What shall I do ?

[Guest Scaramango]

Hi all -

I don't want to waste anyone's time by complaining about my Omnia 2, but I'm fed up with it, and I'd like some advice from this great community about what I should do next. I've still got 12 months left on my contract with Orange UK (Dolphin 40) so can't upgrade the phone until then.

For example is it worth me trying to 'tune' the default WinMo 6.5 installation, or should I try and get a newer Microsoft released ROM, or should I get a custom ROM, like 'Energy' ?

I don't need a list of 'tweaks' or registry hacks that can improve things - I know all about those, but they don't fix anything fundamental.

Basically, after 12 months of using my Omnia 2 (I don't know which WinMo 6.5 ROM it has, but the version is 'CE OS 5.2.21856 (Build 21856.5.0.65) I'm just getting fed up with this. I guess I should elaborate a bit on the annoyances:

1) Slow performance

2) Inconsistent ways to close programs 'Menu | Exit' or click on the 'X' or hold the 'X' down for 2 seconds, or 'Menu | Close' etc...

3) Slow camera performance (my old Palm Treos (600, 650, 680) and Sony Ericsson were much quicker, i.e time to take photo, time between consecutive shots

4) Memory filled up with junk - what good is 256MB if WinMo fills it up with 200MB of rubbish by default

5) Inconsistent display of messaging accounts, sometimes SMS is listed alongside Email accounts, sometimes not

6) Movies are not selectable from Photo viewer, have to use file manager

7) Activesync options are appalling, confusing and give me no confidence in losing phone (compared to Palm's HotSync for example)

8) Call log is crap - no times displayed for today's callers, call log above keypad is tiny

9) Most of the junk that Samsung install - some is OK, and just trying to cover up Microsoft's shortcomings, but it's just adding to the bulk of software installed.

10) Microsoft 'My Phone' does not fully synchronise with my 'Windows Live' account nor my 'Office 2007 Live' account (I don't expect a fix for this here BTW !)

but I'm sure everyone has heard all this before.

What I should explain is that I chose WinMo so that I can use StyleTap to run my old Palm Apps on this device (which works perfectly thanks !) I needed a phone that could run Palm OS apps, but with a decent camera....anyway....

Basically, what should I do next. Is there an 'official' update to my Windows Mobile 6.5 rom that fixes some bugs ?

Or should I try a custom ROM

** If I try a custom ROM, will I be able to revert back to the default ROM in case I ever have to return the phone under warranty ? **

Edited November 18, 2010 by Scaramango

[Guest urphonesux]

flash a custom LITE ROM without the bloat

google and see if anyone has ever posted the original rom for your carrier and hide it somewhere.

If not and you ever have to turn it in......................................... you'll figure out what to do-------------if not pm me and ill help ya with that

After flashing a lite rom, learn the art of minimizing (if you decide to flash a sense rom you might as well stop here) (j/k......... but seriously)

perform your system and registry tweaks

Only install apps to mystorage or your sd card unless they HAVE to be installed to the main memory

Only install the things you need---- find apps that do the job with less ram usage (most of these can be customized too) try to keep apps that run 24/7 to a minimum, I prefer to have none

Get that running stable

and then install the things you want-----------making sure to keep the installation directory in check

with a little practice you will be using your phone in no time instead of continuing to let your phone use you

MAKE SURE YOU FLASH A ROM THAT IS MEANT TO WORK WITH YOUR CARRIER---in your case Orange

Edited November 18, 2010 by urphonesux

[Guest sinancetinkaya]

1) Slow performance

2) Inconsistent ways to close programs 'Menu | Exit' or click on the 'X' or hold the 'X' down for 2 seconds, or 'Menu | Close' etc...

3) Slow camera performance (my old Palm Treos (600, 650, 680) and Sony Ericsson were much quicker, i.e time to take photo, time between consecutive shots

4) Memory filled up with junk - what good is 256MB if WinMo fills it up with 200MB of rubbish by default

5) Inconsistent display of messaging accounts, sometimes SMS is listed alongside Email accounts, sometimes not

6) Movies are not selectable from Photo viewer, have to use file manager

7) Activesync options are appalling, confusing and give me no confidence in losing phone (compared to Palm's HotSync for example)

8) Call log is crap - no times displayed for today's callers, call log above keypad is tiny

9) Most of the junk that Samsung install - some is OK, and just trying to cover up Microsoft's shortcomings, but it's just adding to the bulk of software installed.

10) Microsoft 'My Phone' does not fully synchronise with my 'Windows Live' account nor my 'Office 2007 Live' account (I don't expect a fix for this here BTW !)

1) A rom filled up by junks will be running slow naturally

2) There are some solutions for it

3) AFAIK, no solution.Moreover i8000's camera is much faster than my previous WinMo PDAs. I don't know about palm though

4) (1)

5) I never did like Samsung's message app already

6) Photo Viewer is samsung's program, it's their fault. I've had similar issues with my previous PDAs. Most producers are doing similar mistakes except HTC. HTC is good on that.

7) I find Activesync very usefull and easier, except the one in win7 and vista.

8) (6)

9) (6)

10) no idea

[Guest Scaramango]

Thanks for the answers guys (I am running Windows 7, hence Activesync being crap - can't even remember what it's called now...)

I think I would like the option to revert back if things don't work out when I load a new ROM image. Is there a way of backing up my current ROM ?

Is it common practise to find an official Samsung 'factory' ROM image (my phone is was not provided SIM free, so a generic ROM should do). Where would I find such a thing - obviously Samsung won't supply this.

Do custom ROMs provide all the same hardware functionality that my default ROM will, for example, standard telephone operation, control of the GPS, Wifi, BlueTooth, battery life, messaging, camera etc...

Basically, I use pretty much all the hardare on my phone, and wouldn't want to lose functionality on anything. Are the custom ROMs the exact same operating system, but with less junk pre-installed ?

I also need to be able to install certain apps - will I still have full freedom to install other software, as I do now ?

[Guest Lancez]

the ActiveSync on the win7 is called Windows Mobile Device Center now.

to backup your current official ROM, you can either find a official ROM here or use Sorg's dskdump.exe in the forum. (do a search in ROM section, at bottom of the page)

Custom ROMs are lighter and faster than official ones, you'll still have full control on all hardware bottons as well as a lot of tweaks and mods. do remember that custom ROMs usually consume much less power than official ones.

have fun with the i8000 section, you'll find a lot of useful stuff here.

[Guest Scaramango]

the ActiveSync on the win7 is called Windows Mobile Device Center now.

to backup your current official ROM, you can either find a official ROM here or use Sorg's dskdump.exe in the forum. (do a search in ROM section, at bottom of the page)

Custom ROMs are lighter and faster than official ones, you'll still have full control on all hardware bottons as well as a lot of tweaks and mods. do remember that custom ROMs usually consume much less power than official ones.

have fun with the i8000 section, you'll find a lot of useful stuff here.

Thanks again for the help, and sorry for asking such basic questions.

I also registered with a website called 'samfirmware' which appears to provide many ROMs for my i8000, for example :

I8000NXXJD7 2010 April PART1 PART2 PART3 PART4

I8000NXXJE1 2010 May PART1 PART2 PART3 PART4

I8000NXXJE2 2010 May PART1 PART2 PART3 PART4

I8000NXXJE5 2010 May PART1 PART2 PART3 PART4

I8000NXXJF5 2010 June PART1 PART2

I8000NXXJG4# 2010 July DOWNLOAD

I8000NXXJG5# 2010 July DOWNLOAD

I8000NXXJH1 ## 2010 August DOWNLOAD

I8000NXXJH2 ## 2010 August DOWNLOAD

I8000NXXJI1 ## 2010 September DOWNLOAD

Are these official ROMs, i.e. the ones that Samsung would install if you sent your phone back under warranty ?

If so, I'm tempted to give the latest one's a try. Is this recommended ? I'm still interested in a custom ROM as well though.

[Guest Lancez]

these are semi-official ROMs, the ROM version on your phone is going to be much older than these ROMs. to check your ROM version, go to samsung settings > system > version > device > write down PDA,CSC and phone versions. then start looking for them here or samfirmware. once you find them, just download to your PC for backup or warranty purpose.

flashing these semi-official ROMs will not increase your phone's performence, only custom ROMs will do the job. certain phone part will give you better GPS or signal, such as the latest JF1 phone.bin.

spend sometime on the forum and you will find a lot more info that you need to know about your phone.

[Guest Scaramango]

these are semi-official ROMs, the ROM version on your phone is going to be much older than these ROMs. to check your ROM version, go to samsung settings > system > version > device > write down PDA,CSC and phone versions. then start looking for them here or samfirmware. once you find them, just download to your PC for backup or warranty purpose.

flashing these semi-official ROMs will not increase your phone's performence, only custom ROMs will do the job. certain phone part will give you better GPS or signal, such as the latest JF1 phone.bin.

spend sometime on the forum and you will find a lot more info that you need to know about your phone.

I'm running :

PDA: I8000NXXII9

CSC: I8000XEUII9

PHONE: I8000XXII6

so yes, a bit out of date. I may consider a new phone.bin as the enhancements you mention are a big issue for me (I didn't list them earlier in this topic as I didn't think they were 'OS' related).

[Guest Lancez]

make sure you get hold of all your firmware parts b4 flashing custom roms, if you want to have your warranty.

[Guest Scaramango]

make sure you get hold of all your firmware parts b4 flashing custom roms, if you want to have your warranty.

Are you just reminding me to download all parts, .e.g. multiple .rar files, to make one firmware file ? If so, yes, I'm aware that sometimes the ROM image is split into 2 or 3 compressed files for ease of download.

Edited November 20, 2010 by Scaramango

[Guest Del1701]

Are you just reminding me to download all parts, .e.g. multiple .rar files, to make one firmware file ? If so, yes, I'm aware that sometimes the ROM image is split into 2 or 3 compressed files for ease of download.

I think what Lancez means is to make sure you have downloaded all 4 parts of your official rom or another official rom ie, phone.bin, eboot, csc and mst so that you can flash back to an official rom if you need to B)

[Guest Scaramango]

I think what Lancez means is to make sure you have downloaded all 4 parts of your official rom or another official rom ie, phone.bin, eboot, csc and mst so that you can flash back to an official rom if you need to B)

aah, OK. Is that what I should be using samfirmware.com for then ?

[Guest Del1701]

Thats it or you could search the rom section here for our official rom B)

[Guest speedfrog]

@Lancez

What do you mean with that the roms are Semi-official ROMs?

[Guest Scaramango]

Thats it or you could search the rom section here for our official rom B)

Is it safe to download a newer set of firmware to put onto my ROM ? Would this cause problems if I ever had to send my phone back under warranty, i.e. the firmware version doesn't match my serial number ?

I'm asking because the links on samfirmware.com for I8000NXXII9 don't work any more. In fact, only the newer stuff seems to be available.

I've not been able to find the I8000NXXII9 firmware at MoDaCo - please can you point me in the right direction ?

[Guest Lancez]

@Lancez

What do you mean with that the roms are Semi-official ROMs?

semi-official means these ROMs were not released by samsung, they coluld be for internal testing purpose.

official means samsung released ROMs through service centers or via PC softwares (KIE?)