Is there a newbie guide to Apache ROM upgrading?
 

Hi everybody,

It seems like there should be such a guide, but so far I haven't run across it. Does anyone have a link? I'm looking for something that explains:

• What (if anything) needs to be done prior to upgrading? How do I tell what ROM I've got now? Does anything need to be backed up? Like, my contacts maybe? What software (if any) should one acquire and install prior to starting the upgrade process?

• Exactly how does one "do" the upgrade? What exactly is "bootloader mode", and how does one get into it? What indications should you look for to confirm that the process is working correctly?

• What the heck is an ext.rom? Why do I need it, where do I get it, and is it a vital part of the upgrade process?

• Post-upgrade, are there any gotchas to watch out for? Common problems? Are there things that should, or must, always be done after upgrading? (Besides re-installing all your 3rd-party apps?) How do you tell what ROM you are running?

I've got some guesses about most of those topics, just from reading this forum for a couple weeks, but I'd really like to see everything spelled out in one spot, in excruciating, almost insulting, detail. :wink:

(This doc must exist. Otherwise, you'd be getting these same questions, over and over, which would suck. :D If this is something that needs to be created, I could certainly help do that, but sadly, only after I find out all the answers!)

For context, I've only had my PPC-6700 for about a week. But, I'd like get the ROM upgrade (I'm thinking Colonel's latest-greatest) "out of the way" before I spend a lot of time installing and customizing stuff. The trouble with that is, I'm wanting to do an "advanced" technique, while I'm still a proto-newbie. I need a lot of hand-holding. :oops:

I would also love the creation of such a document/FAQ.

Offical upgrading is easy. And you know how to do this correct? If not theres a tutorial on that. Now to tell what build/aku u have look at the build number in the start/settings/system/about the last 3 of the build should be something like 2.0.0 that's aku2.0 mine says 3.3.0 that's aku3.3.
Nothing needs to be done prior except backup ur normal stuff emails, contacts, and what not. But do not use the pim.vol trick for the contacts.

To do the upgrade put ur ppc into bootloader mode by pressing the notes key, power button, and soft reset at the sametime. To know u done it correct. You will see a very faint word serial (unless u have the usb plugged in then it would say usb). Plug it in to ur desktop, run the maupgrade_noid.exe or whatever the extact name is. Follow the steps like a normal upgrade. But these can't be done on machines running vista and all firewalls, antivirus and what not are recommended to be turned off even the windows one. ;)

extrom is ur extended rom, when u hard reset u see the u have 3 secs blah blah then installs all sprints or ur carriers junk and needed software for the phone to work. read more on the tutorial....

theres a huge thread with known issues so I suggest u get to reading. :D

Best of luck,
Mike

If you want a little more reading here is a modified version of the normal readme included with the upgrade utility:
ftp://up.ppcgeeks.com/Apache/ImCoKeM...e_your_ROM.zip

This one shows pictures (although not completely accurate with our custom upgrade utility) and a few extra details and troubleshooting tips. If it proves to be useful i'm sure we could add this to the wiki.

sure someone could....anyone interested. :D

We just get the same questions over and over :D

I know I've typed it in a few times.

But let's turn it around the other way.

(a) it's an expensive bit of gear, are you sure you want to turn it into a testbed for unoffical roms? You really should have a good answer for that one.

(b) ok, you're crazy like me, so you answered "yes"! Proceed

(c) first real step!
you must have activesync working, and a full sync of cal/contacts/todo - or assume you will lose them. Read that again. Understand it? Sure? Really?

(d) sync - make sure its current

(e) do you have all the various bits you've already installed? By bits I mean, you have the installer exes, or the CABS, NOT on your phone internal store? Sure? Really Really? Ok... Oh, and you have all your serial number/reg key/whatevers for your commercial apps?

(f) last chance... You Will Be Wiping Internal Memory Very Soon...

(g) last bit of homework. You're going to be doing stuff that isn't going to play well with your carrier extended_rom stuff. We'll get to that in a moment, but unfortunately that's a huge hairy branch of choices from there... and I'm not going to be able to type it all up in one go.

(h) but I wanna do it now!

Ok, so you are itching to go... the SAFE way to get SOME benefit, without the hairy spiders of AKU3.x attacking, is to just go for AKU2.2 from Wideawake, right here:

http://www.ppcgeeks.com/updated1-2ho...700-t1515.html

Why do that? Couple reasons

(1) it's "carrier safe" - you don't need to understand the extended rom.
(2) it's good pratice - you'll be flashing your rom, and getting a feel for the whole hard reset dance...
(3) AKU 2.2 is very much like AKU 2.0, it has BT DUN, everything works, etc, just a little faster.

It's still a mighty fine bit of work that's often overlooked.

My suggestion is to cut your teeth on that puppy and then if you're still itching to go into uncharted territory, continue on from there.

Oh, and one last thing - you should make sure you have done a full rom update with the latest offical rom you can get from your carrier. Two good reasons to do that - your extended_rom and radio firmware will be updated to the latest and greatest (none of these ROMS do that, they just update the OS) and you will be sure to have your carrier ROM flash handy, and know how to do it, should something go slightly wrong - that's your recovery option right there... you have to reflash some other OS if things go bad, and you might as well do the carrier one.


Onward and Upward - AKU 3.3, 3.5, and all the variants thereof

Ok, the above, and the sketch of the section that should come below this last bold bit above, is now on the wiki HERE:
http://wiki.ppcgeeks.com/index.php?t...ROMUpdateGuide

Please folks, chip in and write some of it ;)

Thanks schettj :thumbleft:
~Mike

where can i download AKU 3.3 file for my XV6700 thanks

hi ! all
i just check my phone it call ROM Vision : 2.07.20 WWE so do i need to update it .

thanks

Yes

ok i am new so which key is call note ? thanks

I'm thinking it's the one right above the volume slider. Has a picture of a cassette tape on it, which must confuse the kids. The manual calls it the "Voice Recorder" button. Used to record "voice notes". Hopefully one of the gurus will correct me if I'm wrong.

(This is exactly the sort of thing I'd like to see spelled out explicitly in a Newbie ROM Guide. No nicknames, abbreviations, or slang terms that don't mean anything to someone just starting out.)

Thanks for all the responses. I think I see a way forward. More on that in my reply to schettj's excellent post.

Good stuff. I'm going to cut off his post there, so this reply doesn't get too unwieldy. After I understand this "prep" phase, I'll be better prepared to deal with the stuff that comes later. I hope.

Okay, in answer to "a". Yeah, I'm fairly willing to slap a user-built ROM on my shiny new phone. As long as I pick a fairly popular one, I figure the odds of it actually slagging the hardware are managably low. The part that worries me is what happens if I screw up the upgrade process itself. That sounds like a recipe for a brick. Hence, this thread...

Moving on to step "c": No, I'm not at all sure I have Activesync working. In fact, I'm pretty sure it's not working. I've only created one "contact", but I see no indication that it's been backed up. I haven't looked for or read instructions about Activesync. I just downloaded it, installed it on my PC, and slapped the phone in its cradle. Things happened automagically then, but God knows what... Here's what item "c" says to me:

"You will need to back up all personal info prior to upgrading the ROM. If you do not, you will lose all your contacts, calander entries, etc. Happily, Activesync can do this for you. Make sure it does." {Insert link to Activesync instructions}

Okay, making progress....

I have no idea what this even means. :) Are we talking about Activesync some more?

We're up to "e". The one about making sure you know where all the files are that you will need after the upgrade is finished. Pretty self-explanatory. Good advice.

Skipping to "g". The mysterious allusion to our carrier's extended_rom. I still don't know what that is, but here's my guesses:

* It's the add-on stuff that comes preloaded on your phone, kinda like the useless virus-checker that Dell installs on every computer they sell. On my Sprint phone, I see the "Audible Player" and "GetGood". Perhaps these were in the ext-rom?

* Or, maybe it's the super-special software bits that allow your phone to actually talk on the carrier's network, voice and data. Kinda like drivers, I suppose. Maybe some sekrit encryption doodads, too.

So, what is the "homework" we're supposed to do? I was assuming (dangerous!) that the folks that wrote/assembled/modded the ROM upgrade spent many a day getting it to play nicely with the proprietary bits from Verizon and Sprint. Is that not so? Is there more work that the end-user needs to be able to do?

Okay, this next part sounds like a plan! The "way forward" I mentioned a couple posts above.

Okay, that sounds like a good strategy. Baby steps. I will read through that thread, and see if I can puzzle out how to upgrade to that not-too-crazy 2.2 AKU. (Aside: Has anyone besides me watched 'Samurai Jack"? That's what always leaps to mind whenever mentions "AKU".)

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...-Sjack_aku.jpg

If I am successfully able to do this less "exciting" 2.2 upgrade, I will write up my experiance. With detailed notes and instructions. Screenshots, even. :) After that, maybe the gurus can critique my write-up, and discuss what parts would have to be added to properly document a "real" upgrade, like to 3.3.

Davy u could do that if u like ;) Yes the notes key is the one with the tape on it and g/l with 2.2 its more stable than all the others. :thumbleft:
~Mike

Yep, sorry... I mean, do another ActiveSync just before you start - if you're like me, you think your AS backup is current, but it's usually not!

Yes, the extended_rom stuff is unique to each carrier, and installs a bunch of apps and OS updates, and registry settings automagically on a hard boot. There are threads here on customizing your extended_rom, and on problems with the extended roms (which were designed to patch AKU 2.0, NOT AKU 3.x) when used with newer roms. I had hopes of tracking all that down (I've narrowed my Sprint stuff down to a handful of needed cabs, and the Verizon users also have figured out which of theirs are needed and which are bad, but I've not gathered the info all in one place.)

Your job is to hunt down that info for your carrier, and learn how to modify your extended rom so you can remove the problem CABs.

One simple way is to unlock the extended rom (again, that info is here somewhere, I need to link it) and copy all the cabs off it onto your storage card, and then delete them from the extended rom - you'll have 10MB free there now if you run with it unlocked, and on a hard reset *nothing* extra will be installed.

So, after a hard reset, you just go to your storage card and manually install the carrier CABs needed.

Hi,

I am a new user on this forum, I have read several interesting stuff here ( very good stuffs ).... :)

First that all, I want to sorry about my english, I speak and write in spanish, so most times you could find several mistakes on my words and sentences.... ( sorry ).

I have a PPC6700 Starcom from Movistar Venezuela, which also has the SO WM 5 in spanish, it is an excelent PPC Phone but sometimes I feel that its a like slow, and has a few bugs ( the MiniSD reading is a little slow the first time that you go to Programs or Games folder, it has a delay of about 1 min!!!! ), etc ....

I have read the version of my AKU and its 2.2.0 ( SO 5.1.195 compilation 14928.2.2.0 The last 3 are the AKU right?).

I would like to know what are the improves of the version 3.3 or 3.5, also I would like to know if there is any way to do a backup of my actual AKU 2.2.0 in the case of somthing goes wrong in the updated version 3.3 or 3.5 with my PPC ( its that possible???? ).

Are the new AKU 3.3 or 3.5 in spanish lenguaje or english only???

And a last thing, What does it mean AKU??? :)

Thank you very much for your help and support....

Regards

Edgar2049

First of all, your English is better than that of a lot of Americans! :)

Does your carrier have a ROM updater on their web site for the Apache? Otherwise, it may be a problem if you flash a new ROM but need to go back to the original one. Here in the US and Canada, the carriers mostly provide official ROM updates so it's no problem for us to flash other ones as we can always flash back to the official ROM.

All of the ROMs on this site are WWE (English) only... no Spanish. I don't know if it is possible to use a spanish AKU 3.5 from xda-developers.com (if one exists) and incorporate it into an Apache ROM to convert it from WWE to Spanish. Maybe someone else knows (especially over at xda-developers).

AKU 2.2 is somewhat recent, and already incorporates some speed improvements over AKU 2.0. But AKU 3.2 and 3.5 are even faster. They also have solved some problems like the minisd card causing the device to hang (DSOD) and have added some new features. You can read some more about AKUs in this article:

http://www.mobile-review.com/pda/art...m-aku-en.shtml

By the way, AKU stands for Adaptation Kit Update (don't ask me why they chose that name). It is just Microsoft's way of issueing updates to the Windows Mobile OS. Starting with WM6 (Crossbow) they have built in a "Windows Update" type function, so maybe in the future they will use that to provide some updates to users directly (let's hope so).

Good luck.

If you can get me a copy of an offical upgrade for your carrier I will see what I can do. ;)
~Mike

Covering just a couple of points...
This is actually due to the way that the Start Menu and programs work. When the Start Menu is launching, it shows icons for all of the various programs you have installed (like it should). The problem is that the icon resource tends to be towards the end of executables, and so if you have large executables (like, say, Skype), the Start Menu is going to have crawl through several megabytes of data just to get to the icon. As you can imagine, this can take a while, and when you multiply it across several different programs that all do the same thing... it can get pretty painful. A different AKU probably wouldn't help you all too much with this problem.

I'm not sure where I can point you to in order to get a version of the ROM you already have installed. Is there anything from your current carrier? What would be best is if your carrier has provided an upgraded ROM to, say, the AKU 2.2.0 you have or something similar. Then, you would keep a copy of that ROM in conjunction with a backup from a proper backup program (a lot of information on that is available here), and that would be the backup of your phone (although you could skip the latter part if you didn't care about the data on your phone, and only cared about the operating system).

Heeheehee... I guess I might as well let one of the secret things I've done to my phone out of the bag. Let's just suffice it to say that if you can get a copy of your wince.nls file from your AKU 2.2.0 (which shouldn't be very difficult), then what you can do is use the ROM kitchen to replace your wince.nls with your Spanish one. This will take care of all the majority of the regional settings on the device itself (so that dates, numbers, currencies, etc. will be correct). In addition to this, you'll want to take a look at this xda-dev wiki page to change things like keyboard settings, T9 settings, and dictionary settings. The only thing I'm not sure of will be the language settings for the operating system text may still remain in English, but that might be okay for you. Suffice it to say that I have my own ROM running on a Japanese wince.nls... :wink:

Just wanted to say that I'm compiling some of the roms into installers for ease.

http://ppcgeeks.com/viewtopic,p,27536.html#27536

Hello!!!!! :)

Thank you very much for your help and support, I have a lot of links to read ( all the above you let me ... :) ).

I have checked with my carrier and they do not have any update for my version of PPC6700 :(

I will let you know any thing I find.

Thanks again

Regards

Edgar