WM 6.1 Classic Cooked ROM for the iPAQ hx2000 Series

I wanted to wait until I had ample time to really use this cooked ROM for iPAQ hx2000 devices (posted on xda-developer forums by Tommy_adsl), before writing about it. You can get it by going to this thread. After reading some of the Werner Reports/Bibles on his ROM testing of devices, I went in quest of a ROM for my aging hx2495b, since HP has adopted a no-upgrade policy since back when they absorbed Compaq (who did offer upgrades, by the way). It seems ROMs are popping up in the wild all over. Hell, you can cook your own... I digress. First, this is not a complete review of WM6.1. Lot's better reviewers than me have been there and done that. It's a quick step-by-step on installing a ROM (for an iPAQ), and a review of the ROM features for the hx2000 series in the cooked version I tested--what I liked and didn't. Basically, my experiences which might not be the same as your own. So beware, as installing a “cooked ROM” could void your warranty, and possibly result in your device being rendered inoperative--proceed at your own risk. Considering how far WM has come since the early days (and how slick the iPhone is), I must admit to being a little nonplussed by WM 6.1. I am, however, very stoked by the hubris of the developers out there who do not stand idly by when big corporations focus only on the bottom line. Thanks mobile dev dudes and dudettes!! Hey HP, MS, Apple, the carriers, hear that? It's the sound of FREE...

Installing a ROM

Installing a ROM is kinda like changing the fluids in your car. A trivial task really, but if you forget a step or do something wrong (like forgetting the drain plug), the result can be disastrous. You get the picture. Usually, the ROM image simply doesn't transfer if there is a problem, but the bottom line is that you could brick your device, and believe me when I say the forums are full of posts of ROM updates gone awry. You want to do things in the correct order and exactly according to the instructions. You also want some tools handy just in case.

Preparing for the ROM update: The ROM update will blow away all your data and applications in both storage and program memory (data on an external storage card will be safe). You will want to create a backup, and the backup tool should support a full stable restore (Sprite Backup supports "intelligent" restores across ROM updates). However, you should also go to Hp and grab the latest ROM utility for hx2000 series just in case something goes wrong, or you want to switch back later. You need to make sure you have a solid, stable Active Sync connection between your handheld and desktop PC. Make sure your device syncs and stays synced, etc. Firewalls, loose connections, USB settings, and Vista drivers can all cause problems. So test this in advance by connecting your handheld and verifying A/S is working properly. Make sure the cradle is plugged into a stable power source (like a small UPS). I used Vista (Home Premium edition) on my desktop PC to run the update, but I noticed that several users have had problems with Vista, and suggested sticking with XP for ROM updates. There are even upgraded driver kits to work around the problems in Vista. Make sure you read through the posts on the XDA developer forums (maybe even print them out). The ROM includes the standard Hp bootloader or "transfer" program. Once you've downloaded the ROM to your desktop (and extracted it), you are ready to begin toasting, I mean upgrading.

These are the official procedures below, but actually as soon as the transfer completed, I reset my unit, and all was well. You should pay attention to the full instructions, though as your model may be a bit different.

Step 1: First, put the handheld into Pre-bootloader mode by holding down the contact+itask+power, and then lightly press reset. Then after about two seconds unhold the remaing buttons. The screen will gradually fade out to a light gray of white. After that press the calendar button. Obviously, you will need to have the handheld uncradled to do this.

Step 2. Dock your pda on the cradle (with AC power), and then connect the USB cable to the PC directly. Shortly, you will hear a beep from the pc (USB Device connected). If you haven't done so, extract the contents of the archive file (7-zip is a free extractor of RAR, by the way).

Step 3. Run the hpRUU.exe file, and answer or accept any prompts to start the transfer. Let it complete transferring--a slider will indicate it's progress. Do not do anything to interrupt the transfer. Do not hard reset if an error occurs, but note any errors and try to resolve them.

Note: The first rule of thumb when something like this happens is just STOP, TAKE A DEEP BREATH, and don't do anything stupid. Start looking for answers on-line in the forums BEFORE you decide to just go ahead and hold down all the buttons while applying a blow torch to the underside of the unit. What you are experiencing has probably happened before, and there is probably a solution to your problem. So don't freak out and make things worse.

Step 4. After update, perform a clean reset (hold calendar + itask, then press and hold reset). The forums say this is optional, but I'm pretty sure my unit initiated it's own.

Step 5. Finally, perform a hard reset (hold calendar + messaging + power and then press and hold reset) after about two seconds stop holding the reset button first and then the remaining buttons. This is considered not optional.

Note: I performed a hard reset after running the bootloader just to make sure everything worked properly. The only issue I had was caused because somehow my USB connection settings in A/S had become disabled.

WM 6.1 on the iPAQ...The Today Screen

It's pretty cool to be able to enjoy the latest OS without buying another expensive piece of hardware. I like my iPAQ just fine, and so wasn't really looking forward to buying a new one just yet. WM6.1 added several today plug-ins which mostly didn't update or refresh properly. The Windows Live and the wireless plug-in often seemed to show an incorrect status, so were quickly removed. The Today Panel (the plug-in that indicates memory/storage/power guages), which has been around for a while on iPAQ hardware, gets an honorable mention, as there is an added on-screen task manager (which can be accessed by performing a tap-n-hold on the gear-folder icon). You can power off your device, monitor wifi, or manage your running programs from the resulting pull-down, but the task manager didn't always kill tasks, and didn't always show all running tasks. A bit disappointing. The panel is customizable though,with a few different icon and display options. The HP iPAQ wireless manager is much the same superior utility that it was in WM5.

Wifi and Bluetooth Communications

Probably the first thing I tested was wifi (my router only supports "b"), and bluetooth connections (iGo external keyboard, and a GPS device), and can safely report I had no issues whatsoever in getting them to work. My access point is slow to join, but the connection was very stable after the initial connection. Browsing and dowloading pop mail (gmail) was a breeze, and the better integration of WM between the PIM apps shows here.

GPSing in 6.1...

iTask in action...kill them running programs

Manage Programs, Settings with iTask

iTask is still the application manager of choice for the seasoned iPAQ user, even with the newly added task management features built-in to WM. When there is that curvy up-arrow button there on the front, it's simply too hard to break the habit of using it, and with WM you'll need to use it, trust me. Anyhoo, the task manager in WM 6.1 is still anemic, and not much of an improvement over the original "running programs" tab in previous versions. iTask is not my favorite manager, but adequate. if a bit clunky and overly complicated to reconfigure.

Memory Usage

Bringing up the subject of memory and storage management, this ROM has a slightly different usage pattern than what I remember of WM5. The ROMs are both about 49MB. When my WM5.0 ROM was chock full of third-party apps (mostly on storage card, but several in main), I could still get mid-30s (MBs) of free program memory. I average mid-20s with this ROM even though the unit is still pretty-much clean. After a clean reset, I start around 33MB of free program mem, and quickly drop down to 25MB and lower after starting up a few apps (and killing them). WM, it would seem, is still plagued by a gradual degradation in performance...or maybe it's simply my handheld (or even just this ROM)? That's not to say that it's worse than the previous official WM 5.0 HP ROM. To the contrary, I'd say it's definitely more stable and snappier over long-term usage, with less frequent lock-ups, but it seems to lose memory initially after startup. I have had almost consistent lockups when reading e-books with Mobibook reader, mostly in the late stages of the books. It may just be an out-of-memory problem, but...why can't WM simply exit to a recovery screen, and allow you to free up some memory, instead of freezing totally and requiring a reset? Sheesh!

iPAQ Security

The Credant security features (HP ProtectTools) are still lacking in several aspects, and still buggy, so I'm guessing no cooking was done here. If you log in too quickly after a reset, half the today plug-ins won't load. Sometimes the password entry hangs and then types your entry all at once causing a horked password to go in to the system, and you get to tap it in again. There is no support for encrypting contacts, a big detractor in my opinion, but the iPAQs have always seemed to work better over the long-term with security enabled. The mysterious device -startups still linger, however--you log off, and turn off the unit to come back 10 minutes later to find it on again. Eventually it shuts itself off for the night. I would leave iPAQs around the house when I would go on travel, and they would scare the crap out of my wife when they did that. She thought they were possessed. Shhhhh, she still doesn't know, wink wink.

Storage Cards

I mounted both storage cards (CF and SD), and even a USB stick (via the SolarExpress CF USB adapter card), and had no issues whatever with large capacity cards. I had to get some new drivers for the USB card, of course. SDHC should also work, though I didn't try any yet. I played my music content, and other multi-media files without incident. Having installed most of my programs on the SD card made it supremely easy to restore programs. Often you only have to map a new shortcut to get your applications to run again.

Note: Some apps have dependent files, .dlls, registry entries and helper apps that are installed in internal memory (in \Windows), regardless of where you try to install them. These required files will be gone after a ROM update, and any shortcuts that are pointed to the program files left behind on a memory card will be useless, as the program will likely error when it can't find a required file or app. So installing to a card can be good in terms of saving space and in some cases time--if the app saves all the info and files on the card--but because of the file-splitting, it also often causes problems. For example, when trying to un-install an application, the clean-up will likely not find all files. Another issue is that if the program doesn't save it's license info on the card along with the program files, you will have to re-enter the license key after the ROM update. It's really hit-n-miss, but the most stable use of any application (even desktop), in my opinion is to always install to the default path. Un-install routines and updates just work better in the long run from the default path ("C:\Program Files\", or "device" in WM). WMs limited resources often force us to make a trade-off between reliability and better performance, however.

All-n-all, this whole iPAQ ROM upgrade thing went really well. There were a couple of minor bugs that have been reported, so read through the forum to note them (might be fixed by now). I'm sure folks will find more. WM 6.1 has some valuable features like the ability to view HTML formatted e-mail, as well as the marginally better PIE. I'm intrigued about what exactly the new Windows Update feature will do? Probably nothing for awhile, I bet. It still seems like too little, too late in the face of the iPhone juggernaut, and definitely too slow and clunky by comparison (though this ROM runs pretty well). I got a new toy out of an old one, and am very grateful to all the awesome developers out there that helped make this a reality. As for WM 6.1, I'm already looking forward to the next version, which will likely force me to buy new hardware, no doubt. Ah well, everything passes away eventually. Even the legendary iPAQ! The one tip I pass on to my fellow iPAQ users that will make your unit last as long as possible. Buy a backup battery now (or 2), and charge them early and often.