goodbye sidekick 3, hello MDA!

[banky]

hey everyone.. just signed up and wanted to say hi.

i just ordered my new MDA, and should be here in a few days! ive had the SK3 for a month after upgrading from the SK2, and its just not what it used to be. Im looking for something with way more functionality other than being cool. Not to mention a more mature phone.

anyway, i just wanted to see if you guys could help me. seeing as how i dont have the phone yet, i wanted to read as much as i can about hacking it up. im aware that the stock phone (USA Tmobile MDA) rom isnt very well, so i need some pointers on where to start...

ive tried searching already, but theres only so many "newbie" threads i can sift through... basically can someone point me into the right direction of everything i need to get started? it would be most appreciated! Wink i guess which rom, how to update, which apps, where to go... lol, basically everything!

ill obvisouly be reading until the day the phone comes (and charged for 12 hours) so i should be more knowledgeable by the time the phone arrives.. but i really appreiciate any help!

thanks!

[BigBit]

im aware that the stock phone (USA Tmobile MDA) rom isnt very well, so i need some pointers on where to start...
The first thing to check is that your MDA has the latest ROM (2.26) - intalling this solved a lot of my problems. I have no other "hacks" on the MDA and am now happy with its performance.

[Starcruiser1229]

I would definitly start by SIM and CID unlocking the phone with lokiwiz (free and available on this forum) if it has a 1.X and not a 2.x rom (if the comm manager screen has 4 icons not 6...), because once this is done it is permanent, and once you upgrade it is MUCH harder to do.. if you need specific directions let me know.

I would then upgrade to the T-Mo 2.26 rom as suggested above, I am using it now and I really like it.

I personally use Registry Wizard to tweak the wizard, at least for the basics... Some good tweaks to start with are disabeling the go online and unsigned program warnings, enable 802.11g, Enable Indicator (lets you know when CAPS and symbol are on), Different GPRS/EDGE icon, and personally I always enable the IE 4-way nav, engineering mode (type string *#*#364#*#* into phone and hit send to show cool technical info...) I also set GPRS always on... (probably not a good idea unless you have unlimited data, like I do... (if not you also may elect not to disable the go-online warning, so you know when its doing stuff...))

Agile messenger is a good program, total commander is more or less essential, and I have recently been using a program called Hubdog ( I think it can do more than I do with it, but I just use it as an rss reader...) All are free. Novii remote also works well (however with limeted 2-3 meter range) but is not free...

If you want any more info on programs I use, where to get them, ect..., or any other tweaks please just let me know.

[banky]

i appreciate the help!

ill definitely be coming to you for questions ;)

when you first got your phone, did you charge it for the whole 12 hours before using it?

[bittermormon]

I would definitly start by SIM and CID unlocking the phone...

I upgraded to a custom 2.24 ROm without SIM unlocking. If I want to SIM unlock now should I downgrade to 1.8, SIM unlock, then upgrade to whatever ROM I want (probably xelecin's custom 2.26 when it's out). I don't really care about the SIM lock since I'm in a contract with Tmo, I'm not changing any time soon. I just don't want to have problems if I upgrade the ROM later on.

Sorry not trying to hijack...I swear :)

[banky]

I would definitly start by SIM and CID unlocking the phone...

I upgraded to a custom 2.24 ROm without SIM unlocking. If I want to SIM unlock now should I downgrade to 1.8, SIM unlock, then upgrade to whatever ROM I want (probably xelecin's custom 2.26 when it's out). I don't really care about the SIM lock since I'm in a contract with Tmo, I'm not changing any time soon. I just don't want to have problems if I upgrade the ROM later on.

Sorry not trying to hijack...I swear :)

no problem ;)

so, did everyone here charge their phone for the full 12 hours before using their phones?

[banky]

also, another question, on the sidekick there was an app called "money clip" where it allowed me to keep track of different accounts such as my checking, savings, and credit cards... are there any apps like that available for the MDA?

i tired to use exel right now to see if i can just do it the ghetto way, but its not really letting me.. ;x

[GTASouthPark]

hey good job man (i donno about money clip) about returning the sidekick 3 for the MDA. i did that too. and i upgraded from a sidekick 2 too.

i can tell you the MDA is at least 9 times better (random number?)... but the only thing i haven't gotten to work is setting up outlook email... hopefully you have better luck. (but it is because the free yahoo doesn't support it).

[zetajunkie]

hmmm, i charged phone for maybe two hours out of the box, did the cid unlock and sim unlock, and have been flashing the rom ever since (remember to thank all the folks here who cook up all these lovely roms)

[banky]

hmmm, i charged phone for maybe two hours out of the box, did the cid unlock and sim unlock, and have been flashing the rom ever since (remember to thank all the folks here who cook up all these lovely roms)


haha.. cool, so i dont need to do a full charge on the it?

where can i find the instructions on how to flash the ROM? and also, which ROM is recommeneded?

[O. Brown]

I'm a newb waiting for my MDA too. I dont see why one should SIM unlock if he/she already has the MDA (US). Can't I just upgrade to the 2.26? Or are there some feautures that I would be noticably be missing?

[rude1979us]

I would definitly start by SIM and CID unlocking the phone with lokiwiz (free and available on this forum) if it has a 1.X and not a 2.x rom (if the comm manager screen has 4 icons not 6...), because once this is done it is permanent, and once you upgrade it is MUCH harder to do.. if you need specific directions let me know.

What version of lokiwiz would you recommend using? I noticed there are two different threads, one for 0.2 (http://forum.xda-developers.com/viewtopic.php?t=33796&highlight=lokiwiz)and one for 0.3 (http://forum.xda-developers.com/viewtopic.php?t=50768&highlight=lokiwiz). Do they do the same thing? The steps for 0.3 seem to require a second SIM, is that true? Thanks.

[Starcruiser1229]

Ok, first, the reason to SIM unlock is because then you can swap to a different providers SIM later on, for instance if you dump T-mo or you travel to Europe or something. For me, it simply seems like a good idea to do it now, because then I know I have it if I need it.

CID unlock is for using other providers ROMS. You can just upgrade to the 2.26, but then what happens when you decide you want to upgrade to the cingular 3.xx b/c of some amazing feature... Once you are in a 2.x rom it becomes much harder to do this. It is sooooo simple, why not just do it now? again, your phone, yor decision, and I think flashing an unofficial rom will void the warranty if they can prove it (personally I don't care, some do)

As far as Lokiwiz, I used Lokiwiz 02b, downloaded from this forum. The newer version, .03, is only needed if you have already upgraded to a 2.x ROM.

As far as SIM unlocking after upgrading, I do not know if it is possible to downgrade from a 2.x to a 1.x, especially if you haven't CID unlocked already... I think you may be stuck using the .03 2 sim card method (this is required as the phone dosen't know it needs to prompt for unlock code untill you enter a 'banned (ie from another provider)' sim... get a cheep prepay (NOT T-mo prepay if you have T-mo) from the local drug store/Walmart... This may be easier than downgrading and then upgrading anyway, and since ( I am assuming) you have already CID unlocked, I do not think you will have any problems...

.02 does not need the second sim as it changes the setting directly by accessing some part of the memory on the device, which cannot, apparently be done in the new roms...

O. Brown... SIM, as I mentioned above, is different from CID. You are thinking of CID. I would do it simply b/c you cannot do it later, yet once done it is permanent...

Bittermormon, same idea...

As far as chargeing, I am notorios for taking it out of the box and hitttng the power. If it turns on, well then why should I charge it...? Plus, you can turn it on plugged in, so if you are worried, plug it into the wall and then start playing... but I don't want to promise this won't have some negative effect, do what you feel safe with, all I am saying is what worked for me...

As far as financial software goes, I checked out the PocketPcMag Nominations for best software 2006, in the financial category... Cash Organizer '05 Premium, Pocket Quicken, PocketMoney, Spb Finance, Stock Manager... I have not used any of theese. I do not know if they are what you want... I do not know how much they cost, but it is a place to start at least.

As far as pocket outlook, no problems here, except with gmail pop access, which always seemed kinda... messed up... to me... So, I did something even better... I setup a free exchange account with mail2web.com (I think they call it mail2web live or something...) and my gmail forwards a copy of all incoming mail to the exchange mail address... THis allows me to use PUSH email for my gmail acct (which is my main acct.) If you have a corporate exchange, you can use that instead. The only "Problem" with this is that deleting messages on the phone does not delete them in gmail... I personally like this as I cna then use gmail on my pc to its fullest to label, archive, ect... On the ppc I delete all of the newsletters ect... and only really read personal mail or important stuff. This lets me keep my phone inbok clear, and I can still read all of the other stuff later on the desktop... Or you can always just switch to using the exchange email address as your main...

And as far as the best ROM, well, that is as much opinion as anything else... I am running the T-mo 2.26 with the extended rom installed... I have noit seen any cooked versions of this yet, although I believe someone on the HOFO is working on one... I gotta say, I like this rom. I have a few small glitches, but I think that it is installed software, not the ROM...

A few other tips... I recently discovered microsoft voice command, and I am enjoying it very much... First of all, no setting voice tags, and secondly, for me, I could never remember exactly what the voice tag was for someone, especially when I had one for the house and cell... Now I can just say ther full name ie, Call John Doe on Mobile, and the phone does it... as with any other software, your mileage may vary... PM me if you want me to email the cab...

Also, buying a large miniSD is a great idea, I have a Sandisk 1gb and I love it. Watch out for 2gb cards, a small minority may be valid, most are fakes, and all are probably lower quality...

Any other questions, feel free to ask, or even PM me (especially if I do not seem to be responding fast enough....)


And Uh, SORRY about the length... just trying to answer everythng...