Official O2 Xda2s ROM Update - initial experience

[martin_ayton]

In case you missed it elsewhere, O2 have now published an official ROM update for the Xda2s. If you are starting with ROM version 1.12.62 (date 10/04/04) and Radio version 1.02.00, it will update you to ROM version 1.31.00 (date 12/13/04) and Radio version 1.06.00. It also installs the Bluetooth Build 3500.

You can get it here (http://www.sourceo2.com/O2_Developers/Devices/O2_Xda_II/XdaIIs_launchROM.htm). This version is apparently for UK and Irish users only, but there are links there for German and Asian users too.

I have just upgraded and, in case it helps anyone, here's what happened:

First off, the whole thing stalled with my Xda showing the grey USB screen 8O . To fix it, I had to download Activesync 3.8.0 (despite what O2s instructions say) and start again. If you don't have Activesync 3.8.0, you can get it here (http://www.microsoft.com/windowsmobile/downloads/activesync38.mspx). After that, the whole thing went fine and a restore (using xBackup) had me up and running again very quickly 8) .

One of the cosmetic changes is that the O2 icon has been moved from the middle of the top of the screen to overwrite the Microsoft flag at the top left. However, that doesn't appear to work too well, and all sorts of stuff now appears at the top left of the screen, reverting, after a power-down, to a blank, white square. The (minor) functionality of the O2 icon - i.e. the ability to see which connections were running and shut them down - is, therefore, no longer available :roll: .

I have SpbPlus (v 2.5, Build 2084) installed and that now drops the Spb Today screen plug-in onto the O2 Active screen. Personally, I think it looks horrible there, but I can only turn it off by turning it off in the Today screen.

There is now an icon in the system tray at the bottom of the O2 Active screen which toggles the screen from portrait to landscape and back.

Too early to say what effect this update will have on stability. Perhaps someone else found it and installed it earlier and could comment?

[martin_ayton]

Later...

I hit problems with the XBackup restore: it also restored the original version of the Extended ROM. So, I had to hard reset and rebuild / reinstall files and apps by hand. Inevitably, some have disappeared for ever (grr).

Using the new Extended Rom (version 1.31.139) made the thing a leetle more stable. The Microsoft Windows flag is back in its proper place and the O2 icon is now slightly left of centre. It is however just an icon: it has no functionality and just gets in the way, disappearing after a while to leave an ugly white square.

Newly installed programs do not always appear in the list (Start > Programs) and having appeared, don't always stay.

Honestly - if you are thinking upgrading to this ROM and Extended ROM, I wouldn't bother. :(

[MitchellO]

Did it fix your soft reset problem?

[martin_ayton]

I'm having to soft (and hard :evil: ) reset the thing so often just to keep the PDA side of things going, that I haven't been able to assess the effect on the 'phone.

I'm just sorting out the file synchronisation back to my PC so that I know I have everything I want, and then I'm going to delete the xBackup stuff, hard reset the Xda2s and run the whole ROM update again from the start.

I'm convinced that the problems are with the extended ROM - everything looks great until that loads and then it all goes screwy. I just wish I was tech-savvy enough to find the Extended ROM files and sort them out myself :( .

[martin_ayton]

OK, I did it over and reinstalled everything, and most of the problems are still apparent :( . It has been a little more stable: I've only had to soft reset twice (in the last 6 hours) to correct a problem with the screen not accepting any stylus inputs and the on/off button not switching the thing off (oddly, holding it down did still toggle the backlight).

The thing that really irritates me is that O2 have pulled the clock off the top bar and onto the top line of the O2 Active screen, so it has gone from a nice, readable clock which is always present, to a completely unreadable one (the text is way too small) which is only there when you aren't running other app's. Does anyone out there know how to fix this and put the clock back where it belongs?

[dworkin]

My XDA2s came with upgrade already on board. Compared to the XDA2 I had before, STABLE is not a word that comes to mind!
I reset 6-8 time a day on average - boring!!!

Seems to happen most when accessing Net via WiFi but not sure about that. Certainly changing landscape/portrait during any form of activity sends it into a coma so maybe thats something to look at

Tried re-flashing rom but no improvement. If not for the built in WiFi I'd go back to XDA2 - after all who needs a keyboard built for munchkins and a screen rotate that crashes the machine?

[martin_ayton]

My XDA2s came with upgrade already on board. Compared to the XDA2 I had before, STABLE is not a word that comes to mind!
I reset 6-8 time a day on average - boring!!!
Oddly, that's comforting to know :) i.e. it isn't just my upgrade that has gone pear-shaped. The radio upgrade is fine, so what I want to do now is downgrade to the old ROM and extended ROM, revert back to the bluetooth patch and leave the radio upgrade where it is. I'm going to look for the 'ROM Kitchen' mentioned in other posts and see what I can do. Meanwhile, if anyone else out there has any suggestions, I'm all ears.

after all who needs a keyboard built for munchkins and a screen rotate that crashes the machine?
I can help you out with the screen rotate: SPB Plus adds that functionality, you can get at it from anywhere, not just the O2 Active screen, and the rotate is stable.

I agree with you about the keyboard: it looked like a great idea and the reviews were positive, but the only time I use it is if I get in too much of a hurry after a soft reset, hit the screen too early and then the only way to put my password in is via the keyboard :roll:

[MitchellO]

On the XDA mini, you can prevent the Extended ROM from installing all the junk.

When you hard reset, and go through the "helpful" cut/paste tutorial, it will say it will start installing in 3 seconds. When you see this message, soft reset. It prevents the program from running, and leaves the Extended_ROM folder visible in the file explorer. You can then install only the things you want. Saves heaps of space, and makes the device more stable.

If this comes up after your hard reset, do the above and it might help a bit.

[martin_ayton]

On the XDA mini, you can prevent the Extended ROM from installing all the junk.
That looks good - I'll try that as soon as I can summon up the energy to do battle with the thing again.

Honestly, these things are sold as consumer electronics (or we'd be able to upgrade to WMP10 etc.) but you have to have years of experience, a bloody-minded, 'will-not-be-beaten' attitude, and lots of similar forum buddies to get any serious use out of them. Someone here (Darius?) suggested the 'Dad' test - i.e. "could my Dad use it" - and this fails. By a long way. :(

[MitchellO]

I know what you mean. I got my first PPC when I was 11 (a Jornada 545), and it was simple. I got much more use out of it than most, and got it to do some neat things. But with each new device, they pack more and more in and with all that come more problems. Now 15, I tinker with my PPC all the time, and with my PPC Phone, I can't muck it up too often otherwise it is out as a phone, and out for school stuff.

[martin_ayton]

I installed Sprite Backup a few days ago to help resolve some remaining issues with my upgrade and because I can't stand the xBackup app that came with my XdaIIs. Aside for the fact that it is a great app, it has also completely removed the screen-freezing problem 8O .

Essentially, if you run a backup with Sprite, it starts by killing several processes, one of which is whatever God-forsaken (and I'm a Christian, so I use that term very carefully) piece of software that puts the O2 icon at the top of the screen. If, at the end of the backup, you don't choose to soft-reset the PPC (which would restart the process), the thing stays killed. That leaves a much cleaner task bar and a much more stable device.

Since doing this, I have had *no* screen freezes and *no* need to soft-reset the PPC to get the 'phone to work. Yaay! :D

Now all I need is something to put the clock back onto the taskbar. Any suggestions?

[dworkin]

found this O2 work-round for constant crashing which so far seems to work.

http://www.avforums.com/forums/showthread.php?p=1689216

And the only downside so far is NO O2 interface - aw shucks :)

[martin_ayton]

Thanks - I got the same advice from O2 last Friday (10th person I had spoken to, 5th email and eventually - on a call that was costing me 60p / minute, they finally gave me the PIN to activate the corporate interface). Its a huge task to hard reset and re-install, but I think that it will be worth it, so that's this afternoon spoken for... :roll: