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bubism
23rd June 2006, 12:34 AM
Hello,

I know this is mostly a personal tastes dilemma, but I am looking to add a few specific functions to my Wizard and I just can't find some solutions to very simple issues. Of course I already searched through several boards and freeware sites, but most of the times I am stumbling on overcomplicated, unreliable, unstable or just plain not-working apps even for the most trivial tasks. Other times they work fine... unless you have any other app installed, in which case they bork up the system royally.

So, what are your freewares of choice for the following functions?

1) ALARM CLOCK
Yes, just a damn simple alarm clock to wake me up in the morning. No fancy tricks: just set it (possibly even on a week's advance), select the sound/Mp3 to be played and be sure it rings up when the time is right. If you want to get luxurious, a snooze function initiated by any hardware button would be nice.
I used M.Toda's AlarmClock 0.04, but it seems to be impossible to select a specific sound or buzzing mode (it's always an ear-splitting MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP!!!), nor to keep using the Wiz when the alarm is set.

[Update: following Pat12's advice (see below) I downloaded the latest AlarmClock version (ARM version) and it works smoothly. No Mp3 alarms yet, though]


2) MP3 PLAYER
Just the very basic player functions: play the whole folder, add Mp3 to playlist, previous/play/pause/next buttons and a Mute function. What's the problem, you say? Well, all the players I found either blocked the phone functions (a player going on auto-hold on incoming calls would be wonderful), or would keep the touchscreen always active, making it impossible to put the Wiz in a pocket while listening to music.

[Update: The current best candidate seems to be Tcpmp, although it lacks a full graphic interface (meaning Previous/Next song buttons)]

3) WARDRIVER
Yes, I know. But WiFiFoFum hasn't any user-friendly way to select which available AP to hook to. HitchHiker does, but any time I launched it after the first one it made the Wiz unstable. That was on a non-updated ROM, though... I admit I have to check it again... unless you suggest anything better.


4) LAUNCHBAR
Nonononono... no l33t, gigacustomizable stuff, please. I simply need a self-starting thingie to have the icons for the Office apps and maybe the latest X opened apps always on my Today screen. If you've seen the "green" UK ad campaign for WM5 - that's exactly what I'm looking for.


5) ANTITHEFT APP
[edited: the correct name happens to be EyeOnThief, see below]

I used to use LockOnThief, which supposedly sends tracking SMSs to a hidden number list whenever a non-approved SIM card is inserted in the device. Great. Just one more thing would make it perfect: the ability to remotely wipe the device via SMS.
I know this is an AKU2 trick, but I've got no Exchange server so I'd like a simpler approach. Do you know any solution encompassing both the tracking and the wiping functions?
And, by the way, has anyone of you actually field-tested LockOnThief tracking abilities?


6) WI-FI "G" ENABLER
I'd simply like to enable the 802.11g protocol on my Wizard. The problem is: the Djvw Wizard Optimizer 2 seems to make my Wiz unstable, and Registry Wizard crashes on start (yes, I installed the other Cab too). What other layman's solution would you suggest?

[Update: thanks to Meschle (see below) now there is an optimal Cab-tweak for enabling the protocol!]




To give a little contribution, I can only give my undivided suggestions for four softwares I fully endorse:

SCROLLING - You guessed right, it's Smartskey! [And not "softkeys" as per my initial post...]

PERSONAL INFO MANAGER - EWallet. Not a freeware, but great in the way it synchs up with its desktop counterpart.

GAMES - PpcAtaxx (a much more interesting variant on the Othello/Reversi theme which is perfect while commuting) and PocketScumm, to play the old LucasArts graphic adventures


Thank you in advance for your help, I'll really appreciate it!

meschle
23rd June 2006, 02:12 AM
Hi I'll answer a couple of those

For an alarm see 'Wizard reliable alarm project' WRAPhere http://forum.xda-developers.com/viewtopic.php?t=43692

where there is an english version of pocket wakeup

Enable 802.11G reg tweak

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\COMM\TNETWLN1\PARMS: dot11SupportedRateMask=1

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\COMM\TNETWLN1\PARMS: dot11SupportedRateMaskG=8

All values are decimal

mattucd
23rd June 2006, 02:21 AM
What does this green WM5 ad campaign look like? We yankees have been hearing all about it.

vijay555
23rd June 2006, 02:24 AM
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsmobile/default.mspx

V

Romp
23rd June 2006, 02:37 AM
Can you provide a link for LockOnThief?

xandermac
23rd June 2006, 02:41 AM
SCROLLING - You guessed right, it's Softkeys!

What is this? I'm having issues scrolling in PIE Plus since upgrading to AKU 2.3 and if this is an app i can try it may help. Do you happen to have a link to it?. TIA

bubism
23rd June 2006, 01:38 PM
Thanks for the first answers. Here are my first replies:

Meschle: I did check that thread, and it seems that Pocket Wakeup isn't very reliable at all... Also (but this is just an aside), the Italian translation of Pocket Wakeup was one of the worst apps I ever tried, totally borking the Wiz.
And about the registry tweak... I'm just a retarded farmgirl... no hacking tricks for me, please... I just can't believe there is no "download, run, forget" apps to enable the G protocol...

Mattucd & vijay555: Yup, that's it!

Romp: http://www.mycnknow.com/LockAppen.htm (My bad: the actual app name is EyeOnThief... I was confused by the actual filename)

Xandermac: Gah! I misquoted the name again! That would be Smartskey! I don't know if Smartskey will do anything for your problem, but it's right on this board, at http://forum.xda-developers.com/viewtopic.php?t=41060


Any more takers, please?

pat12
23rd June 2006, 02:35 PM
Alarm Clock: AlarmClockE (http://page.freett.com/todamitsu/AlarmClockE.htm) is the only alarm clock software that is reliable for me, at least for the time being...(until it fails, like all the other I tried including Pocket WakeUp)

MP3 Player: TCMP, it does pause the song or video currently playing upon incoming phone calls

meschle
23rd June 2006, 03:59 PM
Thanks for the first answers. Here are my first replies:

Meschle: I did check that thread, and it seems that Pocket Wakeup isn't very reliable at all... Also (but this is just an aside), the Italian translation of Pocket Wakeup was one of the worst apps I ever tried, totally borking the Wiz.
And about the registry tweak... I'm just a retarded farmgirl...

Try mobialarm 3.2 then - I find this reliable and like it because it plays wma's http://guillaume.tristant.free.fr/

btw are you really a farmgirl? :wink:

bubism
23rd June 2006, 05:26 PM
Meschle: I am actually quite a bit of an IT girl, but sometimes I'd much rather go back to the farm. Case in point: MobiAlarm. To witness:

Installation notes :

- Uncompress the ZIP file in any directory in your PocketPC
- Run the CAB file, it will install a "runtime"
- Run the file called "install.app", it will install MobiAlarm[/url]

MobiAlarm link is located in \Windows\Start Menu\ or \Windows\Menu Démarrer\
The program himself is installed in \Program Files\MobiAlarm\

WHY?!? Why, I ask, should anybody need TWO installations for one godawful simple ALARM CLOCK, forchrissakes? And why does it end up tucked in a forsaken folder, with no icon anywhere? How should I be supposed to remind myself to browse up the Wizard to find a lone file among hundreds... just to get awaken on time?!?

And the punchline? I followed this guy's installation instructions: the runtime went smoothly, and his app simply never appeared anywhere. (my two cents: it found localized foldernames and aborted without any warning message).



Pat12: AlarmClock does the trick!!! No chance to get it playing Mp3s, apparently, but the ARM flavour gets the fade-in working. Thanks!

meschle
23rd June 2006, 05:46 PM
Meschle: I am actually quite a bit of an IT girl, but sometimes I'd much rather go back to the farm. Case in point: MobiAlarm. To witness:

Installation notes :

- Uncompress the ZIP file in any directory in your PocketPC
- Run the CAB file, it will install a "runtime"
- Run the file called "install.app", it will install MobiAlarm[/url]

MobiAlarm link is located in \Windows\Start Menu\ or \Windows\Menu Démarrer\
The program himself is installed in \Program Files\MobiAlarm\

WHY?!? Why, I ask, should anybody need TWO installations for one godawful simple ALARM CLOCK, forchrissakes? And why does it end up tucked in a forsaken folder, with no icon anywhere? How should I be supposed to remind myself to browse up the Wizard to find a lone file among hundreds... just to get awaken on time?!?

And the punchline? I followed this guy's installation instructions: the runtime went smoothly, and his app simply never appeared anywhere. (my two cents: it found localized foldernames and aborted without any warning

LOL I gather you liked the program :lol:

meschle
23rd June 2006, 07:22 PM
And about the registry tweak... I'm just a retarded farmgirl... no hacking tricks for me, please... I just can't believe there is no "download, run, forget" apps to enable the G protocol...


I put together a wlan g registry tweak cab and also a wlan b tweak for anybody who wants to revert back to b mode.

Install to device and softreset after.

kilrah
23rd June 2006, 08:13 PM
2) MP3 / video player:

TCPMP, www.tcpmp.org

I doubt better could be made ;)

bubism
23rd June 2006, 10:43 PM
Thanks for the auto-tweak, meschle!

If only things were always so straightforward...

Kilrah: The link you provided ain't working, but I found this download page for other interested people: http://corecodec.org/frs/?group_id=53&release_id=224#r224 (the version you want is the "Windows Mobile Smartphone" one).
In fact Tcpmp is very close to perfect. I only found it strangely lacks Previous/Next buttons on the main screen... or is there a plugin or something to get it?

bubism
26th June 2006, 03:53 PM
Just a little update to say I recently needed a tool to fix a storage card, and I was pointed to the non-free but very good SK Tools... yay for it!

By the way, any more suggestions for my initial search?

pat12
26th June 2006, 06:26 PM
about TCMP, you are right:no next/prev button. But it's highly customizable and you can assign the otherwise useless softkeys to it. I did it and I can operate TCMP without getting the stylus out or using my greasy fingers on my clean screen

-V-O-Y-A-G-E-R-
26th June 2006, 06:28 PM
Well..I find it's much easier to have clean fingers :D
Just kidding. TCMP is a true gem.

kiru
26th June 2006, 07:36 PM
Mortplayer is a pretty good free mp3 player. Also there is an alarm clock built in, so you can use ur mp3's to wake you up, and it's been pretty reliable for me. Good interface and not very processor intensive.


http://www.sto-helit.de/modules/edito/content.php?id=28

bubism
27th June 2006, 12:57 PM
Thank you all! I'm treasuring your suggestions... and continuing my search for the remaining apps!

slumpolo
27th June 2006, 04:07 PM
For launchbar try http://forum.xda-developers.com/viewtopic.php?t=42913

Look also http://forum.xda-developers.com/viewtopic.php?t=39725 for more registry tweaks.

Ciao

-V-O-Y-A-G-E-R-
27th June 2006, 10:21 PM
bubism, did you check

http://www.pocketpcsoft.net/php/latest.php
http://www.ipaqsoft.net/php/freeware.php
http://www.pocketpcfreewares.com/en/

bubism
28th June 2006, 03:21 PM
Update - In Tcpmp, reassigning the keys is in fact the smartest thing to do (silly me, not thinking about that!) so I now believe that's set too.

The only remaining thing is the "British WM5 ads-like" launchbar, with:
- Largish icons for the MS Apps (and maybe a couple user-defined more)
- Hassle-free installation, auto startup and such

[Yes, I did check most ppc freeware websites, see the opening post]

I'm still amazed at how clunky the whole system is, and how much troubles one has to go through just to have very basic features working, though...