MDA Tips, Tricks, Hacks, and Questions Thread!!!

Originally Posted by eep02b

Thats what i'm saying, I can't go to that site. I'm in college right now, and for some reason the site it blocked. And i'm asking if there is some way that somebody could send me the file whether in an email, IM, or somewhere else i could try to get it since its blocked...

Originally Posted by mystic11

UPDATE: After another call to tech support at TMobile they suggested a work around and so far I think it works. I have yet to sync w/my USB but at least the icon/program has not opened up again. If you want to try it yourself, here goes...

1. Activesync>Menu>Configure Server>
2. Under Server Address: Type anything!
3. Box is checked "This server requires an encrypted connection> Next>
4. User Name: Type anything you want
5. Password: Type anything you want
6. Domain: Nothing
7. Advanced > Next > Uncheck all items to sync > Finish

1. Activesync>Menu>Schedule
2. Peak Times > Manually
3. Off-Peak Times > Manually
4. Uncheck "use above settings when roaming & send outgoing items immediately.
5. OK > close Activesync.

I even performed a soft reset on my device and it hasn't opened ASync yet.
Hope this helps others with the same issue!!! Let me know if it works for you.

Originally Posted by g_bruin

I am having trouble connecting to the Internet via my home wifi. I can see that the MDA is connected through Wifi Settings, the MDA has an IP address, the connection is at full strength, but I can't get any pages to load. pIE shows "Locating..." but it times out.

I have kept up with this thread but I can't find an answer.

Help?!?!?

Thanks.

Originally Posted by tbrown801

Thanks for offering this. It should be put on the MDA FAQ list. It not only worked for me, but I stopped having such drastic battery loss.

Originally Posted by mystic11

Hi Everyone,
This is Tmobile's response to my email stating our irritation over their claims that the MDA supports JAVA. Since my knowledge base is far inferior to many of you, I'll let you comment on what this means.


Thank you for contacting T-Mobile and allowing us to assist you with your inquiry. We understand the importance of having this information; wed be more than glad to look into this for you and address your concerns.

The MDA does support Java Scripting, like many other PDA devices, but to a certain extent. Since it is not a full PC, it will not be able to fully translate the language, so as a result you will come across pages that will give you an error with respects to java scripting. Below, I have included some of the browser specifications for you to review.

Some core specifications are:
· HTML 4.01 supported except for tags: ABBR, Q, OPTGROUP. Supports most of W3C Document Object Model Level 1 of DHTML.
· Browser supports tables and forms,. Exact rendering may vary from desktop browser.
· Security: 40-bit and 128-bit SSL, SSL2, SSL3, TLS 1.0, Passport v1.4
· javascript: uses Windows CE JScript 5.5, ECMA-262 compliant. JScript is a Microsoft variant of standard JavaScript. Sites optimized for JScript may render better in Internet Explorer Mobile, sites using JavaScript will have variable results.
· Browser ID reports as Mozilla/4.0 and MSIE 6.0.

In the mean time, for any other troubleshooting or information you may need, please feel free to visit our support site at http://support.t-mobile.com. The site has a tremendous amount of information on our devices, as well as online manuals.

Should you have any further questions, comments, or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact us via email or at 1-800-937-8997. Thank you for choosing T-Mobile; we appreciate your business.
Have a great day!

Regards,

Arbbie
2745815
Technical Care Specialist
T-Mobile USA

Originally Posted by gizm0luvsu

just wondering but can ne1 tell me what this means i get it quite frequently when signing into msn messenger

"temporary conditions currently prevent connecting to the pocket msn service"

Originally Posted by VBP2004EP3

I have a question about music playing on the MDA... I have custom MP3 ringtone and when I haave them playing on my MDA through Windows Media Player or when it rings as a ringtone it kinda sounds like the chip monks... I checked the file the i transfered from my compouter and it doesn't sound like that on my computer... Someone please help me, I about to buy a 2GB MiniSD card to watch movies and I don't want Scarface sounding like chipmunks...

Originally Posted by Beelzebub

Anyone recommend a screen protector for the MDA? because using the stylus to dial is crazy that can take forever so I rather use my fingers on the screen

Originally Posted by stephj24

I have the same problem too. When I play MP3s through my 1GB card the sound is very fast and Chipmunk like. Any help?

Originally Posted by snoslicer8

I have re-encoded all my movies into "Handheld" versions using Pocket DVD Wizard (it can encode movies already in Divx, WMV, etc. as well). I then put all these pocket versions (well over 200 of them) into another shared folder for Orb to see. Once I have these movies in "pocket" quality, I am streaming them over GPRS no problem. I am guessing this has something to do with the codec not having to work so hard as Orb uploads the movies to their servers, then sends them to me. I hope this helps some of you guys...the Pocket DVD Wizard software works VERY well, and it's cheap.

Originally Posted by g_bruin

1. Sync your MDA and leave connected.
2. Click on Explore in the ActiveSync screen. Optional: Create a folder in My Documents (I named mine Tweaks)
3. Copy OpenNETCF.SDF.wce4.armv4.cab and RegistryWizard_PPC.ARMV4.cab to the Tweaks (or any folder) in Explore screen
4. Disconnect MDA
5. Go to Start, File Explorer and navigate to the folder which contain these two .cab files.
6. IMPORTANT: Click on OpenNETCF.SDF.wce4.armv4.cab FIRST. Installation should start. It may ask you if you are sure because it is unverified or something similar. Just click Yes.
7. Once installed, click on RegistryWizard_PPC.ARMV4.cab to install this.

Once completed, just navigate to Start, Programs and you should see it!

You may have to do a soft reset but I don't remember...

Originally Posted by implacable

Thanks for this help! but when i downloaded the file from the internet i extracted the files to my computer then i copy the folders to the device. now if i click on the folders inside the device it won't do anything? am i supposed to copy the files to the mda without extracting them?

Originally Posted by shackk

I have just noticed an issue with the Qtek test rom. Every now and then my mda just soft resets out of no where and for seemingly no reason. Has anyone else had this issue/problem?

I currently have installed:

Device:

Phm registry editor
Spb Weather
Spb Pocket Plus
Spb To Play
Open NETCF


Mini SD:

Total Commander
Agile Messenger
Reversi
Freecell
Tmobile Internet Settings.cab
Registry Wizard

Current Rom info is in my sig.

Originally Posted by kdenninger

Don't run test roms....

Originally Posted by kdenninger

Well what do you expect? Test and other "special purpose" ROMs are by definition not intended for release and general customer use. Some of them may even have things in them like intentional resets after a given period of time - indeed, Microsoft has been known to do things like this (ever boot Norton Ghost 10.0's "recovery" CD? It has a similar "will reset in 24 hours" thing built in to prevent abuse of the software.)

All sorts of diagnostic "stuff" is frequently found in test releases, and if you run them in a "production" sort of environment, having obtained them as a "leak", you can't complain about stability issues you encounter.

There is an official released rom that is off the same general codebase. I'm running it on my MDA now; it appears to be stable and quite nice and fast. See my entry in the FAQ on this subject if you'd like.

Originally Posted by lanwarrior

There are many Task List manager application, but I primarily use the one that comes with SpB Plus. Also, SpB plus allows me to modify the "OK" button on top-right, whereby if I close the application, it REALLY close the apps, instead of just minimizing it per Winddows Mobile default.

Originally Posted by lanwarrior

They give many functionalities that will take 2 pages to explain here. But in summary, these are the ones I used the most:

1) Application "Close" function instead of minimize, as mentiond above
2) Today's Screen plug in where you can list all your application. Saves me time rather than going to Start -> Program
3) Modify the hardware button (EXCEPT Soft key) for additional function that does not exist in WM5. I.e. Switch-tab, much like Windows Alt-tab feature. thus, I can have IE open, cut some text, switch to Word, paste it, and switch back to IE, all by pressing the Switch-tab button
4) Add "tabs" function to IE
5) Monitor battery level at the top of the taskbar, viewable in ANY application. Thus, I don't have to go to the Today's screen jsut to check my battery level. Furthermore, it saves memory since there is one less plug-in running.

Check out their website for more function.

Originally Posted by eep02b

So i remember a few pages back that someone tried the audio adapter from the E1 Rokr on the MDA and it was found not to work. Is this true, and if so did it not work at all, or just not in stereo?? I'm looking for the adapter to change the 2.5mm plug to the 3.5mm plug so that i can use my regular headphones with it. My main issue is that i want one thats flexible and not hard like the ones from radio shack. I want one more like the ones that came with the ipaq 1900 series. If anybody can help, please do. And it would be even better if the adapter was at a brick and mortar store instead of a online store because i need to recieve it before friday when i leave for a big trip. Thanks.

Originally Posted by metalzo

I use Magic Button for this but I'm wondering if SpB is worth paying for? What added functionality does it give over Magic Button?

Originally Posted by MicroChip

Ok here's my totally stupid question of the day... So I almost never use the onscreen keyboard, and then every once in a while I pop it up by tapping on it, use it, and send it back from whence it came. Everytime I do that, it then continues to pop up frequently without my asking for it. Eventually it stops. How do I get the onscreen keyboard to only pop up when I tell it to, and to stay gone when I banish it?

MC

Originally Posted by eep02b

So i remember a few pages back that someone tried the audio adapter from the E1 Rokr on the MDA and it was found not to work. Is this true, and if so did it not work at all, or just not in stereo?? <--SNIP-->.

Originally Posted by sristm

Hello Everyone,

So I got my MDA last week and I can tel lI am way behind on tweak for this phone.

So i have been reading about this tweak, and I can't seem to get it to work.

Supposedly to get 802.11g to work we have to do the following on the MDA
HKLM/Comm/TNETWLN1/Parms/
dot11SupportedRateMask=1
dot11SupportedRateMaskG=8

dot11SupportedRateMask is already there so i dont have to make any changes.

when i add dot11SupportedRateMaskG=8 its seems to go into the registry w/o any problems. I do a soft reset, and when i go inot the registy the entry is no longer there.

Has anyone experienced this?

Thanks

Originally Posted by evilninja

Did you save that entry before you did the soft reset?
Oh something else that might help is doing a soft reset (2nd method of holding down the power button instead of pushing in the small button on the side with the stylus). Something about it taking time to write that registry edit to the ROM before you reset it. I soft reset my phone by holding down the power button, and it'll ask if you are sure you might lose changes not saved, hit okay, and it should be good. My registry edits are all still there. Now if I could find the one that allows bluetooth file receives, instead of using Registry Tweak.

Originally Posted by AlexSoCal

Shackk:

Even the memory leakage (at least on my device) is minimal if any, meaning I have never seen anything to substantiate that. I would suspect though that it might have something to do with what software you may be running versus what other are.

Originally Posted by i3onk

Is there a way to create my own theme colors for my today screen? The ones that are included kind of suck. Not looking for anything fancy just some different colors. Maybe a registry setting or something?

Originally Posted by djayrage

On another note, has anyone tried Battery Pack Pro? it has a really handy feature that deletes your PIE temp files, cookies etc. every hour. It saves a lot of memory.

Originally Posted by kamranwpi

Headset Profiles problem.
I have T-Mobile SDA, whenever I use my bluetooth headset, by default it goes to headset profile, and I can't change it to any other profile. Its quite frustrating, since I want the phone to be on vibrate when I am at work, and ring mode when I am in car or home.
Does any one else has experience this problem? If so, is there a solution to fix thsi?

Originally Posted by kdenninger

There is no fix for this and it does suck.

Originally Posted by Gigatron

I just picked this phone up and I like it a lot.

I'm on that Total Internet plan from T-Mobile.

Incoming e-mail is fine while connecting through GPRS but outgoing e-mail through GPRS can't work. What do you folks think is wrong? I have the right incoming and outgoing server settings and outgoing mail goes out fine while connected through WI-FI.

Why can't I send outgoing e-mail through GPRS? Can anyone help? I would greatly appreciate it if someone could.

Thanks!

Originally Posted by kdenninger

What email server are you attmepting to send through?

Most have security which prevents this without specific support. There are multiple ways of providing the support for it, but without that, it won't generally work.

Originally Posted by Gigatron

I am using Gmail.

Incoming setting is pop.gmail.com
Outgoing setting is smtp.gmail.com

Even after following the instructions on gmail.com (like enabling POP access through my gmail account), I still ain't having the capability of sending out mail but can only receive.

Originally Posted by i3onk

Ok This is a rookie question for you guys. Where do I put the my downloaded themes? Dont have a minisd yet so thats not an option, but I would like to know where to put them with and without a minisd.

Nevermind, figured it out myself.

Originally Posted by lokimon

BTW.. The answer is the Windows directory. You were not the only one having a hard time figuring this out, so posting the answer seems like a good idea.

Originally Posted by djfantom

Wow. Forgot I had an account on here. Lol... Well I ordered my Mda yesterday 3/9 and should be here by next week friday. I've actualy read thru 80% of this 99 page thread so most of my questions about the device are answered (rare for a new member to do I know. Lol) . I did have 1 question tho and forgive me if was answered and I overlooked it.

Is there a trick or hack or anything to get the mda To connect to like a "thumb drive" or even mini hard drive thru usb for storage?.. Would be cool if there was, or support added for it. Like how they have a hard drive now for the psp which connects thru usb (when previously you could only use the memory card)

Originally Posted by jonazen

There may be something cleaner out there...but if you use ActiveSync, as soon as the first sync is complete, you can "Explore" the MDA from the desktop of your PC -- just like navigating your PC (except that the "refresh" is slower when you move around the directory tree, which is to be expected!).

When exploring the MDA you can look at any of the directories on the device itself and also explore the miniSD card as well. Drag and drop files from another explorer window, etc. Really quick and easy.

Originally Posted by djfantom

Thanks for that. Very useful info. But that's not the question im asking.... My use for it is to use a thumb drive and not a mini sd @ all since I have a 1gb thumb drive already... Also Im a dj and people send me music thru email all the time. I would like to be able to store a lot of that on a drive while im still on the go without havin to dump to a comp often. So hence hookin to aportable hard drive .

Also a seperate but related question. I just realized I have a Video ipod (well I been knew I had it. Lol) but would be cool if that could be used for a hard drive storage also. (In place of a mini sd card)

Originally Posted by Combat Wombat

I think he's asking if he can use a USB ThumbDrive on the MDA as storage, not turn the MDA into a storage device.

Originally Posted by Delta5

It is highly unlikely. I have not read any reviews/white papers of the MDA that discuss it having USB Host functionality. I would think that would be a big deal if it did. There were only a couple of PocketPC's ever made that had the appropriate hardware to be a USB Host; a couple of Toshiba's, I believe.

It would be very cool if the MDA could do it, as (given the appropriate drivers) you would be able to use USB keyboards, printers, mice, hard drives, retrieve pics from your digital camera, etc with it. But again, I do not think the MDA has the right hardware.

Originally Posted by Combat Wombat

OK, so I just got my MDA last night, and was all prepared to tweak it just to my liking.... then I realized, how the heck do you access the registry? Man, I feel like a total noob; this is my first PocketPC device, so yea. I've tried searching, and can't find a thing.

Oh, and I accept full responsibility for "bricking" my phone, if it happens. I might be a PPC noob, but I've been tweaking other things for a while now, and am pretty comfortable with it.

Originally Posted by jonazen

Congrats on the MDA! Even if you're new to PPC, if you're comfortable tweaking Windows, you'll learn this pretty quickly -- and if you're willing to tweak it, there's a lot these devices can do.

Take a look at the first few posts in the MDA FAQ -- it's the first thread in this sub-forum -- "stickied" so that it stays at the top of the list. You'll see LOTS of good info and suggestions about tools like registry editors, utility programs, hacks, skins, "Today" plugins, etc. Definitely worth the read.

There are free registry editors out there, and some that cost a bit. I'm using "Resco Registry" -- very solid editor, and you can download and try a trial version before deciding if you want to buy it. (Google Search will get you to there site quickly).

Re: registry edits: after you make a change and "ok" your way out of the editor, WM5 takes a while before writing the changes to non-volatile memory. What you should do after a change is use the power button (top right of the device) to force a soft reset -- hold down the button for a few secs until you see a popup warning that data will be lost when you shut down. Tell it to go ahead -- this process actually forces the changes to be written and stored. The MDA will shut down quickly -- then you fire it up again.

Originally Posted by Combat Wombat

A HA! Thank you, very helpful. I downloaded "Registry Wizard 1.0L" from xda-devs, assuming that it would allow me to access the registry. Maybe it does, but I never found the ability, just the preset options. I'll try Resco.

Off to the tweaking...

Originally Posted by bajajoe

Wifi sync is enabled

Originally Posted by jonazen

Registry Wizard is convenient, because it has 3 pages of specific registry changes to address very specific issues. You simply check the tweaks you want and tell it to go ahead, and those specific changes are made. But it is NOT a general purpose registry editor - just a really convenient way to turn on/off a bunch of excellent tweaks that many users find useful.

Originally Posted by i3onk

OK This may be a really lame question. How do I install a cab file from my minisd card? I downloaded the corcodec player and its all seperate files, no exe.
Any help would be appreciated. Thanx

Originally Posted by i3onk

Unfortunatly the best you can do is enter them into your outlook and then sync them with you phone. Thats what I had to do with mine. then I deleted the contacts in my sim.

Originally Posted by The Trooper

I need help on something. My icons are dissapearing, the signal one and the volume one. Here's a screenshot of how it looks (red):


anyone know why this is happening? I tried uninstalling some of the programs that might have caused it but no results..

Originally Posted by The Trooper

I need help on something. My icons are dissapearing, the signal one and the volume one. Here's a screenshot of how it looks (red):


anyone know why this is happening? I tried uninstalling some of the programs that might have caused it but no results..

Originally Posted by i3onk

Problems solved, thank the Gods!

Originally Posted by europamo

I know this may sound stupid, but do I really need to have virus protection on my MDA? after all it is a Microsoft product. If i do, what can run on this machine? Thanks

Originally Posted by djfantom

Wow. Forgot I had an account on here. Lol... Well I ordered my Mda yesterday 3/9 and should be here by next week friday. I've actualy read thru 80% of this 99 page thread so most of my questions about the device are answered (rare for a new member to do I know. Lol) . I did have 1 question tho and forgive me if was answered and I overlooked it.

Is there a trick or hack or anything to get the mda To connect to like a "thumb drive" or even mini hard drive thru usb for storage?.. Would be cool if there was, or support added for it. Like how they have a hard drive now for the psp which connects thru usb (when previously you could only use the memory card)

Originally Posted by jonazen

How did you fix it?

Originally Posted by djfantom

Wow. Forgot I had an account on here. Lol... Well I ordered my Mda yesterday 3/9 and should be here by next week friday. I've actualy read thru 80% of this 99 page thread so most of my questions about the device are answered (rare for a new member to do I know. Lol) . I did have 1 question tho and forgive me if was answered and I overlooked it.

Is there a trick or hack or anything to get the mda To connect to like a "thumb drive" or even mini hard drive thru usb for storage?.. Would be cool if there was, or support added for it. Like how they have a hard drive now for the psp which connects thru usb (when previously you could only use the memory card)

Originally Posted by i3onk

Another option you could have is to get yourself a bluetooth usb adapter. Connect that to a PC and you can transfer files to and from your MDA. I agree with ilrosewood though. That would be your best option. Im just waiting for Fry's to get their next shipment of 2g minisd's in on april 7th and Im hookin that up. Got a 256 to tide me over until then though lol. When I get the 2g Ill give the 256 to my daughter for her LG

Originally Posted by i3onk

.... I noticed one option on the beta that I liked and that was to be able to set a button press to go to vibrate mode (I switch back and forth alot at work).
Guess I will wait for the beta to go to full release and get that one. Its definatly better than smartskey though. many more options and is actually closes an app instead of just hiding it.

Originally Posted by ckbook30

I dont want to see the contacts on the sim in my contact list anyone know how to tell the phone to not show sim card contacts?

Thanks

Originally Posted by i3onk

OK Folks I have a major problem. I just installed aebplus to do some button customization with my device. There was an error writing to a file when I saved the remappings and I did a soft reset. My phone will not power all the way up to the today screen. It stay locked up at the tmobile screen and i cant get it to go any further than that. Is there anyways to to a hard restart without getting the device to turn all the way on? what can I do to get this this reset to default factory settings again so I can start over?

Originally Posted by JoshHart

Has anyone found a way to run Java on there MDA yet? Are there any ROM's that allow you to run any Java machines?

Originally Posted by i3onk

tomho

button 1: messaging button
button 2: Internet explorer button
button 3: Camera button\
button 4: voice command button
button 5: voice record (holding button 4)
button 5: comm button
sof key 1: above the green phone button
soft key 2: above the red phone button

Originally Posted by i3onk

buttons 1 & 2 are on the top front of the phone just under the ear hole with the blinking led's. the left one is button 1 (messaging) and the right is button 2 (internet explorer)

as far as remapping the power button, not that I know of. long press powers is off and single press puts the screen in sleep mode.

Originally Posted by DRTBYK

Anyone know of a hack to change the two soft key assignments?
sof key 1: above the green phone button
soft key 2: above the red phone button

Originally Posted by ilrosewood

Best AV protection for your MDA should be the same virus protection you use when hitting the clubs. Don't hit on skanks. In other words, don't run stupid **** and you won't have a problem.

Originally Posted by Ryhian

Have a quick question. is there a way to get the phone to ring and vibrate at the same time for phonecalls and possibly for email/txt msg notifications?

Originally Posted by i3onk

Ok got another question. Is there a reg setting so I can shut off these damn connecting to gprs warnings. I'm really getting sick of seeing that thing popup on me.


Also, is there one that might let me add some more space for the quicknotes(preformatted text responses) for text messages? I think there is only like 10 spots on there now and would love to be able too add at least another 10 or so.

Originally Posted by deemota

We do get however an addy @tmomail.com

Originally Posted by evilninja

Why is my phone soooooo slow without any programs running in the background? I've loaded a weather app to my today screen. And a registry editor. And a quick launch. And TCPMP. That's it though. It takes about 20 seconds for the screen to re-draw itself. I think it's new ROM time.

Originally Posted by beatmix01

How do you go about getting one of these?

Originally Posted by beatmix01

How do you go about getting one of these? I would rather setup my gmail to fwd to this address than set up the pop settings for the time being.

Also, what is a good app that will let me display stock prices on the today screen.

Originally Posted by i3onk

You can actually setup gmail with t-mobile and access it as a pop3 mail account.

when you log into t-mobile.com go down to the bottom left of the screen and go to web & applications. On the next page click send/recieve email. On the next page click start now. Under setting click mailboxes and then add new mailbox. From there you enter in your gmail address and your PW and then follow the rest of the steps.
Once that is done, use your MDA today screen to setup a new email account. Have it detect your accounts and you are on your way.
If you dont have the email tab on your today screen, start>setting>today>items. Check tmobile my email and then close it out. click on the setup email then download settings for exhisting email accounts. It will detect your gmail accoutn and set it up on your phone. BAM yer done. Enjoy. No need to forward, no need to setup yet another of what I am sure is MANY email accounts.

It does work because I just set it up and sent myself a test email. I currently have 4 setup on my MDA a couple from my cable provider, gmail and AIM mail. and of course you can get your hotmail through pocket msn.
That is about as detailed as I could get, hope it helped.

If you want to setup gmail to work with your outlook or outlook express, check this link.

http://mail.google.com/support/bin/...&topic=0&type=f


Well after posting this I realise I didn't read your post entirely, or I would have noticed you just didnt feel like setting up the pop account. Although, the method I just stated, even though it seasm long and tedious, is probably easier then setting up a tmomail account and forwarding gmail to it.

Originally Posted by deemota

The only problem with this method is that T-Mobile uses silent triggers. Every email that automatically gets pushed to your phone, counts as an SMS.

Originally Posted by kdenninger

Yee Ha!

NETWORK TIME UPDATE -> HLKM->SOFTWARE->OEM->PhoneSetting

Set "ShowTimeZonePage" to "1"

You can also set "ShowPIN2Page" to "0", since T-Mobile doesn't support PIN2 functions (call barring, etc)

Once this is set, and you have power-cycled, when you go into Settings->Phone you will see a new tab - "Time Zones". Go there and you'll see "Automatic change time zone and clock". Check it and voila - your time updates from the network.

I've been looking for this one for a LOOONG time. Just stumbled upon it....

This is one that T-Mobile has no excuse for NOT including, as most of the other devices support this out of the box!

Originally Posted by MadDogX007

Has any one tried the hack for voice command & their bluetooth headset successfully? I get it to work but have to play games to keep it working. My old h6315 ppc WM 2003 did this beatifully! Now my wife uses it and I got screwed. Why this does not work o WM 5 is beyond me.

Also u said u use Twick2k2. There is a feature to enable bluetooth headset, but not available on the MDA?

Originally Posted by i3onk

I don't have any problems using my bluetooth earpiece for my voice commands. it works fpr my contacts and the programs that I have voice tags for.

Originally Posted by jonazen

Works beautifully for me. The ONLY issue is the known one where it won't drop the BT connection automatically at the end of every call. So the second time you try to initiate a call via BT by tapping your BT connect button on the headset, Voice Command doesn't necessarily respond. It essentially requires one extra tap at the end of a call to totally "dismiss" voice command from the connection so that it will respond the next time you call it up.

That being said - it took all of a day to get totally used to this, and now I use Voice Command via BT on my MDA to do SO much -- dial by name, dial by number, check the time ("What time is it?") or date ("What is the date?"), check my calendar, check for missed calls, etc. I also have PocketZenPhone installed and tweaked so that I can use Voice Command to effortlessly change phone profiles (e.g., "Silent", "Home", "Office", "Car (with BT)", "FlightMode"). Works SO well!

Worth the time to get it figured out...

Originally Posted by kdenninger

The Plantronics Voyager I have works fine with no static problems....

Originally Posted by alexwinsberg

Jon--what BT headset are you using? I'm trying to figure out which one to get....thanks!

Originally Posted by i3onk

I don't have any problems using my bluetooth earpiece for my voice commands. it works for my contacts and the programs that I have voice tags for.

Originally Posted by alexwinsberg

Totally off-topic...I saw somewhere you were having problems with TomTom GPS software. I am trying to decide between IGuidance and OnCourse, and good reviews of these things are hard to find. Any thoughts?

Originally Posted by jonazen

Works beautifully for me. The ONLY issue is the known one where it won't drop the BT connection automatically at the end of every call. So the second time you try to initiate a call via BT by tapping your BT connect button on the headset, Voice Command doesn't necessarily respond. It essentially requires one extra tap at the end of a call to totally "dismiss" voice command from the connection so that it will respond the next time you call it up.

That being said - it took all of a day to get totally used to this, and now I use Voice Command via BT on my MDA to do SO much -- dial by name, dial by number, check the time ("What time is it?") or date ("What is the date?"), check my calendar, check for missed calls, etc. I also have PocketZenPhone installed and tweaked so that I can use Voice Command to effortlessly change phone profiles (e.g., "Silent", "Home", "Office", "Car (with BT)", "FlightMode"). Works SO well!

Worth the time to get it figured out...

Originally Posted by MadDogX007

Are u in the HK? Cause this BT Connection thing is foreign to me. So you are using Voice Command successfully on your Bluetooth Headset with this.. what you call... broadband BT Connection? Can u eleborate what this is about.

The guy you quoted responded to my question which was, I cannot get VC by pressing the connect button on my bluetooth headset, after using the hack for voice command. I have no issues using VC on my MDA itself, but surely do not need a hack for that. I can get VC to work over bluetooth headset with hack, but have to press hot button on MDA to initiate VC on bluetooth headseet, but even this stops after a call, or after brief idle time. Once I try again, it comes from the MDA not my headset.

Originally Posted by deemota

I use the built in voice command with my Motorola H700 with no problems. I have no hacks applied.

Originally Posted by jonazen

I've got a Moto HS850. Seems to work fine with this...but I'm keeping an eye out for other ones. The rubber surround that cushions it against your ear (which they say is "removable") tore, and I had to remove it completely. I wrote to Moto for a replacement, and the only reply was that if it was still under warranty they would replace the unit (of course it wasn't) -- no replacement parts. Disappointing, but I've been using the headset without the rubber piece for now.

Anyway - I do NOT like the power plug that Moto uses -- very poor design, and you have to jiggle it to get a positive connection. I also had a first-generation Jabra BT headset from 3 years ago -- excellent sound and battery life -- just found it too bulky and uncomfortable behind my ear. BUT...I still feel that the moto headset doesn't perform quite as well or sound quite as good. So I'm still on the fence about BT headsets -- need to research this subject a bit more.

Originally Posted by alabij

I think a lot of people are confusing generic voice command software with Microsoft Voice Command; this is the app that works with the registry hack.

Originally Posted by i3onk

The HS700 uses miniusb for charging. I guess they realised that their old connector sucked.

Originally Posted by zebradude

Good evening Guys,

Does any of you bright people know the registry hack to activate the repeat checkbox in the notifications box in sounds & Notifications. I would love my phone to keep on beeping me when i get a voicemail until I clear it. I see that the checkbox is there BUT it is grayed out!!

Originally Posted by jonazen

That's good to know. I'm really amazed at how BAD the old connector is. You can get it to work - but it's really lucky that the blue light appears when the connection is good - that's the ONLY way I can be sure that I've wiggled the connector properly into place. Moto used to be a truly first-class engineering firm. Something like that never would have left the factory 20 years ago...

Originally Posted by MadDogX007

I meant Microsoft Voice Command. And the hack for the most part does not work, not with my MDA. I dont need a hack to get MS VC to work on the MDA it works fine. I am talking about pressing ur connect button on ur bluetooth . It randomly works on bluetooth by pressing an assigned button on ur device, but even that stops working. I believe this comes from Microsoft not supporting MS VC with bluetooth on WM 5.0 devices. This is well documented on internet news boards. So it was nice to find a hack for this feature, which should have never been left out by MS period, cause it makes no sense, since it works on WM03 beautifully. So if any one gets this hack working on a Qtek 9100, K-Jam, HTC Wizard or the MDA Vario doing exactly as i described , by pressing ur bluetooth connect button or hot button, pls i would like to know ur setup. P.S. Any head set I plug into device would easily hesr MS VC cause it is a phisical connection to PPC & that's not the issue, its with bluetooth. Thanks

Originally Posted by i3onk

My problem wasn't with the charging of my hs850, mine was with my MOtorola A630. I had many a day when my phone just wouldnt get fully cahrged because while i was asleep either I or the cat tapped the wire and it came out just enough to stop the charging. I had the issues a couple of times with my 850 but not as much as the phone.

Originally Posted by kdenninger

Not at this point, no. I haven't played with either of those. One of the problems is that like with most software you end up having to buy to try. That blows and is bound to promote piracy of one kind or another.....

I have figured some of the TomTom issues out. The remaining one is that their maps (and ESPECIALLY their POI databases) are somewhat out-of-date. A number of places that I know have been where they are now for 5+ years simply aren't in their lists.

TomTom's customer service is worse than useless. I filed a ticket on the install problems several days ago. No response of any kind. Nice.

Note that "On Course" claims that you have to install to main memory, and they want a LOT of it. This is likely a show-stopper.

Originally Posted by jonazen

Hi - I'm in the US - near Princeton, NJ.

Anyway - yes - using Voice Command with Darryl Burling's "Voice Enable" hack - here's his own website and article about it:
http://www.burling.co.nz/Default.aspx?tabid=151

First I installed MS Voice Command, then I installed Darryl's "Voice Enable" and it's been working fine since then, with the connect button on my BT headset invoking Voice Command on the MDA (of course Bluetooth on the MDA has to be turned on at the MDA, and the MDA and headset paired) - you do NOT have to initiate the connection via the phones connect button.

Originally Posted by MadDogX007

IWhile were on this subject. On my older h6315 WM 2003, there was a neat little feature in Comm Mgr/bluetooth settings. You highlighted the paired device, and opened up an "options window" with several options, one of them called "hand-free settings". In this settings you can enable or disable "Telephone Calls" & "Standard audio" (it says, "use the default hands-free device, when available, to play music, sounds, notifications, and other non telephone related audio generated by the device). A great great feature! You can be at a dental office, or on a plane, and get sounds over bluetooth while playing your games.

I don't see this on the MDA Vario and believe most of the sound issues with bluetooth on WM 5.0 come from not having this feature available! Is this on your K-Jam? If not, maybe it's by default on these newer devices?
Yet I can't get sounds over my bluetooth headset on the MDA Vario, like games, notifications, etc. Can you?

Can you get sounds like games, notifications on your BT Bluetooth headset? Cause when I go to bluetooth settings on the MDA Vario's comm manager, I only get 3 possibilities, edit, delete, set as hands free. You can set as hands free, but there is NO preferences like in the WM 2003 OS.


UPdate: I tried Voice Command with Darryl Burling's cab file, and it did just what I suspected, it changed the command in registry, just like hack above, or what tweak2k2 does, and I got MS Voicecommand to work one time on bluetooth headset. I pressed the connect button twice on my bluetooth headset, and saw the MS Voicecommand mic icon pop up. This is my delema. Once I tell MS Voicecommand to call, or dial, it does one time, then this feature stops working. It's not consistent. My frustration continues. I don't know if it's the MDA Vario, or my h700 Motorola bluetooth.

The crazy fact is, I went back to default "Voice Tag", and "Voice Tag works beatifully on the connect button of bluetooth headset. Almost as if T-Mobile purposely did this with the MDA Vario?

What BT bluetooth headset are u using?
Thanks

Originally Posted by jonazen

I haven't tried listening to music via BT yet. Maybe I'll give it a try tomorrow if I get a chance. I recall hearing about another hack related to keeping the BT audio channel open...although I haven't experimented with that yet. Not sure about the details on that one.

My headset is a Motorola HS850. Since reading your post, I was out today, and experimented a few times with BT and Voice Command just to verify that it was consistent - and it was. If I tap on extra time at the END of a call, it will disconnect, so that the next time I tap, it will invoke MS Voice Command again and let me initiate a new call.

I understand your frustration - this is an important feature for me, and having real, working speaker independent voice dialing is great. I've voice tags on my old SE Z600 for the last 3 years, and I've been looking forward to moving to this. Glad it's working...although I can't understand why it's not working for you!

Originally Posted by i3onk

WOW! I didnt realise that MS voice command actually let you say numbers and such too. I may need to look into that. As far as the voice tag sitting waiting for you to cancle, it does go away after a few seconds and then you can simply hit the button on your earpiece and try again.

Originally Posted by bradkap

The GPRS indicator has never switched over to E for the Edge Network. I called TMO and they confirmed that Edge is active in my area. I searched the HowardForums and they say that you have to manually tweak the registry to enable the feature. That is where I get lost. I called TMO wireless support and all they say is that the phone will automatically switch between networks. But that is not what our brothers around the forums say. Can anyone give me instructions on how to make this adjustment ? I have searched the posts here and can not find any definative instructions. HELP

Originally Posted by eep02b

I have a question, has anyone found a good mp3 player for the mda?? I'm having issues with Windows Pocket Media Player. It doesn't lock the screen and the buttons, and keep them unlocked so im looking for a new one. Any suggestions??

Originally Posted by jonazen

MadDog--

Question for you - on your MDA, if you open your bluetooth connection and check the partnership settings, what you do see? -

Start / Settings / Connections / Bluetooth

...then click on the "partnership" for your phone in the Bluetooth page. You should see a page entitled, "Partnership Settings", where you can check the "services to use from this device".

Oddly enough, mine is showing both "hands free" and "serial port" - and I must have checked both when I paird the headset with the phone, although I can't imagine why it shows "serial port" for a bt headset as a service! On the other hand, when I used to pair this exact same headset (HS850) with my SE Z600, it showed "hands free" and "headset" services being offered by the HS850 - both of which I selected for the pairing options.

I wonder if, in the case of WM5 and this unit, it helps to have both services checked? Perhaps "serial port" in this case isn't really "serial port", but in fact provides the "headset" bt profile for the connection...? This is all pure speculation, and despite knowing a lot about computers and software in general, I've only used BT as a consumer -- once my devices pair properly (keyboard and mouse with my pc, and headset with my phone), I'm done and don't worry about the details.

Check it out - I vaguely remember that when I first paired the headset with the phone, only the hands free service was checked by default. If that's the case, try checking any other offered services, make sure to SAVE the updated settings. I don't know if it matters, but having lived with Windows in all its flavors for 25 years, I'd even do a soft reset after that, using the power switch method to make sure your new BT settings are actually saved before shutdown, just in case the settings dialog only writes them to a cache initially -- hold down the power switch until you're warned that you might lose data, then click to continue and restart the phone after it shuts down.

Originally Posted by MadDogX007

Yeah, you are getting the same settings I am. I have been there an enabled and dissabled the options, as well as BT headset paired as hands free. I have not, however, enabled serial port . As an IT guy u should find article interesting below from Windows Mobile Team Blog.

Interesting enouph you are the 2nd guy who has had success with the hack using the HS850 Motorola BT headset. Read bottom of page on link. See my feed back.

http://blogs.msdn.com/windowsmobile.../03/524289.aspx

Originally Posted by MadDogX007

Man it pays to do some research! Get this unique utility. I can't get the Motorola H700 to work like ur HS850 connect button, but I found the next best thing. I found a utility called BT Audio. It's a zip file with three tiny files, BT AudionON, BT AudionOFF, and BT toggle. This works really good for sound and notifications on ur MDA, even if you did not have MVC installed, if ur MVC stops working, like mine after a call, it's a blessings, cause I don't have to soft reset. When I click on the BT AudioOn MSVC comes back again. Now if I can assign a button to this little utility, after a call, press that button for BT AudioON, then the button for MSVC, Im in business while driving. Better yet, is it possible to create a batch files on a PPC? Than I would assign only one button to the batch file, which would execute BT AudionOn, and the VoiceCMD.exe. Getting closer to success!

Site with information on BT Audion Utility: http://www.pdaphonehome.com/forums/...20&pagenumber=1

Actual BTAudio.Zip file download: http://www.pdaphonehome.com/forums/...96&d=1125452100

Originally Posted by jonazen

Excellent find! Don't know about batch files...but I know you can create a link file ".lnk" that is effectively a "shortcut" - can invoke an exe in a defined path with arguments, and I can imagine that you can create an icon for it as well. Have to read up on this...

Originally Posted by jonazen

Glad to hear you got it working - that's a great workaround.

I was sitting with a few other parents while my son was in his martial arts class tonight (and I was waiting for my turn on the mat) and spent a few minutes showing off the voice dialing on my MDA to a friend who was showing me his Blackberry from Verizon. He was blown away by Voice Command and how well it worked. It makes an especially nice demo when you integrate it with something like PocketZenPhone, and show people how you can fire up VC, and tell it to change your phone profile.

Now that you have BT audio working...you might consider adding in PocketZenPhone and hooking it up to VC. If you do...you should definitely bypass the current version 5.52 that's for sale, and go straight to the version 6 beta 7 -- it has a different dir structure, and you'll want to be configured as per version 6 so that you can also use the free download to create profile selection link files (shortcuts) that you can invoke from Voice Command...