[README] Wizard - Backup Restore and Upgrade Rom! 17/03/2006

[vaxen]

Hi, I've just recently got my self a T-Mobile MDA Vario. This is also known as Qtek 9100, Imate K-JAM, O2 XDA Mini S. The first thing I did was to find out whether there is a newer rom to upgrade to and I landed on this forum. The wiki was informative but still lacking a lot of information which only resides on this forum. After digging the forum for the whole day, here is my summary.

The first thing you do when get your phone is to SIM unlock and CID unlock your phone. SIM unlock allows you to use different service provider on your phone. CID unlock allows you to upgrade your OS rom, radio rom and extended rom. The OS rom is where the Windows Mobile OS resides at, radio rom is where it controls your GSM or CDMA radio protocol. The extended rom is where your service provider does their own customization, like adding their own software, logos etc. You can customize your own extended rom too once its unlock, like adding and removing application.

To SIM unlock and CID unlock your phone, currently I only know of 2 free programs that can do that for you. You only need to do this once since the unlocking info is stored in a different part of the memory then the roms. I must stress that CID unlock will *VOID* your warranty with your service provider.

1) The first one is lokiwiz - HTC Wizard Unlocker UPDATE Version 0.2b. This utility can SIM unlock and CID unlock. It also allows you to lock it back. Thank you very much machinagod! You can get it here http://forum.xda-developers.com/viewtopic.php?t=33796
If you can follow intructions its a piece of cake.

2) The second util is aWizard ROM Utils. This ultility can *ONLY* CID unlock your phone and *NOT* SIM unlock. However this tool also allows you to change the splash logo easily. It also can backup and restore your OS rom, radio rom and extended rom independently of each other. Thanks ahlok_hk! Get this here
http://forum.xda-developers.com/viewtopic.php?t=37386


After you are done with the unlocking, it is advisable to backup your rom before you do anything upgrades. This is because most of the people here are on contract with their service provider. If your phone breaks and wants to send it for service, it is better to restore it to the original roms it came with otherwise they might say you have void your warranty by flashing third party roms and then you are stuffed.

I have found a few threads that deal with backing up the roms.

1) This thread explains how you can use romupdate.exe and ntrw.exe to dump raw data from the roms to your SD card. This will *WIPE* out all existing data on the SD card so becarefull. You can keep this SD card safe somewhere until you want to restore but then you won't be able to use it. You can use ntrw.exe to copy the raw binary from the SD into a file. You can then keep this file somewhere safe and then format your SD and carry on using the SD as before. To restore just use ntrw.exe to write from the restore file to the SD card and follow the instructions to restore. Thanks arnoldl!
http://forum.xda-developers.com/viewtopic.php?t=32866

2) This method is pretty much the same as above except that it uses different programs. This uses a terminal program (terraterm) to get into the phone and use "r2sd" to dump Rom to SD. It also uses psdread and psdwrite to read and write raw data to and from the SD. This also tells you how to be able to reformat your SD after you use it to backup. Thanks Genesis3! http://forum.xda-developers.com/viewtopic.php?t=43399

3) You can use the aWizard program to backup your roms. Follow the intructions.

4) Button is kind enough to write a program to backup all your IPL/SPL, OS rom, Radio rom and Extended rom. This program is easy to use. You will still need a SD card for this.
Read this thread for more info:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/viewtopic.php?t=40347
You can grab the tool from:
http://buttonwashere.narod.ru/


I think this method will backup your OS rom, Radio rom and Extended rom. I'm not sure whether it backs up your IPL and SPL. There is a bug in SPL 1.06(bootloader) *thanks Button for the hint* it will give you an error if you try to restore from the SD using the ntrw.exe/psdwrite method. The workaround is to install an older rom with SPL 1.01 such as the first Qtek Prodigy rom. Then you can restore your rom. Using the method where you backup your rom to SD and keep it there until restore is not affected. I recommend getting a 128MB SD since its relatively cheap. Its worth buying one just for rom backup.

Now that you have unlock and backup your roms. You can start flashing new roms to try out!
ftp://ftp.xda-developers.com/Wizard

You can find many different roms under the Roms directory. This roms usually are all in one packages from the OEM such as Qtek, I-mate, O2, T-Mobile etc. The ODM is obviously HTC. If you want localization for your language just choose a rom your language eg:- RUU_Prodigy_2080702_102_11310_QTEK_FRA_Test.exe for french.
These all in one packages comes as an executable which includes the flash program and the OS rom, Radio rom and Extended rom. Just click and install. To get your settings for your network GPRS settings, you might be able to find a *.cab file which has the settings in your original extended rom and copy over to the new extended rom. This only work for 1.x roms, read below for more info. You can get UK network operator settings here
http://www.htcclub.net/en/settings.php

It seems that the most popular roms are from Qtek and I-mate. This RUU_Prodigy_1060701_101_11310_QTEK_WWE_Ship.exe seems to be recommended by most. This rom is the 1.x series. There is a newer 2.x series of roms just recently released which includes the AKU2. From what I understand AKU2 is like a service patch for windows. It includes DIRECT PUSH email functionality (similar to RIM's Blackberry) and AD2P which is stereo bluetooth support.

At the moment non of the final released AKU2 roms have AD2P. If you need it, the Qtek 2.x beta testing rom does include this functionality. You can find this on the ftp. Another downside to this newer roms is that the Extended rom seems to be locked and you won't be able to access it. No one has yet found a way to crack it. These newer AKU2 roms have fixed the wifi bug which showed when using WiFIFoFum wifi scanning program.

Linux
I just had a chat with the linux developers for HTC devices on irc. It seems the wizard running with the OMAP750 processor does not have enough documentation and is not well supported in the kernel yet. But the development on the HTC Universal seems to be going well. As for syncing with windows mobile 5 and linux, the synce project currently do not support WM5 yet, they just started a new mailing list for it. If you have any experience in reverse engineering please help. The only solution now for me is to install windows xp on vmware and sync from there. Then you can export your outlook as a file to be imported into your favourite Linux app. Linux cannot read the mini SD in your device, so you will need a card reader to read and write files to it.


This is what I've found out so far after spending the whole day digging the forum. I shall add them to the wiki so other ppl who don't have that much time to spare can benifit from it.

I have a few unanswered questions. What is IPL? What is SPL? I sort know its something to do with the bootloader. Does using "r2sd" backup my IPL and SPL? It not how do I backup my IPL and SPL? If I upgrade to the 2.x series roms, will I be able to restore back to the 1.x series? From what I've read, you can restore from 2.x back to 1.x but the IPL and SPL will still be 2.x, is that correct? Thanks!

Hope this helps someone. Those threads above should really be made sticky. The search never turn up what I need. I had to slow dig my way thru.

regards,
vaxen

[lewcamino]

I was considering starting a 8125 Standardization Project, much like the SX-66 Standardisation Project. I'm am just not sure I have the time.

Nice walk through BTW. You sum it up rather well :wink:

I wish you posted this 2 days ago, then I wouldn't have had to do all that digging to figure it out. It is easy once you see the BIG picture though eh?

Later; Lew

[garyhung2000]

great overview. Thanks a lot !!

[Menneisyys]

Really great overview! Posted the URL to my Expert Blog at http://www.pocketpcmag.com/blogs/ind...d_users&more=1 for even more exposure.

[oo3]

will a 512mb minisd be enough to back up everything before flashing to a new rom?

[pcdoc]

Thank you

[drwhitesnake]

Excellent timing just started the process myself.

[vaxen]

oo3: Yes, 512MB is more than enough for backing up your rom. If you use a 512MB to backup your rom and write the raw data to a file. When you restore, you need a 512MB card to write the raw data back to the card. I personally bought a 128MB card just for backing up the rom. It only cost me £10 to buy it online. Its worth the investment.

[edsub]

good overview.
Might be worth to put it on the wiki
One flaw: ExtROm of all ROMs 1.6.x and above are locked with no real solution yet.
For the 1.6.x roms you could try to fiddle with versions in order to (one time right) make the ExtROm you want.
For the 2.x ROMs even this is not possble until now.

The aWizard tools are said NOT to be working on the 2.16.x (final aku2) ROMs they do work on the 2.8.x (beta aku2) ROM from QTek.

At this moment buzz_lightyear is fiddling with my spl to try to get the EXTRom unlocked.

[Sleuth255]

The SD backup/restore process works really well btw.... I just tried a restore of the original Cingular Rom on another demo 8125 and it turned it back into a pristine stock device.... Cingular will never know we "had our way" with so many of their demos now :twisted: