locale and Text – set how dates and such are displayed for your region/location. You can also adjust Text Input settings here [symbol lock, typing sounds, vibrate, spell correction, and T9].
Feedback – error reporting
Other – Control your keyboard sliding sound, AGPS settings, Long Press of End Key, Touch Options, and MS MyPhone all here. These are all also accessible through the START menu
About Phone – device information [battery, hardware versions, phone identity, etc.]

There’s also some new stuff in the START Menu!
START-TOOLS-Backup FavPeople Up! is a new utility cooked into the ROM that does exactly what its name suggests. You can use this utility to back up Favorite People and Custom Ringtones. I haven’t fully tested this yet and am not sure if it has any influence on the “ringer corruption issue”, but I wanted folks to know it’s included in the ROM.

SOME THEME CHANGES – TURNING UP THE AWESOME TO 11
Most, if not all, of the mods we were using for Manila 2.1 will not work on 2.5. If you find new mods that work for customizing 2.5, please PM me so we can add them to the Guide for others. Thanks!

Disable Manila/Sense – START-SETTINGS-TODAY, scroll to the Items Tab and deselect Sense 3D. Whenever you install any cab to make any change to Sense it should be disabled. NOTE: when you disable Sense you may get a warning that some functionality may be lost by disabling Sense...select "ok" and continue.

[OPTIONAL] 12 SHOTCUT ICONS ON HOME SCREEN HERE [thanks num5kull27] – this is a simple mod to add 12 shortcut icons to your home screen. This mod is “seated” properly on our screens and all of the shortcuts work [i.e., the bottom row isn’t cut off or anything]. NOTE: installing this will knock out the “Clock Array” mod [below] if you installed that previously. You can reinstall the Clock Array to get both working, but you may notice the shortcut icons then get stretched out and seem to overlap slightly. They will function, but do not look as clean.

[OPTIONAL] DUSK THEME CLOCK ARRAY [add a second analog clock like the Max Manila Mod] – install this cab. This mod is compatible with the white clock. NOTE: installing this will remove your default wallpaper. Simply use the wallpaper selector on the home screen to use the wallpaper of your choice and it will display on all pages - you can get the default wallpaper in the zip file below. Clicking the little button just below the task manager will cycle through different clock displays. This mod will also skew the look of the 12 shortcuts cab, if you previously installed that.

REASSIGNING THE SOFT KEYS in TouchFlo - Touch Pro Tweek is cooked into this ROM. You can find it in START-TOOLS-TWEEKS-Touch Pro Tweek. I’ve used this application to successfully reassign the left soft key to Camera, but you can choose from a variety of programs and actions. [soft reset to apply changes]
NOTE: I have not had luck using Advanced Configuration to perform the key reassignment. Also, the SoftKey Manager program [START-TOOLS-Softkey Manager] will only reassign the soft keys in Titanium, not Sense.
NOTE: I also could not change the right softkey, as it is assigned to "Menu" which has important settings for Sense 2.5. You may be able to change this with reg edits.

MORE BACKGROUNDS FOR DUSK THEME – a zip file containing 8 backgrounds for use with the Dusk Theme.Unzip to your My Pictures folder. HERE.

[OPTIONAL] WHITE FLIP CLOCK – this build comes with a dark flipper clock. It’s nice, but not my style entirely. To restore the white clock, install this cab from NRG HERE.


[OPTIONAL] TASKBAR ICONS - GadgetFreaks Round Taskbar and Notification Icons…awesome custom taskbar icons for 6.5! [requires soft reset] [I don’t have a direct link right now for this cab – Google it]

NOTE: changing the taskbar icons set my “waiting notification” [the cool bar thingy] back to the four colored dots. There’s no current way to use custom taskbar icons and retain the waiting notification.

[OPTIONAL] PERSONALIZER – Allows you to put a custom name in where the carrier name is usually displayed on the home screen. So you can change “Sprint” to say “All your ROM are belong to us”. Here’s the thread: http://forum.ppcgeeks.com/showthread.php?t=21538


HERE'S MY DEVICE TO SHOW WHAT'S POSSIBLE WITH THE MODS LISTED

MORE HOT CAB INSTALL ACTION – voice command, picture mail, battery enhancements, etc….mostly cab fixes and add-ons.

PICTURE MAIL AND TEXTING

I won't lie, getting things configured properly is a P in the A...especially Picture Mail. 2.5 brings with it an entirely new Messaging App from HTC. It seems like it will work great...some day. As far as regular texting is concerned, the HTC App works fine out of the box. I would highly recommend trimming down the number of texts you have stored on your device or you may find the texting in the HTC App to be very sluggush. As an alternative, I've included a link to a thread that will show you how to bypass the HTC App and go straight to the old Winmo style...it's not as pretty, but we're concerned with functionality for the moment.

Picture Mail is a bit more involved...I've included instructions below, but I'll warn that individual results may vary...and it may take some dancing to get things in working order. Hopefully we'll see a fix in the HTC App's MMS...it's a very cool interface, just not working 100% for us yet.

DISABLING THE HTC MESSAGING APP
If you don’t like the new HTC Messaging App, or find it to be slow, you can use the old style winmo texting instead. Check out this thread: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=556614

[OPTIONAL] MANILA 2.1 MESSAGING APP FOR 2.5 - http://forum.xda-developers.com/show...&postcount=570 – this is the “People Messaging Classic Client”. This will revert your texting app from 2.5 to 2.1. I don’t particularly like this mod, but if you’re trying to get MMS set up or don’t like the new HTC Texting App, then this is another alternative you can try out. FYI - there is still development work being done on this, so it may not be 100%.

SPRINT ARCSOFT PICTURE MAIL
[UPDATED ARCSOFT to V5.2.1.22 with voice texting]

• Run the Remove Picture Mail & Arcsoft cab [soft reset must be performed for this to work]
• Run Sprint Arcsoft MMS 5.2.1.22 cab [requires soft reset] – this cab was taken from a Diamond2, ported for VGA devices, and set up for Sprint PCS. This updated version of ARCSOFT adds an option to send a voice message as a text.
• You should now have picture mail installed. NOTE: picture mail is now part of your regular text messaging – it’s not in a special separate location. Received picture mail will show up in the threaded view along with your other text messages for a given contact…except they’ll have an attachment icon. Click the attachment…view the pic. If you’re looking for an earlier version of Arcsoft, try this: Sprint Arcsoft MMS 5.0.82.79 cab
• IMPORTANT NOTE: 2.5 just doesn’t want to play nice with MMS. You can send a pic from the Sense interface [not in the actual threaded view, but from “Pics and Vids”] and a received pic will display a notification in Sense, but you cannot open a received pic in Sense. Kinda weird…and rather confusing. As a workaround, set one of your quick links on the home screen to the old winmo style texting START-INTERNET-Messaging. Set a second quick link for “Pics and Vids”…so you can send a pic easier. When you get a pic, go through the quick link to view it. It’s a bit odd, but it works. Here’s a step-by-step:
  
  To send a picture from Sense:
  a.Go to START-MULTIMEDIA - Pictures and Videos [it’s recommended that you put a quick link on the home screen if using this method for MMS]
  b.Select the image you want to send
  c.Hit the “Menu” softkey and scroll down to select “Send via MMS” to launch Arcsoft
  d.Enter in your recipient’s name, configure your text, and press send
  
  To view a received picture in Sense:
  e.You will get a standard new text notification with an attachment icon, but you won’t be able to access it in Sense. To view:
  f.Go to START-INTERNET-Messaging [It’s recommended that you put a quick link on the home screen if using this method for MMS].
  g.Click on the conversation for the contact that you received a pic from
  e.Click the small attachment icon to view the pic.
  
  

ADJUST ARCSOFT SETTINGS

• Open the Messages App [START-INTERNET-Messaging]
• Press “Menu”
• Scroll down to MMS Options
• Scroll down to change your photo resolution settings to match VGA – this will help with sending pic mail
• To adjust your server settings, go to the “Servers” tab and click on SprintMMSC
• Here you can adjust the server settings and attachment size

VOICE COMMAND
MSVC1.6.20771 or MSVC 1.6.21725.cab [installs voice command– soft reset is recommended] – I have used both v1.6.20771 and .21725 without any problems, but I do not regularly use Bluetooth with this program, so I cannot confirm which cab works best with Bluetooth [for announcements]. I provided both, so you can figure out which works best for you and your needs.

• If you get an error during/after installing the cab, soft reset, and check if it installed. If not, try it again until you get it – sometimes it seems like the install failed, but it works fine after a soft reset.
• Set preferences in START-SETTINGS-PERSONAL-Voice Command - to stop announcements of texts, events and phone calls, if you’re not into that. …or enable it, if you are.
• While you’re in that section [START-SETTINGS-PERSONAL], go into “Buttons” and assign a key to launch Voice Command. I set the long press of the send key to launch the voice prompt. “Send (Hold)”.
• Check Voice Command – activate it using whatever button you just assigned, and then speak something like “Call Jim” or someone from your contacts to see if it’s responding. If not…do over!

FACEBOOK INTEGRATION IN CONTACTS
There are some things here worth noting:

• Be sure that your phone contact names match your Facebook friends’ usernames [first and last names] or the integration won’t work – you’ll get a “no data” type error.
• It can also take a long time to update or sync data if you have a lot of friends.

BATTERY STUFF
This stuff may or may not work for you. You really need to do some research about what you can do to help get better life out of your device in general, then, apply that knowledge to get at the battery life you want/need. All I know for sure is that there are no known “sets” of enhancements that work for everyone across the board.

So many factors come into play with regard to battery life. You’re using a custom ROM…try to use some common sense before blasting the Chef for his free ROM sucking up your precious battery life. Any increase in speed or performance will degrade battery life – something’s gotta give. Backlight settings, what radio you’re using and where you live, polling settings for various features, checking your email every 5 minutes on seven accounts, etc. will all impact battery life. Do what’s best for you and your device. Google search to see what others have done…experiment.

Also, keep in mind the battery icon will drop from 100% to about 90-95% VERY fast. This is, again, a known issue. Don’t judge the battery life on the first five minutes of using the ROM…use it for a day or two to get a better gauge of what’s really up. Even on the older versions of the ROM, I never once had the device die on me. That said…read on.

• Install LUMOS!!! [I posted a link earlier in the Guide and I highly recommend it for battery life]
• Look into switching up your Radio. If your device isn't getting great service, it will use up a lot of battery power constantly searching for a good signal. Experimenting with different radios can have a dramatic impact on battery performance, depending on where you live...especially if you're in a poor coverage area. Here's the link to the "12 Radios" thread: http://forum.ppcgeeks.com/showthread.php?t=74422
• Check to see that Location Setting is off. This can cause general sluggishness as the device collects location data and isn’t necessary. START-SETTINGS-SYSTEM
• Here's a thread with some great information on batteries - calibration and such: http://wiki.xda-developers.com/index...arch&s=battery
• Maxx134 – BatterySaving ReducePollingIntervals.cab [makes a bunch of polling edits to reduce power consumption. http://forum.ppcgeeks.com/showpost.p...ostcount=11227
  • Here are the individual registry values that are changed with this cab:

Drivers/BuiltIn: error reporting -12000000
battery/poll interval -25000 GSensor 1000
Software/: HTC/HTCSensor/GSensor -1000
Opera/GSensor -1000
System/CurrentControlSet/Control/Power/Timeouts/:
batterpoll -1000
For GSensor settings: I did not increase values further because it would increase rotation delay.
I set them to "average" rom values.
The original settings were way less than other roms and prob set for faster rotation, at expense of battery.
Other polling was found on my reg search and so also increased moderately.

NAVIGATION
I recently got my hands on the Telenav Sprint PPC 5.5.18 cab. This is a significant upgrade to the cab I list below. In order to get things set up, you will need your pin number - try the last 4 digits of your phone number. If that doesn’t work, you’ll need to install Sprint Navigation [cab below] first and go into options to find it. Once you get Telenav set up properly, you can always delete Sprint Nav.

[OPTIONAL] Install Sprint Nav PPC 2.1.23 cab
a.After install, I usually log in and check to make certain GPS is working, since I rely on this program when I’m on-the-go.

ALARM - I prefer G-Alarm to the standard built in version. I use my device as an alarm, so I definitely recommend people check out G-Alarm. It's not freeware, but there are older free versions available if you Google search [versions prior to 2.x, I think are freeware]. Otherwise, I think I paid $6 for the software license and it performs flawlessly. It's very customizable, has a ton of features, and integrates perfectly with Sense. Check out the developers site: http://www.ageye.de/index.php?s=galarm/about

LOCK SCREEN - I’ve had success with S2U2. Calls come in fine, notifications work, and I can get four or five appointments displayed on the screen [beyond today and tomorrow]. You can also set the weather to “touchflo 3d” [in S2U2 Settings] and it will pull your city’s weather and display it as well. Check the developers website for the latest release.

WORLDCARD MOBILE – this is no longer preinstalled in the ROM. Use this version WorldCard Mobile.cab

NEW VERSION OF INCALL TWEEKS - Touch InCall Screen Tweek – Link to Thread or Link to the v 1.2.0.cab

OTHER STUFF – known issues/bugs/common problems/misc. [not all ROM specific]

LANDSCAPE GIVES ME A BLANK SCREEN– There is currently no landscape support in this port of Manila 2.5 since it was taken from a device with a larger screen [WVGA] and no physical keyboard. If you switch to landscape to type something, in some cases like texting, you may need to return to portrait to regain access to the "send" key, for example.

MY PHONE IS FREEZING UP/SOFT RESET FORCES A HARD RESET – this happened to me the very first time I flashed a custom 6.5 ROM. It sucked…a lot. The worst part was not really getting a clear answer as to what caused it or how best to address it. Ultimately, I tried flashing back to Stock on someone’s recommendation and was able to resolve the problem for good.
Hard reset, flash your device back to a Stock ROM, hard reset, soft reset, flash your device to the custom ROM of your choice, hard reset, soft reset. It seems like a lot of work, and it will take a bit of time to let the device run its customizations, BUT this method will fix your problem and get you back up and running. If you simply flash to another ROM, the problem will likely follow you. It’s worth taking the time to run this method and get the device back on solid footing. After doing so, I’ve never had a lock up. If it doesn’t work for you, please PM me…as far as I can gather, this works every time.

TYPING IN A RECIPIENT’S NAME IN A NEW TEXT MESSAGE BRINGS UP THEIR EMAIL ONLY – If you’re using the HTC Messaging App to set up a new text and you go to type in a recipient’s name into the “To” field, you may notice only contacts with email addresses will be displayed. As a workaround, just type in a recipient’s name, then move the cursor to the messaging field - the system should resolve the name on its own. I can type in “Jim” and it will not display an option, but if I start typing my message it will resolve to “Jim Smith”, assuming I don’t have any other “Jim”s in my address book. In cases where you have multiple “Jim”s, you’ll want to type in their last name for this to work.
[FIX] You can also install the following cab, or make the reg edit manually, so when you go to send a new SMS, hit Menu/Add Recipient and your Contacts will come up.[thanks ahuskins] http://forum.ppcgeeks.com/showpost.p...ostcount=18312 or the cab from MAXX134 HERE.

DIALER IS MISALIGNED - KEYPAD AND END KEYS ARE OFF THE SCREEN - Sometimes the dialer screen seats out of alignment. In tehse cases, you can always use the hardware "send" key to pull up the keypad while in a call, and use the hardware "end" key to end the call. To fix the issue, install this cab HERE.

NO “BACK” BUTTON IN TEXTING APPLICATION/REPLACE “SEND” BUTTON WITH “BACK” – Puts the “back” button where the “send” button is in HTC Texting:
HKCU\Software\HTC\Manila\LSK_Send_Msg set to 0.

TEXTS ARE TAGGED AS "GSM" - install this cab HERE.

INTERNET TAB BOOKMARKS ARE FROM INTERNET EXPLORER NOT OPERA/SETTING QUICK LINKS
You might notice that if you go to set a shortcut on the Internet Tab that the bookmarks displayed are actually from Internet Explorer and not Opera.

While those bookmarks may be from Internet Explorer, they will launch in Opera. Two options for now would be to go into IE and set all of the bookmark pages you want, then set them in Sense for use with Opera.

Or select "Add Favorite" and create a bookmark that way, by typing in the address to the website you want a shortcut for. Again, it will launch in Opera.

You can also get the quick links on the Internet tab to display a preview of the webpage by loading the site up completely in Internet Explorer. If you navigate back to the Internet Tab, you should see a preview image for any quick links you set up. NOTE: not every site will display a preview.

VIBRATE ON CONNECT - Doesn't work on this ROM. As a workaround, you can install a lock screen program like S2U2 [referenced above under the "Lock Screen" section]. In S2U2 Settings, under Feedback, you can enable Vibrate on Call Connect and restore this feature. While I do not have the program to check, I believe you can use PocketShield in the same manner to get this feature back.

MY DEVICE SOFT RESETS WHEN I LOCK ON TO A GPS SIGNAL - this happened to me randomly, so I figured I’d write down how I fixed it, in case someone else gets hit with the issue. For me, I needed to flash a different radio…then I was back up and running. You may want to flash back to a Stock Rom and do that whole dance, but my first trouble shooting attempt would be to reflash or change your radio and see if that helps.


[THIS IS NOW COOKED INTO THE ROM - POSTED FYI] - “SUSPENDRESUME” REG EDIT – The “#777” edit may help to resolve any issues you might experience with the Dialer [usually slide to answer related problems], In Call Power Manager [for example, if your phone won’t wake up after a call], and will allow calls to be answered while a data connectionis active. It’s important to note, the “#777” edit will not shut your data connection off after a specified amount of time. If you go this route, it’s recommended that you set a key [like a long press of the end key] to kill data manually. NOTE: Using Advanced Configuration to disconnect data after a specified amount of time will reset this registry edit to "GPRS...", which is known to cause issues with the Tachi Dialer's ability to answer calls while a data connection is present.

IMPORTANT NOTE on BATTERY SAVING POTENTIAL: Some users found that turning the data off when it was not “active” didn’t necessarily save them much on battery life and argued that connecting/disconnecting seemed to draw more power than not. Test for yourself. There’s a program cooked in called tBATTERY in START-TOOLS that will give you some slick info on your battery. Here’s some links to a discussion from the thread [thanks AHUSKINS]:
http://forum.ppcgeeks.com/showthread...77#post1158777 and http://forum.ppcgeeks.com/showthread...57#post1158957

This reg edit may help with your dialer issues, but will not auto kill your data connection:
1.Suspend Resume Reg Edit:
Start>Tools>Tweaks>Registry Edit >hklm>Comm>ConnMgr>Planner>Settings
-Edit CacheTime to decimal value "60"
(without quotes)
-Edit SuspendResume to "#777"
(without quotes)


NOTIFICATION BUBBLE SHOWS WRONG UNREAD MESSAGE COUNT - This isn't specific to NRG ROM, but something I ran into recently. The issue is that your message notification bubble shows an unread message, but all of your messages are read. Check this to see if it helps:

--Go to the Mail Tab
--Go into the Inbox of one of your accounts
--Along the top bar there is a drop down called "Inbox"...click that to access a list of all of your messaging folders.
--Check each account and folder and clear out any unread messages you see.

What I found was when I stopped using my Outlook Account, it wasn't displayed on the Mail Tab so I couldn't easily access it or see there was an unread message, but it still existed within the device as a default...and in the inbox was an introductory email that the device reported as unread. Using the above method, I was able to browse to the Outlook Account and clear the message.

REARRANGE ICONS IN THE START MENU –If you don’t like the layout of the START menu, you can also go into \Windows\Start Menu and manually move folders and icons to your liking using Total Commander.

You can also try out reSTART from this thread: http://forum.ppcgeeks.com/showthread.php?t=68864 – this is a more advanced utility that will give you control of the order of items in the Start menu in addition to allowing you to set customized icons. Very cool…super easy to use.

BUTTONS AROUND CENTER BUTTON STAY LIT AFTER SCREEN SHUTS OFF – kind of a random problem, but sometimes the lights for the hard keys will stay lit after the screen times out. To fix this, open your physical keyboard up and close it [this will turn your screen back on], then hit the power button on top of the device to put the device to sleep…all of the lights should shut off.

OPERA CRASHES: you should assign opera cache to Internal Storage, not the Windows Directory.
1.First, you want to clear Opera’s cache, just to ensure it doesn't stay in device memory. Go to Opera Settings-Privacy-Delete cache.
2.Next in the address bar type opera:config – this will open up an options screen
3.Scroll down to user prefs. Under user prefs find cache directory4 and change “/Windows/” to “/Internal Storage/” (don’t change anything else).
4. Scroll all the way to bottom and save. Give it a couple seconds to initiate, then close opera and open it again. Now all cache will be assigned to Internal Storage in the opera9 folder which has just been created. This should speed up Opera and help with crashes. Some users said they moved the opera9 folder to their Storage Card and saw an improvement, so that is an option as well.

[SHOULD BE COOKED INTO THE ROM NOW]
ENABLE DATA ROAMING AND OTHER PHONE SETTINGS - [thanks SFHUB]
To get more options:
Download this ZIP FILE from SFHUB
Extract the “PhoneSettings” files to the Windows directory, then reboot. If you get an error that you cannot overwrite those files, reboot your device and try copying them over as soon as it boots back up…it should take.

There is also a folder in the zip file with a reg edit that you can import – go into START-TOOLS-TWEAKS-Registry Editor and select the first icon at the bottom of the screen to get to the “Import” option. This reg edit will make the Roaming Option a bit easier to distinguish [“Sprint Only”, “Automatic” default, and “Roam Only”].

NEED FOR SPEED FIX [rootlinx]
Here you go.
I upped this file but it does not include the game.
It is only the files you need to make the game work with Gsen.

DOWNLOAD

I will not supply the game as it is not freeware and only cost 10 bucks.
This will turn the game into a Gsen game.

( By editing the Config.xml you may be able to turn other games or apps into Gsen games or apps )

Here is the How to.
-------------------------------------------------------------

- Install Need for Speed Undercover

To get it working with Gsen:

Extract everything from the NFSU Gsen.zip
- Install GPad
- copy Config.xml into Gpad folder in program files and delete old config.xml file
- Start Gpad
- Then run NFS

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

NRG rom plays NFS Undercover perfect in Gsen.
Now some of you guys that shy away from this rom because it doesn't play the game can be happy. IT DOES!

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

IMPORTANT NOTE ABOUT FOLLOWING STEPS – I would HIGHLY recommend updating your PRL when you’re on a stock ROM. It’s suggested that you flash to a stock ROM prior to flashing to new custom ROM, so I would simply do the PRL update during the stock ROM phase. You can screw up your data connectivity by messing with these settings, so please be careful, or you’ll end up on the phone with Sprint Tech Support trying to figure out how your data got knocked out.

UPDATE PRI - http://forum.ppcgeeks.com/showthread.php?t=77799 - You can check which version you have in START-SETTINGS-SYSTEM-Device Info.
·Install the PPST cab in this thread
·Go into the Windows folder of the device and run PPST.exe
·Select “Yes” [will soft reset when finished]

IMPORTANT NOTES:
1.Running this update changed my custom Start Menu wallpaper to a blue hue [it seems to switch up the Theme]. I was able to restore the default wallpaper on the Start Menu by de-selecting my custom wallpaper as an option. Just a heads up.
2.I updated my PRL [the procedure is below] before running this cab and it seems to have changed my PRL to an older version. Check your device info after installation to make sure everything is good. I simply needed to run the PRL update again after the PPST update.
3.It may take 30s to get a signal after the first boot, but it should normalize afterwards. If you continue to have trouble connecting, follow these steps:
1.Run EPST
2.View info -> M.IP Settings
3.MIP_MODE should be "Mobile IP Only" - change it to "Mobile IP Preferred"
4.OK, OK to restart device
5.run EPST
6.View info -> M.IP Settings
7.MIP_MODE is now "Mobile IP Preferred" - change it back to "Mobile IP Only"
8.OK, OK to restart device. The problem should be solved.

UPDATE PRL [HERE] – I was curious if I could do this on a custom ROM and found a cab to help. SprintPRLPROFILE.cab puts the PRL [not PRI] update icon back in START-SETTINGS-SYSTEM-Update PRL. I did not need my MSL or anything. I ran the cab to install, selected Update PRL from the file location above and it ran fine. You can check what PRL you’re using in START-SETTINGS-SYSTEM-Device Info. NOTE: they do not go in numerical order, so “60653” isn’t necessarily newer than “60651” [just for example]. You should find out what the most current update number is and go from there to see if you’re current.

LINKS TO MORE RESOURCES

Murduckys Walk-Through for SASHIMI [HIGHLY RECOMMENDED]: http://forum.ppcgeeks.com/showthread.php?t=75214

Common Touch Pro Reg Edits: http://forum.ppcgeeks.com/showpost.p...89&postcount=1

Flashing Radios: http://forum.ppcgeeks.com/showthread.php?t=74422

OPTIONAL CABS, FIXES, and VISUAL CUSTOMIZATIONS FOR NRG ROM by rootlinux: http://forum.ppcgeeks.com/showthread...47#post1221847

OPTIONAL CABS and FIXES from MAXX134 - http://forum.ppcgeeks.com/showpost.p...postcount=5293
Maxx134 keeps a list of cabs and fixes, very similar to what you’ll find here in the Guide, but there may be a few things I didn’t include, so check it out.

OTHER CARRIER INFORMATION FOR NRG ROMS

I'm a sprint user and don't have a lot of hands on experience with walk throughs and work arounds for getting certain features rocking for devices on other carriers. So, this new space is for links to resources to help NRG ROM users on carriers other than Sprint.

Here's MURDUCKY's Kill Thread for USCC NRG Users - he's got a ton of other good non-carrier specific info as well, so it's worth a read for everyone. http://forum.ppcgeeks.com/showthread.php?t=92323

FINAL WORDS OF CAUTION

If there is a step in the Guide that you do not understand fully, take some time and do some research on the subject - Google Search or search PPCGEEKS. Chances are, if you're performing a task or running into issues performing a task, someone else has already been down that road. Being prepared for anything that could go wrong, to me, is an important step to take BEFORE performing some action I'm not entirely familiar with. For example, updating your PRI or PRL. You could potentially knock out your data by doing this wrong, forcing you to do a whole dance to restore it. You should really take a minute and do some research into the process before installng whatever cabs you come across. ...especially if you don't know what they do.

I don't necessarily have the time to trouble shoot issues that individual users experience when installing custom ROMs and/or customizing the device to their needs. ...the majority of the time, the issues come down to the user NOT doing any research into their issue, leaving me to Google search the answers for them. Just a heads up, I am least likely to help those who have taken no interest in helping themselves. That sounds so lame, but I get a lot of email like this.

EVERYTHING I POST HERE IS FOR INFORMATION ONLY...THESE ARE NOT INSTRUCTIONS AND I CANNOT TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR YOUR JACKING UP YOUR DEVICE. THE INFORMATION POSTED ARE THINGS THAT I WAS ABLE TO GET WORKING ON MY DEVICE. YOU MUST LEARN TO SEARCH GOOGLE AND PPCGEEKS! THE INFORMATION IS MOST LIKELY OUT THERE.

THE MAX MANILA VERSION - December 13 21884 Sense 2.5 [scroll to the top of this thread to read the Guide from the beginning]

This ROM release came in two flavors, so I wanted to have a section for the folks that are using the Max Manila version. First, none of the mods that are designated for the DUSK THEME [referenced above] will work with Max Manila. I believe you can install Max Manila on top of a "clean" install of the Dusk Theme. If you installed any of the Dusk Theme mods they'll likely conflict with Max Manila.

MAX MANILA is pretty glorious and gives us a lot of options for customizing our TPs. I would highly recommend reading a little about the mod and how it works. It's very simple to use, but not intuitive, and you definitely don't want t miss out on any features. Read about the mod HERE.

AND...if you're looking to trick out your Max Mod, check out this thread of customizations [thanks tx_jaycee]: http://forum.xda-developers.com/show...87&postcount=9

HERE'S MY DEVICE TO SHOW WHAT'S POSSIBLE WITH MAX MANILA

28xxx VS. 21xxx

This section contains information for the 28xxx builds that does not apply to 21xxx.

Things to know:

--Taskbars that work for 21xxx will not work on 28xxx. Make sure the taskbar you're trying to install is compatible with your build.

--21xxx is reported to be more stable. 28xxx may be faster and may have better battery management.

--there is no "X" button to close programs in 28xxx. Closed applications will continue to run in the background. To close out of programs completely, they need to be killed in the Task Manager or by using the included Quickmenu software. There is information on Quickmenu below.

QUICKMENU – WHAT IS IT?
Quickmenu is a feature in the ROM build that replaces the old task manager/”X” button. To launch Quickmenu, touch the area where the Start button used to be [you may need your stylus]…a “quick list” very similar to the old WinMo start menu will display. You can adjust some options in QUICKMENU-OPTION.

MAPPING QUICKMENU FOR QUICK ACCESS – QuickMenu is a great addition to the ROM, but we don’t want to have to pull the stylus out every time we want to kill some running programs, so we’ll want to create a shortcut that’s a bit more finger-friendly. First, open up QuickMenu [click where the old “Start” button was] and go into the “Option” section [QuickMenu-Option]. Move over to the “Command” tab. Highlight “QuickMenu” in the list of Programs and Actions and select “Create Shortcut”. This will display a folder view where you can configure where a shortcut to this program will be listed in the START Menu. With a link in the START Menu, we’ll be able to map this to a hardware button [long press of the send key].

To set QuickMenu to a hardware button:
Go to START-SETTINGS-PERSONAL-Buttons. Here you can set a long press of the send or end keys to bring up QuickMenu, instead of the Task Manager.

One for links...