PLEASE request for people with english xda2+serial kabel

[akira]

please if you have a english pocketpc running on your phone and you have a serial kable

this will only take 5 minutes !

please dump the rum doing the following

Here is the steps to backup the ROM to a file:

1. Connect via Serial cable to XDA II
2. Put XDA II into Bootloader Mode (power button+any direction+reset)
2b. get HyperTerminal Private Edition ftp://ftp.hilgraeve.com/htpe/htpe63.exe
3. Run Hyper Terminal 115200 baud, 8n1, direct to com port.
4. Issue d2s command to backup ROM to SD. You'll need an empty SD card with 64Mb or more size (i used 128)
5. Once the ROM is dumped, reset your XDA.
6. Put the SD card to your card reader.
7. Use ntrw (http://home.comcast.net/~kenzhao8/downloads.htm, it is in cfutils.zip):

ntrw read test.nb1 m:

This assumes your SD card has drive letter M:

8. Copy the nb1 rom file to a zip and post it to a site.

Then we can download the ROM, unzip, use ntrw to write back to SD and go into bootloader mode with SD card inserted, hit camera button and flash our MDA II to english rom.


thanks to PalMop for the info

[palmop]

Update, I got a copy of the English ROM !!! It was dumped via pmemdump (http://www.xs4all.nl/~itsme/projects/xda/tools.html) using:

osimage: 'pmemdump 0x80040000 0x01fc0000 osimage.nb1'
bootloader: 'pmemdump 0x80000000 0x00040000 bootloader.nb0'

I am still trying to figure out how to dump this image to SD. My ntrw.exe method above works, if you created the SD via serial. The pmemdump method uses ActiveSync and USB cable, so it is easier to create the file. But we don't know how to put it onto SD yet.

So if anyone wants the English ROM created by pmemdump, pm me where to upload (or German one as well)

[ID64]

Have you tried XDA OS Image Tool from http://xda-developers.com/XDArit/?

[palmop]

Guys and gals, I now have a English MDA II. Special thanks goes to Willem and KullTogi for their help.

I compare my original ROM and the English ROM dumped by pmemdump. First 412 bytes were missing. So I added that, removed last 412 bytes, copied the file to SD via ntrw and it works.

I have the patched file and the ntrw.exe for anyone wanting it. If anyone can open a FTP to host, I can upload there for everyone's use.

One note, after upgrade, the checksum will fail at the end of process. But don't worry.

[orinoco]

Palmop:

How big is the file you need to upload? I want to get my hands on the english ROM!!!

Thanks,

Fernando

[palmop]

File is 16Mb. It is being uploaded to a FTP site :), Akira will provide details shortly

[akira]

strange for an rom to be 16 mb
thought ppc2003 was 32 at least

[palmop]

I said file is, not rom is ;) , there is the good old zip compression. If anyone can arrange FTP access, I can upload it there. I have no access to a FTP server, I am looking to setup one.

PalMop

[akira]

i just mailed you a new one

[orinoco]

for those of us itching to download. Thanks !!!

Fernando

[orinoco]

Palmop:

I can host it here:

ftp://www.shawus.com
username: hydrosphere
password: 12345

Please upload it there and post a message here when its done.

Thanks!!!

Fernando

[akira]

http://www.vogtschmidtoutdoorcenter.nl/akira/XDA%20II%20English%20ROM%20by%20PalMop/xdaii-usa-rom-1-03-palmop.zip

ill leave it for 48 hours


note: it did not work for me
when i put it in booloader, and pres camera it says

SD DOWNLOAD
Section=1
Not allow update!

:(


**update :
did same as palmop
downloaded my down rom, and hexedited it, copyd the header part
replaced it in the new rom
tried again and worked

[palmop]

It said on my 2 devices:

SD DOWNLOAD
Section=1

Press Power to download

(or something similar, I hit the power button and update is done)

[palmop]

My file I sent to you via FTP was already patched (the first 412 bytes), weird

[akira]

it failed

[palmop]

Upload to Orinoco's FTP is complete as well

[orinoco]

Akira and Palmop:

Would it be too much to ask a step-by-step to get this done properly. I want to do it, but am afraid to screw up my new device. Thanks in advance for all your efforts.

Fernando

[palmop]

It was in the text file (how to.txt), inside the ZIP I uploaded :)

Here it is:


1. Extract the files to a folder.
2. Put 64Mb or larger SD to SD card reader.
3. Go to command prompt, switch to the folder from step 1.
4. Type:

Ntrw write 1-03-00-USA-xdaii-patched.nb1 g:

(assuming SD card reader has drive letter g:, change accordingly)

5. Once copying is finished, wait a minute, get the SD out, insert into MDA II, select Nein if it wants to format the card.
6. Go to Bootloader mode (power + direction + reset), hit Camera button couple of times
7. When it asks to press power button to flash, do so.
8. It will flash the rom, at the end there will be a checksum error, that is normal as the bootloader has not been changed.
9. Reset.
10. Device is ready to use.

[akira]

it worked !

problem is , everybody needs to implant their own header, i think its header sensitive.

ik used a hex editor and deleted the first 420 bytes
not that word part that you see in the file. first time i also selected the word part at the end of the header.

and then copied the header from my own rom
and placed it their

now it works

[Sebi]

Hi all !

I dumped my original ROM (German) from XDA2 and read with 'ntrw' but the file size is 128.450.560 bytes.

Something wrong ? Or what ?

THX any replay

[orinoco]

Akira and Palmop:

I was looking for specifics on what exactly needs to be edited/replaced for this to work. You mention 412 or 420 bytes. What file are we talking about?

Thanks again for being so helpful.

Fernando

[orinoco]

When trying to enter bootloader (power + direction + reset), I get stuck with the gray screen that says SERIAL on top and v1.01 on the bottom. I tried pressing the camera button a few times but it stays there. How did you guys enter the bootloader?

Thanks,

Fernando

[akira]

what i did.

get a freeware hexeditor
open your own rom, even if its 256mb
select first part till 420 bytes..
you can see when u need to stop selecting
dont select that last word
stop between where all the zeros are and that word :)
now open the downloaded english rom with hexedit
put zeros in the beginning till 412 bytes

dont change that last word
then past the selecting from the start
now save
write it to sd
and then flash it

insert sd card
pres power+reset+anydirection

it says serial 1.01
pres camera a few times
then it says sd downloader
press power
it will flash
when its done it wil say error
just reset it
if its totally dead (like i had) then u have pasted the 420 bytes wrong
,maybe that word you changed...
if it was succes windows will start :)

[orinoco]

Hello Akira:

I got the Hex editor, and I can edit the english ROM. But how do I get my own (german) ROM to edit? Thanks,

Fernando

[orinoco]

I saw your instructions above. Can I do it without a serial cable?

[akira]

to edit your own rom

Here is the steps to backup the ROM to a file:

1. Connect via Serial cable to XDA II
2. Put XDA II into Bootloader Mode (power button+any direction+reset)
2b. get HyperTerminal Private Edition ftp://ftp.hilgraeve.com/htpe/htpe63.exe
3. Run Hyper Terminal 115200 baud, 8n1, direct to com port.
4. Issue d2s command to backup ROM to SD. You'll need an empty SD card with 64Mb or more size (i used 128)
5. Once the ROM is dumped, reset your XDA.
6. Put the SD card to your card reader.
7. Use ntrw (http://home.comcast.net/~kenzhao8/downloads.htm, it is in cfutils.zip):

ntrw read test.nb1 m:

This assumes your SD card has drive letter M:


now you have your own rom

[palmop]

Let me clarify a few things:

1. The original O2 rom I got did not have the SD card headers... It starts like:

FE 03 00 EA 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00

2. I copied my ROM by using a Serial Cable and then ntrw read option to transfer the SD to a file.

3. Upon comparing two files, I noticed first 412 bytes were different, it included the product code name (HIMALAYAS, similar to WALLABY), so I added those 412 bytes.

The added bytes is available at http://verypowerful.org/412.zip, if you want to look.

4. I tried to write this to SD, via ntrw, it failed.

5. So I removed exactly 412 bytes from the end of the file. Tried ntrw again it worked.

6. I used the SD card on 2 different devices, and it worked. So the copy you got has already been adjusted, normally it shouldn't require any changes.

To verify, use Total Commander (www.ghisler.com) or UltraEdit (www.ultraedit.com), both have trial versions. In TC, you can use View (f3) option on the file and select Hex under options. First thing you'll see is word HIMALAYAS.

I don't think the 412 bytes includes any device specific info, as it worked on two separate machines.

For those of you having problems, are you all running Windows XP? I ran ntrw under Windows 2003. XP might have troubles to write RAW data. Try this:

1. Write to SD via ntrw, in the results, does the bytes written match the exact file size (32,243,712)

2. Also while the SD is still inserted, right click on My Computer, select Manage, under Storage select Disk Management, find your SD drive, if the file system shows FAT or FAT32, something went wrong. If it is showing nothing, then it should be ok.

[akira]

it really is a pain in the ass to do :)

damn headers

oh well
mine is english now :)

palmop, did yours say when u booted and it begain to install those cab files in extended rom, that warning was still in german.

[palmop]

Nope, before installing new ROM, I emptied Extended Storage ;)

[ID64]

to edit your own rom

Here is the steps to backup the ROM to a file:

1. Connect via Serial cable to XDA II
2. Put XDA II into Bootloader Mode (power button+any direction+reset)
2b. get HyperTerminal Private Edition ftp://ftp.hilgraeve.com/htpe/htpe63.exe
3. Run Hyper Terminal 115200 baud, 8n1, direct to com port.
4. Issue d2s command to backup ROM to SD. You'll need an empty SD card with 64Mb or more size (i used 128)
5. Once the ROM is dumped, reset your XDA.
6. Put the SD card to your card reader.
7. Use ntrw (http://home.comcast.net/~kenzhao8/downloads.htm, it is in cfutils.zip):

ntrw read test.nb1 m:

This assumes your SD card has drive letter M:


now you have your own rom


Hmm, I did it and size of my backuo is 62,390,272 bytes. Weird.. What's wrong?

[akira]

size is not a problem
its perfect for backup up if all fails
you can stil edit it and find the header at the start
replace it in the english rom
and flash

[ID64]

size is not a problem
its perfect for backup up if all fails
you can stil edit it and find the header at the start
replace it in the english rom
and flash

So, if my XDA2 dies one day due some unsuccesfull update this backup file will get be back to busness by using serial cable ?

[akira]

you wrote it to file with ntrw.exe
so you must write it back with ntrw.exe
and then flash it
no need for serial to flash backup rom

i am very happy with the result

[Sebi]

:D :D :D

My MDA2 is english !!

Many THX for all !!!

But can you put to any FTP server the Extended_ROM files (*.CAB and autorun.exe and config.txt) ?

Regards

[orinoco]

Aaghh!!! I follow the instructions to the letter, but I cannot get into bootloader mode. I get the Serial v1.01 screen but it will not respond to me pressing the camera button, so I never get the prompt to flash!!!

Any advice? I am so frustrated.

Fernando

[cheekymuffin]

same thing happens with me....i cant get anything beside "Serial v1.01"

Nothing happens when i press the cam button.
I've been trying to do this for 5-6 hours....still nothing!
This is getting to be really annoying.

Help!! :x

[Paragon]

Me three.....I can't get any further then the serial....v1.01 screen

Dave

[palmop]

It is your Windows XP, somehow it is not writing in RAW format.

Couple of things to try:

1. Use a DOS disk, with USB support (http://www.stefan2000.com/darkehorse/PC/DOS/Drivers/USB/ is a good place to start), then boot to DOS and run the ntrw.exe there.

2. Find a friend with Windows 2000 or Windows 2003.

3. Find another RAW disk utility, I am sure there is more out there, I just happened to find one.

Palmop

ps. You shouldn't need to edit the nb1 file, it is like I said the format problem (Windows XP writing FAT32, instead of RAW)

ps2. @ID64, when you backup the ROM to a SD card, ntrw.exe will copy every bit on the SD to the file, thus the filesize = your sd size.

ps3. @Sebi, There is another thread, ID64 has the files on his FTP.

[palmop]

Here is a RAW disk util, you can try (untested by me):

http://m0n0.ch/wall/physdiskwrite.html

[akira]

i also have windows xp professional sp1 installed

no problem here

if you guys flash your own rom to sd
you cant read it in your sd card reader right?

and when you edited the bootloader-part of the new englishrom and then flashed it to sd card, you cant read the disk anymore eh?

you must insert the sd card beforce entering bootloader mode

i have pressed buttons like red phone and green phone in bootloader sometimes

[orinoco]

I've tried Windows 2000 and XP, and there is no way for me to get beyond the Serial v1.01 grey screen. No matter what I do. If anyone solves this mystery, please post for all of us frustrated.

Thanks,

Fernando

[Sebi]

After use the ntrw, you put the card to MDA2 with running Windows.
If the popup menu is come - the image maybe good for upgrade.

I try a lot of SD card. (SanDisk 256, NoName 128, Hitachi 128, Panasonic 128) but only Panasonic is workingfor me.

:lol: Happy trying. :lol:

[orinoco]

It seems a lot of us are having trouble getting into the bootloader. I'll post it separately.

Fernando

[orinoco]

After staring at the Serial V1.01 screen for a while, I got a change!!! it now says:

SD Download
Sections = 1

Not allow update!

Any clues?

Thanks again,

Fernando

[Paragon]

I have received that message sometimes when I pop the card out.

Dave

[orinoco]

So Dave, no luck for you either, huh?

I get the message with the SD card still in.

I am very confused...

Fernando

[Paragon]

So far I have tried it with two Sandisk 128/64 and a 256 Lexar. Nothing! with e 64mb I managed tyo get the "not allow update" message.

I'm meeting Palmop later this afternoon. I'll try it with the card he used....and if necessary with a serial cable. Will post results.


Dave

[akira]

when you have a not allowed update problem like i did.

you must do that header editing i told you about

then it works

[orinoco]

Hi Akira:

The problem is that if you cannot get into bootloader mode, you cannot even get your own ROM to edit. So the issue is how to get into bootloader mode in the first place. I press all the buttons, and nothing.

Fernando

[akira]

when its in serial 1.01 its in bootloader mode :)

then u attach the serial kabel
and run a terminal software client
connect to it
and then type the command S2D
then you have your rom on sd card
then u write the sd to a file with ntrw.exe

then you got yoru own rom
and then you get your own header
and then you write the header to the new english rom
and then you write it back with ntrw.exe to the sd
and then you flash your phone

[cheekymuffin]

I still cant my SD card to get formatted in RAW format.

does anyone has any application which lets it format in RAW.

Help people!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[orinoco]

Hello all: :D :D :D

I have a MDA II with English ROM. Thanks to all in this forum for helpful comments, Akira and Palmop in particular. I have placed all the software you need to do this on my ftp site (see instructions below).

For everyone's benefit, I'll detail my step by step approach to getting this done. If you follow it carefully, it will work. This is basically a summary of Akira and Palmop's instructions, with some changes I had to make to have it work for me. I did all this in Windows XP. Hopefully, these will be helpful to you:

1) You need to create a backup of your original (german) ROM first. For this, you will need a serial cable (no way around this).
1A) Download the XDAII English folder contents from ftp://www.shawus.com (username: hydrosphere, password: 12345) into a directory in your PC (call it XDAII).
1B) Put your MDAII in bootloader mode (Power + Directional Pad + Reset Button). You will get the infamous Serial v1.01 screen.
1C) Connect your MDA to your PC via the serial cable.
1D) Create a connection between your MDAII and your PC by running Hyper Terminal with settings: 115200 baud, 8n1, direct to COM1 port.
1E) Put a formatted SD card (> 64 MB) in your MDAII.
1E) Type in d2s in the command line to backup ROM to SD. The backup will start automatically and will take a few seconds to complete.

2) Now, you copy your original ROM to your PC for backup.
2A) To do this you need a SD card reader (again, no way around it).
2B) Unzip the contents of the folder into this directory.
2C) Open a MS-DOS window and go to the XDAII directory you just created.
2D) Put the SD card with the original ROM into your SD card reader.
2E) Type ntrw read original-german-rom-xda2.nb1 e: (this assumes that drive e: is your SD card drive).
2F) This command will create a file called original-german-rom-xda2.nb1 in your directory. Note that the program will give you a message error indicating it did not create the file, but it actually does.

3) OK, now the fun part:
3A) You should have two .nb1 files. The one downloaded (1-03-00-USA-XDAII-patched.nb1) and the one you backed up (original-german-rom-xda2.nb1) in your directory at this time.
3B) Download a hexeditor; I used xvi32 which is in the ftp folder you downloaded. It worked great.
3C) Open for editing both .nb1 files (in two different windows).
3D) You will notice that the first 412 characters (on your right half-screen) are similar, but slightly different on both files.
3E) Delete the first 412 characters from the 1-03-00-USA-XDAII-patched.nb1 file.
3F) Copy the first 412 characters from the original-german-rom-xda2.nb1 file, and paste them at the beginning of the 1-03-00...nb1 file.
3G) Save the 1-03-00-....nb1 file with another name, say english-rom-xda2.nb1
Note: For the copying/pasting with xvi32, go to Edit-->Clipboard-->copy/paste as string in the menu.

4) OK, now for the wrap up:
4A) Format your SD card again in your SD reader.
4B) Leave the formatted SD card in the reader, and open a MS-DOS window in your directory.
4C) Type ntrw write english-rom-xda2.nb1 e: (or whatever letter your SD drive is)
4D) You may get an error, but it will write it to the SD card.
4E) Put your SD card into your MDAII. If it asks you to format it, say NO (NEIN in german)
4F) Put your MDA2 into bootloader mode (Power+directional pad+reset). After a few seconds, it will ask you to power to boot. If not, press the camera button a few times.
4G) It will start booting. When you get to 100%, it will give you a checksum error, but it will work.
4H) Do a soft reset, and you will get the MDAII to boot in english. You're done.

Note: I still have a couple of things in german (like the day of the week) but they are very few. I don;t know if this is the case for others that have tried, but I am sure that with more careful editing of the .nb1 file, these can be weeded away.

Enjoy, I hope this is helpful.

Fernando

[killercheung]

Hi Orinoco,
Is that the file in the Extended rom still in German, so it can't update with the ROM files?
If you don't know what I have said, go to http://217.160.215.102/?itemid=1638 to see how to make the hidden extended rom visible, and change all the files inside it to the files from XDA 2.

I can upload the files for you if you want :) .

[orinoco]

Killercheung:

Can you upload these files to ftp://www.shawus.com (username: hydrosphere, passwrod: 12345)?

Thanks, I'll give it a shot.

Fernando

[palmop]

Nice going Fernando,

Yesterday I had my share of trouble's updating my friend's device. My computer decided to froze upon us and we used another. It seemed like it dumped the file fine, but yet again it didn't work. Finally I put my current english ROM from my device to SD and used that SD it worked.

Interesting facts:

1. Some SD cards really don't work, even same brand ones. For example my friend also had a 128 MB Sandisk, same as mine. His didn't work, mine did. I wonder if having original ROM dump from my German ROM once upon a time on that SD helped or not.

2. Interestingly, once I had a working SD (my oriiginal patched ROM file you guys have, with 412 bytes altered), it works on different devices too. That's how I upgraded mine and my boss's.

So maybe if we can find a disk hex editor, we can do further comparison maybe. I am guessing in your case, dumping the ROM to your SD first helped your SD get a proper format, similar to my case.

[palmop]

I forgot to add that everything is English on my device. Here is the trick:

1. Before flashing to English, install a registry editor, change the key to make Extended ROM visible, reset, delete all German files.

2. Flash

This way nothing German gets accidentally installed including customizations t-mobile has.

[orinoco]

Hi Palmop/Killercheung:

Thanks for your help. I got rid of all the german files in the extended ROM and loaded some english extended ROM files from O2. Beautiful.

This is truly an awesome device. My next step is to make BT work with some of my devices.

Pleasure doing online business with all of you.

Fernando

[palmop]

My pleasure ;), we are all here to share buddy

[goodman]

hi, :cry:
I have a mda2 with german rom and i want cange to english rom.
I have not the serial cable.. I have the usb cable, I am stopped at step 1E)
help me please.
thank
Dante

[jgadallah]

hi

just a quick question,

do you think if you were to flash the XDA2 with the english rom, it would unlock it for the o2 network

any ideas????

[gnagdar]

ok i followed all the instructions to copy the first 412 digits on to the new rom, but i do still get the Sections = 1 Not allow update error. Does that mean my SD card is ok for updating, but the ROM is still not properly patched ? (its a 256MB SanDisk). Does anyone have a working ROM other than the one from user palmop (xdaii-usa-rom-1-03-palmop). BTW i did try to format the SD card via DOS command - win XP says its RAW, but that didnt help. Thanks for your help, gnagdar

[palmop]

Get a serial cable, dump your current rom onto it, then use my rom, there is no need for extra patching. Simply dump it onto the card that has the original rom via ntrw

[akira]

if you can use the not yet official rom update from t-mobile NL
it changes everything to english,
dont know if that works, didnt try

[gnagdar]

after 3 days of trying to flash the device via bootloader (not allow update error), i ran the ruu file via serial cable - update started but stopped after deleting the old ROM. then i ran the ruu file via USB cradle (without having a activesync connection !) and the update worked !

Regards, gnagdar

[Rajaik]

Having an O2 with a German ROM and wanting to install an English ROM, i contacted O2 UK asking if it was possible to install a UK ROM instead of a German One and this is the reply of O2 UK support:

"It is not possible to use a UK ROM on a German device - this is because O2 DE has a product called Homezone, which requires additional tweaks to the radio-stack to work correctly. The radio-stack is tweaked for each country, as are the ROM files. If this German device is flashed with a UK ROM it will break and then not work at all."

Knowing this, would the installation of an english ROM as you guys r suggesting hurt the device because of the Home Zone thing?

Can't we just use a generic English Rom from microsoft that would not hurt the device?
i am currently using the device oustside Europe, so i do not really need O2 carrier services.

Your feedback is appreciated.

Rajaik

[goodman]

:lol: NO BUY SERIAL CABLE OR OTHER SD MEMORY !!!!
there is an OFFICIAL UPGRADE ready and existing, but not yet PUBLIC,
it is one nice 40 MB RUU file which will uprgade your unit to english language:

Microsoft Pocket PC version 4.20.0 (Build 13252)
ROM version: 1.60.00WWE
ROM date: 12/03/03
Radio version: 1.06.01
Protocol version: 1337.16
ExtROM version: 1.60.06
Indirizzo http://xda-developers.com/incoming/rom160wwe/RUU16006WWE_T-mobile_NL.exe

IT'S FANTASTIC AND EASY WHIT THE USB CRADDLE

[ahmedateeq]

Can someone point me to where I can get the O2 usa 1.03 rom.
My email is aam.it@adia.ae
Thanks,

[Rajaik]

Is that good news your bring us?
i just want to confirm: i have O2 German Rom and i downloaded the file you posted. i have USB cradle. I just execute and it will work? R u sure man? do i need to backup on sd or edit via bootloader and stuff?

please detail the steps u took, it will help a lot !!!!

thabks a lot pal !

[lummac]

after doining that dutch upgrade from above, am I unable to connect to my work netwerk, it will connect, and then it says no modem on the other side,

:(