Dell Axim X50/X50v ROM A05 Update Released (Again)!

[Darius Wey]

<img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/wey-20050706-X50v.jpg" /><br /><br /><a href="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=42197">After reporting on ROM A05 last week</a> only to have it pulled from the Dell website a few hours later, I decided to wait around a little while before announcing this one. Thankfully, the new ROM update is still up, so I guess we can treat it as being the real deal now. New ROM A05 features include: <br /><br />1. Support LEAP-WAP wireless encryption.<br />2. Increase the data transfer rate of SDIO to 19.5MHz on PXA27X C5.<br />3. Add a new network certification -- GoDaddy SSL certificate root into the ROM image.<br />4. Phase in new updated Bluetooth stack BTW-CE 1.5.0.2601.<br />5. Enhance Wireless encryption WPA-PSK network under Cisco AP with new IOS version 12.3(2) JA<br />6. Bug fix for Home applet screen on the X50.<br />7. Bug fix for WMV Marathon display codec. (X50 only)<br />8. Bug fix for WMV G2700 display codec. (X50v only)<br /><br />Axim X50 users - click <a href="http://support.dell.com/support/downloads/download.aspx?c=us&l=en&s=gen&releaseid=R106213&SystemID=PDA_AXIM_X50&os=PPCA&osl=en&deviceid=6739&devlib=0&typecnt=1&vercnt=4&formatcnt=1&fileid=137111">here</a>. Axim X50v users - click <a href="http://support.dell.com/support/downloads/download.aspx?c=us&l=en&s=gen&releaseid=R106214&SystemID=PDA_AXIM_X50&os=PPCA&osl=en&deviceid=7464&devlib=0&typecnt=1&vercnt=4&formatcnt=1&fileid=137112">here</a>. Remember to backup first before applying the update.

[MkH]

That would be a Dell thing. I'm glad I've got a HP.

[rzanology]

i am sooo happy to see dell supporting the hell outtah this thing. But DAMN IT!!! i dont want to flash it again...i just did it like 2 weeks ago for the 4th tiiiime!!!!

is this update even worth it?

[rzanology]

That would be a Dell thing. I'm glad I've got a HP.

oh yea? at lease dell didnt wait till it breaks to come out with the fix....3 device releases and 5 months too late! :twisted:

"im looking at you 2215"

[ttriple]

That would be a Dell thing. I'm glad I've got a HP.

At least Dell is dedicated to constantly update and improve their products in the post-purchasing phase. So you can go play with your over-priced HP and hope it doesn't have a bug which is unlikely. Then in which case you need to pray (or bit*h to yourself) that HP will release a ROM update to fix it. I'm happy with my Dell and the regular updates I get from them :lol:

[zilla31]

i'm still back on A02. do i need to rebuild from scratch to apply a ROM update or can i just backup and apply it?

[Jason Dunn]

i'm still back on A02. do i need to rebuild from scratch to apply a ROM update or can i just backup and apply it?

I don't normally do this, but a couple of months ago I backed up via ActiveSync, installed A04, then restored and everything seems to be working great. So yes, it looks like you can do it that way...

[scottb100]

I just did the Upgrade and restored using Sprite Upgrade Path and all seems well. I still cant connect to my Dlink Router via WPA-PSK without using the OD Client. But thats OK. Good Luck to all upgraders

[Marcel_Proust]

That would be a Dell thing. I'm glad I've got a HP.

oh yea? at lease dell didnt wait till it breaks to come out with the fix....3 device releases and 5 months too late! :twisted:

"im looking at you 2215"

such high emotions and hostilities. do you people own stock or something?

[powder2000]

That would be a Dell thing. I'm glad I've got a HP.

oh yea? at lease dell didnt wait till it breaks to come out with the fix....3 device releases and 5 months too late! :twisted:

"im looking at you 2215"

such high emotions and hostilities. do you people own stock or something?

It looks like you have been around these posts long enough to know the support history of the major ppc vendors. This is a touchy subject and people really do like to have their high price investments supported. HP does have a lousy track record and it's nice to see Dell stepping up. I have become a Dell man myself after a few hp units. I see Dell as the primary Windows Mobile PPC Vendor pretty soon.

[Marcel_Proust]

That would be a Dell thing. I'm glad I've got a HP.

oh yea? at lease dell didnt wait till it breaks to come out with the fix....3 device releases and 5 months too late! :twisted:

"im looking at you 2215"

such high emotions and hostilities. do you people own stock or something?

It looks like you have been around these posts long enough to know the support history of the major ppc vendors. This is a touchy subject and people really do like to have their high price investments supported. HP does have a lousy track record and it's nice to see Dell stepping up. I have become a Dell man myself after a few hp units. I see Dell as the primary Windows Mobile PPC Vendor pretty soon.

If Dell is the best right now, that's great news, and I'll consider them next time. I don't have any particular loyalty to any one company, and don't see them as personified beings - whoever is providing the best product and service at the time gets my money. All these companies have had their good and bad spots and they should be all kept honest.

[pivaska]

I downloaded the upgrade and it is sitting on my desktop. I will wait until I have absolutely NOTHING to do for a couple of hours and am bored to death by the entire world and then I will "git-r-done." Also I will wait until at least 5 people post something to this tread that has any thing to do with the fact that this is a MUST to upgrade to and can't live without. Or I will wait the next 75 days or so for the so called ultimate OS....W5.

[rmasinag]

Uh, n00b questions guys,

What's the difference between the X50 and X50v?? RAM? I think they both have VGA right?

[pivaska]

The 50v has the VGA

[rzanology]

That would be a Dell thing. I'm glad I've got a HP.

oh yea? at lease dell didnt wait till it breaks to come out with the fix....3 device releases and 5 months too late! :twisted:

"im looking at you 2215"

such high emotions and hostilities. do you people own stock or something?

no..but it sounds like you own a HP....poor baby..come get a hug.

[Don Tolson]

Downloaded and installed the A05 ROM update with no problems. Everything went very smoothly.

One thing to watch for -- in their HTML instructions page, Dell says that the installation routine MUST be run from the existing location, which isn't possible with my current version of Firefox. So, I just copied the URL into an instance of IE and ran it from there.

I decided to backup my stuff, but not do the Restore over the new ROM. Instead, I'll reload my apps. I'm hoping a new ROM w iill fix the problem I've been having with connecting to the Internet via WIFI. I can get a connection to my router, but I can't get any pages from the Internet. It comes back 'Page can't be found'. I think it's related to Settings/Connections/Network Cards showing My network card connects to: Work, and no matter how I try, I can't get it to retain a switch to 'The Internet'.

Any ideas?

[JimV]

I think they pulled the download again. I downloaded it earlier today, but it doesn't seem to exist on Dell's site anymore. I went back to the site to print out the install instructions, but it's a broken link now. Can anyone else confirm this? Thanks.

[nafran]

It looks like the link is down again. The x50 link still works, but not the x50v.

Scratch that, now the x50 is gone.

[pivaska]

I wonder if they are fixing something in the upgrade?

[logo20heli]

1. Support LEAP-WAP wireless encryption.
Anyone know what LEAP-WAP is? I know that LEAP is a Cisco-specific authentication protocol used in some of their wireless acess points. We use that at work. But I'm unfamiliar with "LEAP-WAP".

I'm not having good luck with this firmware. I used to use the Odyssey client to connect to our LEAP wireless network here. But with A05, this no longer works. That's why I'm trying to figure out what they've done with this LEAP-WAP support.

[Gremmie]

I'm glad to be seeing Dell support some more advanced wireless protocols. Many people are starting to put up more secure WiFi networks, beyond traditional WEP security.

[Don Tolson]

Well, I loaded up all my apps again and tried each one. Everything seems to be hunky-dory. Haven't really tried the Wi-Fi or Bluetooth stuff yet, but I'll play with them a bit tonight and post my results.

Originally, the note said that the 'DM' (whoever a DM is) wanted to wait until 08/23, so I was surprised when it showed up a little early.

[Darius Wey]

It looks like the link is down again. The x50 link still works, but not the x50v.

Scratch that, now the x50 is gone.

Both of the links work fine. Perhaps try it again. :)

[jsnielsen]

If it hadn't been for the WM5 update coming in october, I would'v probably spent time updating. But it's running fine as it is, so no need to reinstall everything, when I have to do it again in a month or two ;)

[zilla31]

i'm still back on A02. do i need to rebuild from scratch to apply a ROM update or can i just backup and apply it?

I don't normally do this, but a couple of months ago I backed up via ActiveSync, installed A04, then restored and everything seems to be working great. So yes, it looks like you can do it that way...

ok just so i get this straight (sorry to be taking up you guys time w/ this) but i can backup w/ say sprite backup, then you hit the .exe for the rom and it will install (and soft reset i presume), then i'm left w/ the equivalent of a hard reset and i just restore my backup?

thanks huge!

[Sven Johannsen]

i'm still back on A02. do i need to rebuild from scratch to apply a ROM update or can i just backup and apply it?

I don't normally do this, but a couple of months ago I backed up via ActiveSync, installed A04, then restored and everything seems to be working great. So yes, it looks like you can do it that way...

ok just so i get this straight (sorry to be taking up you guys time w/ this) but i can backup w/ say sprite backup, then you hit the .exe for the rom and it will install (and soft reset i presume), then i'm left w/ the equivalent of a hard reset and i just restore my backup?

thanks huge!

Some folks have good luck with this, and Sprite's newer versions have modes specifically designed for this, as I understand it. Historically though it is not recommended. There are conceivably changes to the registry structure that would be overwritten by a restore. In the past, doing this post-update restore has resulted in odd and difficult to isolate problems. I have heard less of these issues lately. I tend to upgrade and re-install. I find it also a good excuse to clean out the programs I'm not using, and it cleans out the registry of junk that wasn't properly un-installed during program testing. If you restore, it just puts the junk back.

Some programs that have a lot of settings, like PocketBreeze, have their own export/import settings feature that lets you save and restore settings independent of device restores.

[Sven Johannsen]

P.S. If you update and restore, and then have problems that are hard to isolate, you can always hard reset and re-install all your stuff. The update is a flash of the ROM and will survive subsequent hard resets.

[PetiteFlower]

I wonder if the one I just ordered will ship with A05 installed.

[Darius Wey]

I wonder if the one I just ordered will ship with A05 installed.

It depends when it was flashed at the factory. If it was over the past day or two, then you may receive A05 on your device. Otherwise, it'll more than likely be A04, but flashing to A05 is something that you can do. And since it's fresh out of the box, you won't have to worry about the troublesome task of reinstalling your programs since you're going to have to do it anyway. ;)

[Darius Wey]

Some folks have good luck with this, and Sprite's newer versions have modes specifically designed for this, as I understand it. Historically though it is not recommended.

I've always been one to recommend not following the backup/restore procedure with ROM updates for the aforementioned reasons. But I decided to bend the rules with A03, A04, and A05. For the record, I was able to do a backup/restore successfully from A03 to A04, but no so with A04 to A05. In my opinion, the manual process of reinstalling programs is the safest route to follow, but there's no harm in trying the former. If it fails, then reinstall. :)

[PetiteFlower]

Well I just ordered it on Wed; it's supposed to ship today but I don't know if it will. I think it will probably have A05.

[PetiteFlower]

Ah CRAP, it's A04. Which of course I didn't notice until AFTER I'd installed all my stuff. Oh well then, the upgrade is just going to have to wait! A few days at least.

[Sven Johannsen]

Ah CRAP, it's A04. Which of course I didn't notice until AFTER I'd installed all my stuff. Oh well then, the upgrade is just going to have to wait! A few days at least.
I wouldn't sweat it. Just leave it alone until you get your WM5 upgrade. I have been running A03 until tonight with no problems. I never even bothered with A04. I upgraded to A05 only because I hard reset anyway.

Had a bit of a scare. Got caught in a downpour on my bike and the Dell got a bit wet in the backpack. Wasn't sure how wet, so I pulled the battery and flash cards when I got home and laid the beast on the nice warm desktop PC to dry out. After about an hour, put it back together and restored from this morning's backup (it's automatic.) worked OK, but I shut it off and after a while, it wouldn't turn back on for anything. Oh, crap :cry: . Pulled the battery again, put it back on the warmth and let it sit for a couple of hours. Put it back together and it seems OK. Not sure if it was still a bit damp or the restore was flaky. What the heck, did the upgrade and am going to reload. Not that big a deal. It's been running OK with nothing installed, can turn it off and on, so I think I'm basically OK. Runs pretty good in this pristene state. May have to be a bit more judicious on what goes back on it.

[Darius Wey]

I'm with Sven on this one. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. The Windows Mobile 5.0 upgrade for the X50/X50v is slated for October this year, so you only need to wait another month and a bit before you're going to have to hard reset again.

[PetiteFlower]

Ah, I just did it. The rebuild didn't take that long, no big deal. Might as well do it now while I'm still in the "new toy" mode :)

Now I just have to figure out what to do with my X5 to give it a proper sendoff ;)