Newbie with questions - please help.

[jklny]

Hello, I am in the market for the XDA phone and from what I gathered, all the XDA's are the same except for ROMS. I am currently using a Treo 270 (ugh!) with T-Mobile and would like to upgrade. Here are my questions:

1. Can I buy any XDA (1900MHz) on eBay and flash it for T-Mobile service? For example, I perfer AT&T silver phone over the gold tone T-Mobile's PPC phone.

2. Which ROM upgrade do you recommend? I would like latest and greatest but stability for me is much more important? Should I move to PPC2003 ROM?

Any help is GREATLY appreciated and I have been reading many of the previous helpful posts. Thanks!

[Mad Max]

... 1. Can I buy any XDA (1900MHz) on eBay and flash it for T-Mobile service? For example, I perfer AT&T silver phone over the gold tone T-Mobile's PPC phone.

2. Which ROM upgrade do you recommend? I would like latest and greatest but stability for me is much more important? Should I move to PPC2003 ROM?


I have done exactly as you suggest. I was an ATTWS customer with existing ATT XDA. It takes a couple of steps... I:
1. Backed up my existing ROM on an SD card
2. Cooked a version 3 ROM on Jeff's Kitchen with no included software, I just did it to unlock the phone. (worked)
3. Cooked a 4.00.11 ENG ROM with all the goodies I wanted.
4. Popped in my T-Mobile SIM
5. Created GPRS connection settings for both ATTWS and T-Mobile

I am sooooo happy I can't stand it. Except for some conflict with "Battery Pack" software utility, I have found 4.00.11 to be rock solid, and I can now easily switch from ATT to T-Mo on a whim. (If you can call the physical wrestling with the SIM in an XDA easy). I am still running the most recent ATT radio stack with no problems on T-Mobile. (A.20.10)

BTW, I used the .exe method of flashing my PDA for both steps 2 and 3 via my USB cradle. No problems.

[jklny]

Thanks Mad Max for all the helpful tips!

Is XDA-Dev tools all I need to backup and reflash?

Thanks a billion! I am so excited!

[Mad Max]

Not sure which question you're asking:

a. Do you need XDA-dev tools to be able to create and restore the image on the SD; or

b. Do you need XDA-dev tools to be able to take the saved image and move it off the SD onto your computer for safekeeping.

If (a), then no, the built-in bootloader function of the XDA has the ability to write ROM inage backups to/from an SD card, but note that doing this overwrites any data on the card.

If (b), I'm the wrong guy to ask. Now that my original ROM image is on that SD, the SD is sitting at home on my desk, I never took the time to write that data onto my PC because I don't need the card right now.

Please remember that there is a slight risk that you will incapacitate your XDA. If you corrupt the ROM to the extent that it cannot bring up a serial connection to your PC AND the bootloader becomes corrupted as well, you may have a handsome coaster for your coffee table. I've never had any problem (and most here haven't) but please understand there is a slight risk.

[jklny]

Mad Max, I read in another post that you are using the stock AT&T's A20 stack, any reason why you didn't move on to T-Mobile's stack?

I am now waiting for my new AT&T Siemens SX56 that I purchased from ebay. Is there anything I need to do with an AT&T phone or can I simply put in my T-Mobile's sim card?

Many thanks!

[Mad Max]

Mad Max, I read in another post that you are using the stock AT&T's A20 stack, any reason why you didn't move on to T-Mobile's stack?

When I go back and forth between SIMs, it works, so I thought "why mess with a good thing?" but really it's more just laziness on my part. GSM and GPRS seem to work just fine on both carriers, and the only side effect seems to be that while on T-Mobile, my signal meter reads lower than it ought to when I compare it to another t-mobile phone at the same location. I do plan to drop a new T-Mobile RSU phone, I'm curious if anyone knows of an easy way to do that by .exe, since I don't have an SD card reader or serial cable handy. (Again, at the cost for either, I don't have a good excuse for not having both.)


I am now waiting for my new AT&T Siemens SX56 that I purchased from ebay. Is there anything I need to do with an AT&T phone or can I simply put in my T-Mobile's sim card?

No, just have to unlock the phone (per my previous post on this thread) which I did by temporarily installing the kitchen's 3.17 ROM, and either stick with 3.17 or rev up to 4.00.11 ENG (my recommendation). The only settings you have to put in that aren't already in the SIM are the GPRS setttings for T-Mobile, which I can post if you need them.

For quick ref, kitchen is at
http://cuba.calyx.nl/~jsummers/ROMkitchen/

[jklny]

MadMax, I can't thank you enough. I 'cooked' up a 3.17 rom with no autoconfig data, no software except XDAunlock and made this as an .exe install file.

Please correct me if I am wrong... I am assuming this is all I need to flash the rom with the unlock program.

[Mad Max]

MadMax, I can't thank you enough. I 'cooked' up a 3.17 rom with no autoconfig data, no software except XDAunlock and made this as an .exe install file.

Please correct me if I am wrong... I am assuming this is all I need to flash the rom with the unlock program.

That's pretty much it... The EXE you have is the full installer, not just the ROM image. If you open that EXE with WinZIP (I'm old fashioned, I just do it myself rather than running it) you'll see all the goodies--the ROM image, and various install programs. Extract the whole archive to a folder, then in that folder run start.bat. It's all on auto pilot from there, it's really amazing how easy the XDA gang and Jeff have made all this.

When it's done, (make sure the XDA screen says it's complete!) remove the XDA from the cradle, and do a HARD reset. When it comes up, it will say that a locked SIM was detected right away. Click the OK to unlock, and you are done with 3.17. Right back in the cradle, and repeat the whole thing with the desired ROM image.

I've had great results using the EXE method. Others here will probably advise towards SD flashing, but I've had no problems. All teh caveats apply though, so be carefull not to lett either device's power or the connection get interrupted.

[jklny]

MadMax, things are looking GREAT. I got my unit this morning and I immediately unlocked the unit as you instructed. I then decided to move on to 4.0.16 since I am using T-Mobile. Everything works great but my RSU is at 4.12. I am trying to upgrade to A20 or whatever T-Mobile's latest RSU is. Constant GPRS is neat, but reception is more important to me.

I just ran back from CompUSA and purchased a 256 SD card. I'm now lost and can't find step-by-step instructions on RSU updates. Can you point me to the right direction? TIA.

jklny

[jklny]

Nevermind, I got it working! I found a posting from mdavidm. I needed to move 4 files over to the device and run the stack upgrade manually. Worked like a charm! Thanks again.

Now, I am curious if I can upgrade from A.20.10 to T-mobile's latest stack. I was thinking if reception would be better if I use T-Mobile's. Any suggestions/ideas? Thanks!