Every day I nearly break my Apache in half - WM6 application DB help?

[Falcon4]

I hate my Apache, but at the same time I can't live without it. Let me correct that. I LOATHE my Apache. I hate its random lockups, the horribly unstable drivers, the terrible performance, the clunky WM6 interface, the "touch curve" at the bottom of the touchscreen (making it literally impossible to press a menu item located in the center of the bar), the software-controlled charging, the power problems, the notification hangups, the LACK of notification for calendar events...

But anyway, what this topic is about is the WM6 application installation database. Particularly, why mine is totally screwed up - and where it's stored!

Because of Windows Mobile's small size, it's possible to to a full filesystem search for a text phrase rather quickly. In my case I was looking for "evolane" as a part of "Evolane eTcl engine", as that was one of several applications that refuses to install properly - or even uninstall at all.

I ran Sprite Backup on my PPC just before reflashing. I then bought, and restored, portions of it back onto the newly flashed PPC. However, it seems that the restore also screwed up that application install database, so it now thinks that everything I had installed before is already installed (which it's not...), and if I try to actually install something I had before, it says something to the effect of "that's already installed, you need to uninstall it first, would you like to?", followed by "that failed to uninstall, would you like to continue?". It will proceed to install, then say "installation was unsuccessful" although it would still work fine.

But that's the problem. I can't get it to uninstall. When it is installed, I can try uninstalling it from "remove programs", and it'll say it's unsuccessful, and if I want to remove it from the list of installed programs. "YES". It simply moves up the list. I tap it again, repeat. Stays there. Over and over, I can do it as many times as I want. It doesn't install, it doesn't remove.

Now, since I spend many bored hours at work tinkering with my PPC, I had tried various things. I tried searching the registry for "Evolane" and removing all associated entries. No more "evolane" in the registry at all. Then I try searching for files named, or regarding, "evolane" or "etcl" in the filesystem. Nothing relevant. All the program's files are gone. There is no reference to "Evolane Tcl Engine" on my whole Pocket PC.


God damnit.

Where the heck is this database stored? I can't find any reference to it in the whole writeable filesystem. Is it stored as a ROM file? Why can't I find that stupid thing?! And is there even a tool that can fix this?

(edit: BeelineGPS also does the same thing, as does NetFront. I also finally managed to find a way to decouple the phone from the PPC so TomTom doesn't complain! Woot for dotFred.)

[weedahoe]

Bro, IMO it would take less time to fix everything by backing up with PIMBackup and hard resetting or re-flashing. WM5 runs smoother than WM6. The reg entries you might be looking for may not be listed under alphameric characters but rather numerical ones throwing your search off.

What all are were you trying to backup BTW other than your contacts/calls logs/mail?

[Falcon4]

I know I backed the full thing up, filesystem, etc... but I didn't restore the filesystem. I restored settings, personal databases (PIM), and the PPC's "my documents" folder. =\

I ended up just cooking up a new ROM and reflashing (again)... I screwed up the phone such that, for some unknown reason, I couldn't even get it to re-enable the phone after switching off the phone drivers with dotFred. I don't have service (at the moment...!) so I wanted that phone dead. Like a genie, I got my wish - the phone would now say something like "a radio must be attached to use the phone". But when I learned about the ## codes, I couldn't get the phone drivers to re-enable. >.<

So what is this you say about WM5 running smoother than WM6? I haven't yet seen a program that required WM6, and I could sure use the additional 15mb of free memory. Is it possible to "cook" a WM5 ROM? I can't live without HTC Audio Manager now

[weedahoe]

I think WM6 is fine if it is streamlined and tweaked properly but still there seem to be a lot of people who have issues with it. Who is you carrier and yes you can build a WM5 ROM although I may have a good one for you to try if you wanna try it.

[Falcon4]

Wouldn't've put "Generic PPC-6700" in my profile if I had a carrier
(Although I have it set up for Cricket at the moment, as I was thinking of actually trying out its phone functionality as well as giving Cricket a try some time soon)

I'd be more than happy with a WM5 image completely stripped of phone functionality though... heh. If only I could reclaim that space for storage space. Seriously, I hate HTC for figuring "oh what the hell, let's just give them a business card's worth of storage space for their entire PPC... come on Sandisk, you've gotta love us now!".

Hm, while I'm at it... can you think of any reason for a huge performance decrease in TomTom? I only get about 0.75 FPS while at the main screen, whereas before, I actually head-to-head compared it with a standalone TomTom box and was amazed at how much smoother (>30FPS I'd say) it was than the TomTom unit. I even tried reflashing to the stock Sprint WM5 image and running TomTom. Still horrible performance. Could it be a hardware problem or is there more to it that isn't being flashed or erased?

[weedahoe]

Originally Posted by Falcon4

Wouldn't've put "Generic PPC-6700" in my profile if I had a carrier

I seen that but the "PPC" threw me off.

Originally Posted by Falcon4

can you think of any reason for a huge performance decrease in TomTom? I only get about 0.75 FPS while at the main screen, whereas before, I actually head-to-head compared it with a standalone TomTom box and was amazed at how much smoother (>30FPS I'd say) it was than the TomTom unit. I even tried reflashing to the stock Sprint WM5 image and running TomTom. Still horrible performance. Could it be a hardware problem or is there more to it that isn't being flashed or erased?

IDK anything about TomTom personally as I used to use iGuidance 4.0, sorry.

[subhumanderelict]

I've been having issues on my Mogul with uninstalling WMWifiRouter, I don't think anyone on this forum or XDA knows how or cares to help us with removing programs that won't uninstall. I feel you though; sometimes I would like nothing better than to simply obliterate my phone. However, we still have way more flexibility than pretty much any other mobile platform out there.

[nxtech3]

Sub-
its not that nobody cares about uninstalling. There are so many files you would have to delete manually if the phones system wont uninstall. Registry Entries for example take forever just to find. All the help you need is here so dont take it for granted. Where would you be without either of these websites? oh yea i know, still running stock.

Fal-
Its been my experienece never to rely on a backup software if you are changing anything in the ROM. The only thing i havent had an issue restoring was my Phonebook and Emails. Everything wouldnt work or i would have icons with no paths so i would get an error message. Pretty much my only solution was to build from scratch or make a UC so it intalls automatically after Flash/Hard Reset

[subhumanderelict]

Originally Posted by nxtech3

Sub-
its not that nobody cares about uninstalling. There are so many files you would have to delete manually if the phones system wont uninstall. Registry Entries for example take forever just to find. All the help you need is here so dont take it for granted. Where would you be without either of these websites? oh yea i know, still running stock.

You're completely correct, I apologize for my statement. I have received vast amounts of help from both these sites, and this one issue did not sour me on them as much as my small rant may have indicated. It was one of those moments where I didn't look back and really think about what I had said.