What do you do when the stock ROM sucks?

[crazed_z06]

Originally Posted by pufftissue

Hi guys,

Just got a touch pro 2 on Sprint. It's running the stock 6.5 Sprint ROM. This phone is a joke so far.

I have the dreaded sleep problem, that is, when the phone goes to sleep, it won't turn on, period. Disabling sense UI seems to help somewhat, but then today with sense enabled, the sleep issue occurred again. A soft reset fixed it. But a hard reset is required simply to use my phone if I desire the nice sense UI.

What should be my next step? Mind you, I have no extra apps installed on the phone except Google maps. I feel like my demands are reasonable--be able to use a phone and have it turn on when you push the power button. Email, and the web browser. I do want windows mobile 6.5, however.

Can you return it? The phone is inherently slow.. The amount of tweaking to get it to work decently will not be worth it IMO. If possible, take it back and get an EVO 4G or something.

If you really wanted to run Windows Mobile, try to find a HD2. I used one at the store once and was amazed at how much faster it was than my TP2.

[ctiger]

Originally Posted by crazed_z06

Can you return it? The phone is inherently slow.. The amount of tweaking to get it to work decently will not be worth it IMO. If possible, take it back and get an EVO 4G or something.

If you really wanted to run Windows Mobile, try to find a HD2. I used one at the store once and was amazed at how much faster it was than my TP2.

Boy, you do realize that these guys are all from Sprint, right? I don't think sprint has HD2, or I'll all for it. And interestingly, the guys buying TP2 now are the guys that has SERO, which limits access to high-end phones like EVO or Epic or even anything runs other than winmo. We don't like winmo, we have no choice, sir.

[datguy810]

try MIGHTYROM

[horndoctor]

Wirelessly posted (htc Pocket PC: Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows CE; IEMobile 7.11) Sprint MP6950SP)

I'll probably get flamed for this but flash the sprint shipped 6.1 rom. 6.5 is too buggy.

[pufftissue]

dwmackay, thanks a lot for your detailed instructions.

I am not afraid to flash, but I'm afraid that it won't make a huge difference. We'll see. I recall thinking that in the end, windows mobile was just unstable or something. inherently. This was on the Mogul. I had thought that the touch pro 2 would be different, but it's evoking horrible memories again. I had an important text message that I wanted to read, but of course the phone locked up and went to sleep and I couldn't get it back on again, etc. That kind of stuff just happens all too often with this phone. We'll see again after I finish flashing and give that a test run. I am not opposed to rebooting every few days if need be. But not the 10 times a day that I currently am doing. Curing the sleep of death bug would be awesome for me as that's what's causing 90% of my aggravation. It is much better than the Mogul, to be fair.

Of course, like many people on this forum, we are only continuing to deal with this phone b/c of our sero plans.

[sl8763]

Until a couple of weeks ago, I felt exactly like you do. I was seriously ready to pitch my TP2 out the nearest window, say goodbye to SERO, and sign up for a regular Sprint plan and buy myself an Evo, not caring how much it would cost. I was so frustrated with this phone and having to soft reset three times a day.

I was running the Sprint ROM and eventually switched to MightyROM hoping to see a big improvement, which did not really happen (no offense to anyone). The phone still was extremely slow, would lock up quite often, and just pissed me off constantly.

I'm now running Energy ROM, overclocked to 768 MHz, and using Opera Mini as my primary browser. With these three changes in place, the phone is amazing and exactly what I want. In fact, not only am I satisfied enough to not jump ship to Android as soon as SERO allows it in October, I'm pretty sure I can hold out for the next generation of smartphones (dual-core!).

Anyway, my point is that the forum can definitely help you get your phone to a point where you're not gnashing your teeth every time you look at it. Feel free to PM me if you need specific tips - I am not an expert by any means, especially compared to most people here, but I can tell you exactly how I went about it.

Link to phone unlocker (you need this prior to custom ROM flashing):
http://forum.ppcgeeks.com/cdma-tp2-u...w-hardspl.html

EnergyROM (I am running the Cookie Energy Style, but the build from late August):
http://forum.ppcgeeks.com/cdma-tp2-u...se-2018-a.html

Overclocking Thread:
http://forum.ppcgeeks.com/htc-touch-...-settings.html

YouTube video that I found very helpful for understanding the whole ROM flashing process:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=te7CPM3yeUk

[pufftissue]

Dear Microsoft and/or HTC:

Please make a phone that turns on when you press the power button every time.

Update: I tried the stable energy rom, and it is very good! BUT the stupid sleep of death bug is still there. And in my opinion, it is a showstopper and a reason to abandon the phone permanently. Please someone tell me if there is a fix to this bug. I have NOTHING installed on my touch pro 2 except the Energy ROM. I had nothing installed using the stock Sprint rom.

If this bug is not fixable, I'd appreciate it if someone would tell me so and tell me to get lost from this forum.

[dwmackay]

I have not seen the SOD issue in some time on my phone (many months).

Maybe a few other things might help. There is a tool called Task29 which deletes the entire O/S from the phone. It completely reformats the memory eliminating every trace of the OS. Many users swear by this process before every flash. However, it leaves you with no OS so the phone is really dead until you flash again.

After Task 29:
There are a couple of ways to proceed after Task29; reflash via USB or flash via SD card. Without the OS, you cannot simply connect via USB and flash away because there is no OS to connect with Active Sync. You need to get to the bootloader screen.

Flash from USB:
To get to the boot loader screen, pull the battery and reinsert. Press and hold the power button, down volume and end button. The device will fire up, release all but the power button and you should get the tricolor screen. When the bootloader screen is up, connect to the PC and you should be able to flash just like you did before. Windows will install the HTC sync and the phone should switch to USB mode from Serial.

Flash from the SD card:
All of the ROMS have a single file that is the OS that gets loaded on the phone. If you extract the ROM file you will see several files, one of which is typically called: RUU_signed.nbh. This is what gets copied to the phone and installed. To flash from an SD card, get a 2GB or smaller card. Format it as FAT. Copy the RUU_signed.nbh file onto the SD card and rename it RHODDIMG.nbh.

Put the SD in the phone that is turned off. Press and hold the Power button, down volume and end button all at the same time. You should see the boot loader screen and it will ask if you want to load. Follow the prompt ( I cannot remember if it is down vol or power that loads the ROM).

Within a few minutes, you should be good to go.

If the TASK 29 does not solve the SOD issue, about the only thing left is your Radio, but I cannot see how that would have any impact.

As for ROMS, try all you want, but I can recommend a couple that I have used without the SOD issue. It might be worth giving them a try to see if they will work for you. I have had good luck with the Medium Hill ROMS as well as Vin ROMS. If they work, you have eliminated a variable and can continue to find a ROM that suits your needs.

Hopefully this will help. As always, be prepared to struggle with memory leak issues on WM. I have yet to find a permanent solution to Windows Mobile poor memory management.

Doug M.

[horndoctor]

Wirelessly posted (htc Pocket PC: Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows CE; IEMobile 7.11) Sprint MP6950SP)

You won't have SOD with the shipped 6.1 rom. Just sayin.