Haus Intrepid Tips and Tricks

[itony]

oh i think i get it like you hold down a letter and it goes aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa instead of having to go a.a.a.a.

[haus]

Post 3 updated with some changes to the backlight fix and a new (optional) bluetooth fix:

http://forum.ppcgeeks.com/showpost.p...00&postcount=3

[TADPOLE415]

Originally Posted by haus

(...in response to post by: "tedtlogan
3. Can I get a more generic/default start menu? The one you get when you hit the window key is just too much. I also like being able to assign shortcuts to keys, like holding down "4" for such and such program.")

Not an intrepid question...this is a general (and common) WM6.5 complaint. I hate it too. I put most of the stuff in the start menu into folders, which makes things easier to deal with, but it's a pain to do. I think there is a program called quickmenu that will get you back to the more 6.1 style menu.

This is sad...very sad, ONLY...
I followed your thread from SprintUsers, hoping to find some fix/solution for the lost WM6.1 functionality of:
ASSIGNING SPEED-DIAL NUMBERS TO APPLICATIONS.

I can't determine from your response [above], Haus, whether you have abandoned the last (and most important part) of tedtlogan's question...speed-dialing applications, or responded only to START screen style...? (When you can directly access speed-dial-assigned applications WITHOUT EVEN LOOKING AT THE PHONE, what possible relevant concern could exist about application grouping on some display screen??)

With WM6.1...Moto Q9c, for example...highlight any START menu application, and the right soft-key [labeled: MENU] provided option to assign that app to Speed-Dial menu. (The ONLY phone number on my Speed-Dial list was Voice Mail, #1...which could not be reassigned...)

No GUI access...for emphasis, a restart: NO GUI SELECTION is more efficient than speed-dial of applications!!

During google search, I skimmed [without much comprehension] exchange 'tweenst developers about pushing applications and some support files/structures(?) on WM PRO speed-dial list. Mortscript monitoring/changing INTREPID registry values added hope I was getting close. (TBD/?)

Regardless of difficulty-of-use/lack-of-elegance, I hope to learn of a way, ANY way, to "push" desired applications on the INTREPID speed-dial list...after years of ease-of-use, being forced to press multiple keys just to get to a screen so I can scroll-down & LOOK (!!?!) for an icon is becoming unbearable... I may well (without hope of returned APP-SPEED-DIAL functionality) abandon WM6.5 (and desired touch-screen, "lost" since retiring my TREO) and return to the memory-short and somewhat problematic Q9c.

In addition to efficiency/convenience, there exists a safety component--I could, with Q9c, access traffic info, glancing at phone screen only AFTER the desired map was displayed. Execute-app-without-lookup functionality cannot be abandoned...neither can driving, nor the need-to-know while driving (pulling over on Hwy 101 is almost-NEVER an option!).

BTW, I'm looking forward to learning 'bout my phone from this thread (hoping/assuming I do keep the INTREPID...).
I certainly recognize the backlight and screen time-out issues! Q9c occasionally reverted to 5-second EVERYTHING! (My kluge was daily/auto SPB Backup....I'd just jump back a day or three and restore "normal" timing, as registry editing "didn't stick", once that glitch, whatever it was, "hit".)

Kudos all-around, and especially you, Haus, for taking the time to share knowledge...thanks!

[flancrest]

Originally Posted by tahkuct

Does anybody know how to disable touch screen during a call on Intrepid?

Looking for this as well, reading this thread suggests installing a lock program and setting it to lock in-call might be the only way to do this?

[haus]

@Tadpole: the only way to assign hard buttons to apps is to use the buttons control panel. You can assign 4 long-press buttons, I think (don't have my phone on me at the moment). The ability to assign numbers to apps sounds like a Moto add-on for the Q9C, similar to the way Palm used to create add-on functionality to the WM treos (like the ultimately effective keyguard).

You can also start apps by voice command (if you enable the option in voice command), press the VC key or your BT headset key, and say "start <application name>".

@flancrest (Enterprises? fellow southpaw?)...there's no built-in way to *fully* disable the touch screen, but the built-in WM6.5 lock does somewhat limit the functionality of the screen while in a call. You can actually enable it in-call by pressing start and then the left softkey (or if the phone is locked in your pocket and you answer with BT, it remains locked in your pocket). The locked-incall screen has some on-screen buttons that can still be pressed, but just sitting in a pocket and even moving around slightly rarely results in button-presses.

Hope that helps.

[skidaddy]

Hi,

This thread is much appreciated. I’ve used it primarily to identify problems (that I live with) and hints. I’ve stayed away from registry modifications, though it seems stupid that so many of the defaults especially sound, notifications, and performance need resetting or are not available through standard menu controls.

One especially annoying “undocumented feature” is loss of data connection when I go from an EVDO to 1X signal or Sprint to roaming or visa versa. To get rid of the error messages that can brick the phone for a minute may require a soft reboot or reset through settings -> system-> EVDO Data -> menu -> update data profile to get data to work, sometimes a couple times a day. I’m on my third phone all having the same issue. Not sure if this Sprint, MSFT, or Samsung or all of them.

Noticed that in addition to recent WM 7 announcement MFST also released WM Developer Tool Kit 6.5.3 which would indicate a new firmware update for WM6.5 is in the pipeline. Anyone heard anything about this and how it may address some of the major issues in addition to the tweaks and when it will release? Firmware upgrades erase all menus and registry tweaks so I don’t want to start on the registry only to have to come back.

Thanks for any input.

[haus]

Happy to hear the info here has been helpful.

Most of the tricks people have discovered for this and other WM phones involve regdits. Don't be shy - get a good WM6.5 compatible backup program, get a registry editor (resco or total commander are a couple of options depending on your price elasticity), and have some fun. You can run the mortscript fixes I've posted without needing to do registry edits yourself, since Mortscript is capable of writing to the registry on its own.

Firmware updates are at the discretion of the mfr and carrier. Since Samsung hasn't seen fit to even provide us with a bugfix in 5 months, I doubt they're planning any additional dev time on the Intrepid (I'd love to be surprised, tho...really). 6.5.3 would be a huge improvement over the ancient build we've got.

Can't speak to the loss of data connection since I'm pretty much always in EV coverage, but unfortunately you're a classic case of Spring doling out replacement phones (hardware) for a software or network issue. All you're getting is often previously-replaced/refurbished phones that will have the same behavior. If you've never experienced this issue before I would be quick to point to the Intrepid as the source of the problem (specifically the build of WM on the phone or Samsung's implementation of it on this particular hardware). You can get any many replacements from Sprint as you want and they'll just keep giving you other people's returned hardware.

When I buy a phone new in the box, the only time I will accept a replacement for it is when there is very clearly a hardware failure, or a software failure so devastating that the phone cannot be recovered with a hard reset. Unless they bring out a new box and hand me the phone with the plastic wrap still on it, which is pretty rare...

Last point - WRT reg edits - every time you hard reset you'll have to redo them anyway, so it's best to just create a .reg file with your favorites. I've had to hard reset my Intrepid probably 10 times since I got it, mostly because I've been experimenting with things in order to get this thread filled with some (hopefully) useful things. But even so, eventually you're going to install something that bricks your phone and you'll have to start over. Maybe I'll post my .reg file if I have time later on, that may be helpful and something others can improve upon.

[haus]

Post 6 updated with a registry file - use it as an example to build your own.

http://forum.ppcgeeks.com/showpost.p...33&postcount=6

[djlsnuff]

everytime i receive a call the phone goes into Fn-lock mode, so that the next time i try to type text i have to disable Fn before it will work. Anyone else have this issue? Also, is there a tweak so that if i hold a key down, it will use the Fn character listed on the key. Blackjack II did this...for example, if i were to hold down the letter "t", it would, after a second or two, generate the "3" instead of the "t."

[TADPOLE415]

Originally Posted by haus

You can also start apps by voice command (if you enable the option in voice command), press the VC key or your BT headset key, and say "start <application name>". Hope that helps.

'Sure would LIKE to figure out that voice command stuff... 'one of the 1st things I tried. 'Seems like (when TELL-ME actually manages to repeat back MY words) it does nothing but a BING search on the phrase...
"START CALENDAR"
"RUN CALENDAR"
"START POINTUI"
"EXECUTE POINTUI"
I have yet to figure out the correct "magic words"...and the few options provided seem completely unrelated to apps...

So I've got a few 'major' apps assigned to the long-hold keys... so maybe I will keep the INTREPID for awhile...I mean, I can't possibly be right that WM6.5 is a step DOWN from WM6.1--ignoring the touch-screen, of course (hey, if the New York Times can ignore the cost of fuel and food when making up some economic improvement fantasy, I can ignore a touch-screen...!!).

POINTUI seems a baby-step forward (...or is that BACK...? meaning, "in the direction of SPEED-DIAL-APPS")... well, Pointui provides a 10-app icon matrix for assigning apps... but you still have to LOOK at the screen...bummer... Actually, I had believed the 4 or 5 assignable keys were part of POINTUI... 'twas your comment, Haus, that prompted me to check for BUTTONS in native WM6.5.

Now to steal the TIME, somewhere, to review all INTREPID documentation... so that I'm not giving WM6.5 short shrift in my comparisons.

(BTW, is there a accumulated gripe list somewhere for WM6.5 documentation? I'd like to suggest using ONE name for each key, consistently... yeah, OK, so now there's a WINDOWS key... it used to be the START key; sometimes it is now the "MENU", too.... WHY? It would be easy enough to figure out, if they grouped ALL the different names they planned [or have] referred to the various keys in the labeled image of the 1st few pages... but, no, 'seems they want to surprise/confuse the reader... well, there Samsung has achieved marginal "SUCCESS"!!)