BIS Guide?

[AKAJohnDoe]

Is there a cookbook available for how to move stuff and what stuff can be moved to the BIS on a Dell Axim X50V?

[surur]

You could wait 45 days and upgrade to Wm5.0?

Surur

[AKAJohnDoe]

I suppose so, but it would be useful to have some discussion in the Owner's Manual that Dell sent with this X50V. There's nothing. Not even descriptions of most of the icons in the application in ROM.

Without adequate documentation this X50V is an interesting toy, much like a new remote control, but not much more.

[Darius Wey]

I suppose so, but it would be useful to have some discussion in the Owner's Manual that Dell sent with this X50V. There's nothing. Not even descriptions of most of the icons in the application in ROM.

If Dell did that, it would blow the brains out of 99% of Pocket PC users out there - purely because of the complexity associated with moving select files to Built-In Storage.

On another note, there are a number of threads in the Pocket PC Thoughts forums which discuss moving several programs to a storage card or the Built-In Storage, so it might help to have a browse if you have some spare time.

[AKAJohnDoe]

Are you saying that the majority of PPC users are incapable of understanding? Presumably the remainder are hackers? How sad! In any case, it appears that this forum has some answers. I'll keep looking...

[Darius Wey]

Are you saying that the majority of PPC users are incapable of understanding? Presumably the remainder are hackers? How sad! In any case, it appears that this forum has some answers. I'll keep looking...

I wouldn't go so far as to saying that they're incapable of understanding, but rather, they don't have the capacity to take on an extra load of information when the initial guide on basic Windows Mobile functionality is already a bucketload. If you pick up the Dell manual, you'll notice that it's already quite a read.

I have a number of friends who use Pocket PCs, and learning how to perform simple tasks such as media playback, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth management, IMAP synchronisation, and even applying a screen protector was all a huge step up for them. There will always be Pocket PC users who are tech-literate and tech-illiterate. A topic such as hacking program and system files and moving it to Built-In Storage is clearly a topic for the tech-literates, and having a guide on it in a manual is a tad overkill, in my humble opinion.

That's where websites such as this host forums for those who want to go a little deeper with their device, and get more from it than what the manual describes. This applies to Pocket PCs, and the same can be said for just about any device/computer too. Look around and you'll see posts on hardware, software, tips, tricks, and content which collectively helps users maximise the potential of their Pocket PC. Yes, we're geeks at heart. ;)

[Sven Johannsen]

It's not that mysterious. BIS is like a small (90M) built in flash drive. You can use it much like any SD or CF card. You can create folders in it, like My Documents, and they are secure from battery run down and hard resets, just like the removable flash cards.

You can install applications to it, just like on flash memory cards, with some of the same caveats. When you install apps, some info, like registry settings and possibly some common files, may actually go into RAM. That means if the RAM dies, battery drain, or hard reset, the basic program is still in BIS, but some required componenets are gone and it won't work any more. It also take a little time for BIS things to be available after a soft reset, so some today screen enhancements or SIPs don't like being installed in BIS any more than they like SD or CF cards.

My personal strategy is to install all the apps that will work out of BIS in BIS. I leave my memory cards only for files, including documents, maps, mp3s, video, etc. This way I never have to worry about a program being on a memory card I am swapping out for a different one, or a peripheral, like a camera or GPS.

When WM5 replaces the current OS, however, BIS will be essentially gone. You will have 128M of the re-writable ROM, part of which will be used by the OS, and those things that were taking up RAM, like the registry and PIM DBs. You will wind up with a bit less 'BIS' to load your own programs to. In compensation, you no longer have to worry about running out of power, as that will no longer 'hard reset' your PPC.

My plan is to continue doing what I am doing now, load as many apps as I can on the PPC, into whatever that space will be called. I plan to continue to try to reserve external flash for files only, if I can.

So you can use your BIS now, just like a small flash card, in any way you choose, but be aware you may need to re-think your approach, if and when, you move to WM5.

[Darius Wey]

I was under the assumption that AKAJohnDoe wanted to move some of the more delicate files to BIS - e.g system files of Pocket Plus, etc.

But as you said, installing applications and data isn't a mysterious or hard process. It's only once you want to get into the nitty-gritty bits of system files that things start to get a bit complex.

[AKAJohnDoe]

Thanks. I've many years in computing, so I understand the concepts of BIS, just not the mechanics. Probably not significantly different from what it takes to relocate apps under desktop Windows. With WM5 out in October, I think I'll just try not to fill up before then. I've got a 1GB CF and an empty SD slot, so there's some breathing room. As for the Dell manual, well, 174 pages is not much of a read, especially when most of it is pictures!

[Darius Wey]

As for the Dell manual, well, 174 pages is not much of a read, especially when most of it is pictures!

True, but we all know how hard it is to get past the first page. A gadget geek loves learning through self-exploration. ;)

[Sven Johannsen]

I was under the assumption that AKAJohnDoe wanted to move some of the more delicate files to BIS - e.g system files of Pocket Plus, etc.
Thought that might be the case, but wasn't sure. Figured the info might be helpful to someone if not AKAJohnDoe. I think Mennesys (sp) did a piece a while back on manually moving stuff, including things that don't neccessarily move when just specifying a different install location.

[AKAJohnDoe]

Without adequate documentation this X50V is an interesting toy, much like a new remote control, but not much more.

OK, I'm starting to like this X50V now... Thoughts (http://discussion.brighthand.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=119762&perpage=1&pagenumber=19)

[AKAJohnDoe]

I was sort of waiting for the WM5 CD to arrive from Dell before hard resetting and reinstalling everything, but had a problem last weekend and just decided that with everything I've been hearing about WM5 I would just wait for WM5.1 and hard reset and reinstalled almost everything into BIS.