[TUT] Creating direct links to control panel items[Update - links to folders]

Links to control panel items on the HTC Leo HD2. Some of these will work on different platforms, some won't. This article relates to my HD2 Leo running wm 6.5.x build 28232, but it should be common across all hd2 roms.

Control panel items are generally not files in their own right, rather they are bundled together into .cpl files.

To create a link directly to a particular control panel item is easy. (we will use the USB to PC Activesync screen as our example)

Open a new notepad document on your pc, paste in the command

23#ctlpnl.exe mycpl.cpl,34

save the text file, (example usb2pc.txt) and then rename the extension from .txt to .lnk (LNK for 'link')

Move the file usb2pc.lnk to the phone, and move it to the windows\start menu folder.
Now when you click an empty quicklink space you will find that usb2pc is now available to set as a quicklink.

The command explained.
------------------------
23#ctlpnl.exe mycpl.cpl,34

23 == tells the system how many characters are in the command. (Seems not to matter too much whether this is correct or not, at least on the HD2)
# == is the delimiter to signify the begining of the command.
ctlpnl.exe == is the control panel program that opens and executes the .cpl file.
mycpl.cpl == specifies the .cpl file to use.
,34 == is the index of the command within the cpl file. Not every index is used.

You can further specify the exact tab to open for items held in the cplmain.cpl file by specifying the tab number at the end.

For example

24#ctlpnl.exe cplmain.cpl,2 calls up the owner info ident tab
whilst
24#ctlpnl.exe cplmain.cpl,2,1 calls up owner info, but on the notes tab.


Looking for this info online turned up the fact that it doesn't stay quite the same from one version of windows mobile to the next, and manufactures can add their own .cpl files too, so I decided to manually try the variants and compile a list specific to the hd2
The one exception to the cpl method is for the power settings, which have now been moved to powerexe.exe

==================================================
22#ctlpnl.exe mycpl.cpl,1 - advanced network settings (hsdpa enable)
22#ctlpnl.exe mycpl.cpl,2 - clear all data! (hard reset screen)
22#ctlpnl.exe mycpl.cpl,3 - phone info
22#ctlpnl.exe mycpl.cpl,4 - battery & backlight (To open on a specific page, see the powerexe.exe links)
22#ctlpnl.exe mycpl.cpl,7 - wifi settings
23#ctlpnl.exe mycpl.cpl,34 - USB to PC
23#ctlpnl.exe mycpl.cpl,35 - G-Sensor Calibrate
==================================================
12#Powerexe.exe - power and backlight
12#Powerexe.exe 1 - battery tab
12#Powerexe.exe 2 - backlight tab
==================================================
24#ctlpnl.exe cplmain.cpl,1 - phone password settings
24#ctlpnl.exe cplmain.cpl,2 - owner info - ident
24#ctlpnl.exe cplmain.cpl,2,1 owner info - notes tab
24#ctlpnl.exe cplmain.cpl,3 - battery & backlight
24#ctlpnl.exe cplmain.cpl,4 - memory - main
24#ctlpnl.exe cplmain.cpl,4,1 memory - storage card tab
24#ctlpnl.exe cplmain.cpl,5 - about - version
24#ctlpnl.exe cplmain.cpl,5,1 about - device id tab
24#ctlpnl.exe cplmain.cpl,5,2 about - copyrights tab
24#ctlpnl.exe cplmain.cpl,6 - fails to open 'backlight.exe' (use powerexe.exe instead)
24#ctlpnl.exe cplmain.cpl,7 - screen align
24#ctlpnl.exe cplmain.cpl,7,1 screen clear type
24#ctlpnl.exe cplmain.cpl,7,2 screen text size
24#ctlpnl.exe cplmain.cpl,8 - input method
24#ctlpnl.exe cplmain.cpl,8,1 input options
24#ctlpnl.exe cplmain.cpl,9 - sounds & notif - sounds
24#ctlpnl.exe cplmain.cpl,9,1 sounds & notif - notifications
25#ctlpnl.exe cplmain.cpl,10 - remove programs
25#ctlpnl.exe cplmain.cpl,12 - program h/ware buttons
25#ctlpnl.exe cplmain.cpl,12,1 program h/ware buttons up/down
25#ctlpnl.exe cplmain.cpl,13 - home - appearance settings
25#ctlpnl.exe cplmain.cpl,13,1 home - items
25#ctlpnl.exe cplmain.cpl,14 - domain enroll
25#ctlpnl.exe cplmain.cpl,16 - clock&alarms - Time
-----------------------------cant specify alarms tab?
25#ctlpnl.exe cplmain.cpl,17 - wifi - wireless networks tab
-----------------------------cant specify network adapters tab?
25#ctlpnl.exe cplmain.cpl,18 - regional settings - region
25#ctlpnl.exe cplmain.cpl,18,1 regional settings - number
25#ctlpnl.exe cplmain.cpl,18,2 regional settings - currency
25#ctlpnl.exe cplmain.cpl,18,3 regional settings - time
25#ctlpnl.exe cplmain.cpl,18,4 regional settings - date
25#ctlpnl.exe cplmain.cpl,19 - connections - tasks
25#ctlpnl.exe cplmain.cpl,19,1 connections - advanced
25#ctlpnl.exe cplmain.cpl,20 - phone - sounds
25#ctlpnl.exe cplmain.cpl,20,1 phone - network
25#ctlpnl.exe cplmain.cpl,20,2 phone - gsm/umts services
25#ctlpnl.exe cplmain.cpl,20,3 phone - more
25#ctlpnl.exe cplmain.cpl,20,4 phone - advanced
25#ctlpnl.exe cplmain.cpl,22 - certificates - personal
25#ctlpnl.exe cplmain.cpl,22,1 certificates - intermediate
25#ctlpnl.exe cplmain.cpl,22,2 certificates - root
25#ctlpnl.exe cplmain.cpl,24 - error reporting
25#ctlpnl.exe cplmain.cpl,25 - gps settings - programs(port)
25#ctlpnl.exe cplmain.cpl,25,1 gps settings - hardware
25#ctlpnl.exe cplmain.cpl,25,2 gps settings - access
25#ctlpnl.exe cplmain.cpl,26 - comm manager
25#ctlpnl.exe cplmain.cpl,27 - encryption
=================================================
25#ctlpnl.exe BTConfigCE.cpl - brings up bluetooth
=================================================
25#ctlpnl.exe CarKitMode.cpl - brings up navipanel settings
=================================================
30#ctlpnl.exe AGPSSettingsCPL.cpl - location services settings
=================================================
35#ctlpnl.exe HTCAccountManagerCPL.cpl - account manager - log in/out
=================================================
26#ctlpnl.exe UploaderCPL.cpl - uploader status

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update - create direct links to folders, see post 35 HERE
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heh thanks. I got tired of giving out links info that ended up being wrong.

Update
-------
I've been looking at changing the default link icon when you create the link, cos its rubbish, , ,

The icon address is appended to the end of the shortcut, pointing to a dll file and a code position within that file.
I've been browsing through the shellres.192.dll file and it seems lots of the control panel icons (or similar) are held there.
I'm not sure if there are different versions of this file, but it matches on two roms I tried. (a 1.66 and a 2.10)

so, the command for, say, cleartype.

24#ctlpnl.exe cplmain.cpl,7,1

the icon path goes after a ? to give

50#ctlpnl.exe cplmain.cpl,7,1?shellres.192.dll,-13906


These are just some of the default icons, i'm still looking for the extras in other files. (oh and i can't find what theyre actually called individually, so i described some of them )

replace the number at the end with the corresponding number below.

13840 clock full face
13841 user
13888 phone broadcast wireless
13895 power
13899 about
13900 memory
13901 earth symbol
13902 phone broadcast blue lines
13905 contrast
13906 screen
13909 BT icon
13910 IR icon
13911 phone to pc connection
13924 sounds
13927 plain file icon
13936 keyboard icon
13937 menu icon
13941 certificates
13942 key symbol
13943 files with down arrow
13944 phone with play icon
13952 clock and house
13953 phone
13954 phone and wifi
13961 connections
13969 radio button pressed
13970 radio button not pressed
13996 error symbol
13997 blue globe icon
13998 sd card encryption
13999 wifi round
14000 multiple tick select
14001 task manager
14002 mobile and office block?

pierre duras said:

Any solution to assign to shortcuts some icons of my choice?

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a_ok2me said:

Any way to embed the icon within the Settings folder?

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see post 9. there are loads of dll files, and lots of them have icons in them. you can reference any file at the end of the command to give the icon
Get a resource editor (i use xn resource editor, but only cos thats the first one i came across) and you can browse the dll, make a note of the number associated with the icon and put that as the extension on teh command.

essequamvideri7 said:

This is a very useful post. Thank you.
I am just wondering if there is an actual link for the Task Manager? (The one that has the Running Programs List etc.)

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browse to your windows folder on teh phone, find taskmgr.exe, press and hold it, choose copy, go to windows\start menu\programs press and hold choose paste as shortcut.

dipaolnv said:

samsamuel: Have you been able to create shortcut to slider icons, specifically the HTC email and Settings apps? I've been able to create a link to settings but the icon is incorrect.

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if you mean the big icon that comes up mid screen when you slide, i think they are held in the manila files. (Look in windows\ there are loads of files called xxxx_manila, all those files are what makes up manila, code, graphics, everything.)

KelArth said:

Very good work.
All links in cab file would be great !.

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hehe, it would, but the missus is upstairs on the sofa, 12 hours into labour, so if you dont mind i'll maybe leave that for a while.