I've successfully installed PST 6.3.1 on WinXP and I've been able to backup my phonebook and datebook...but I want to add graphics to the pic viewer. I was able to backup the m-services, but now that I've done that how do I add a new .gif file to it? I have a test one ready, 120x160 gif, 64 colors. Has anyone had any luck? Or am I going the wrong way?

All I did was use MBE (M-services backup editor). Check the following link...specifically by happyT721 and bennyboie:

http://www.howardforums.com/showthr...15&pagenumber=2

Here's another link about MBE:

http://www.howardforums.com/showthr...15&pagenumber=6

Check out jy4_7's post about half way down...

For just graphics and ring tones, I used PST and EMS Manager following the instructions at http://www.angelfire.com/extreme4/motot720/

It works well.

So far I've added 37 pictures and 28 Ring tones to my Motorola T730 (Verizon CDMA).

Mark,

Thanks for the help. I got EMS installed and was able to put a few GIFs on the phone last night. Just a couple more things:

Is it really only 64 colors? That's how I sent them from Photoshop, and was wondering if colors could be a little better.

I am having trouble writing the ems file back to the phone. I think this is because I have no ringtones, or at least none that show up when I created the original, and no interest in adding any. Therefore, the ringtones column is empty and when I write back, it halts at the ringtones. The phone is dead at this point too. So, I restart the laptop and then write back the phone book or datebook, it 'wakes up' the T720 and all is well.

TIA

GIF graphics support 256 colors, why don't you try that?

Here's a summary of what I found:

Well, I finally have some answers. I downloaded PST 6.3.1 from:

http://www.************/html/programs.htm

It's in spanish or italian or something, but the programs themselves are not. Grab:

Motorola PST
M-Services Backup Editor
EMS-Manager 1.2.3

I'm still trying to get M-Services Backup editor to work, but the EMS does the same job.

I'm assuming you have a USB cable and XP. Install the PST software (but you don't have to start the program), plug in the phone and let Windows go through the add hardware routine (could be 4 separate items). Each time it looks for a driver, specify the location where the PST installed (program files\motorola\pst, I think). After you have no yellow flags in Device Manager, you should be good to go. Maybe a reboot or two is in order. If you're using XP, go the website:

http://www.beavermjr.com

and read his PST FAQs. For XP I had to edit 2 registry entries for the usb to work correctly. If not XP, I think you can skip this but it is still a good read. Realize he wrote the FAQs for a much older release of PST, so it is not all relevant.

The way PST works is that you create a new file, and select it's type from the list (datebook for example). Once you name the file and create this empty file, you then read the contents of the phone into the file. You can then edit it and write it back to the phone with the edits. You can't do anything in the interface until you've created these empty files. I only concerned myself with 3: phone book, date book, and M-Services (where the pics and ringtones are).

In order to edit M-services (the file will be whatever you chose for a name with a .ems extension) you need ANOTHER piece of software, MBE or EMS. I've only been successful with EMS, but I'll figure out MBE one of these days. You can edit phone/datebook with just PST.

Install EMS, and then use it to open the .ems file you made with PST. Here is where you can then add a picture(s), make it a GIF file 120 x 160 pixels, 64 colors (maybe more colors possibly, but I know 64 works). Add it to the Images column and then save the .ems file. Add pics/ringtones until you're happy with the results.

Now, fire off PST again and open the edited .ems file and write it back to the phone. You're custom images are now in Picture Viewer.

With EMS I could not remove the default pics and ringtones, they don't appear in the .ems file when you read it from the phone. MBE is supposed to let me do that, but I am having trouble reading the .ems file that I already created, so I'm doing something wrong. I'll play with it more later.

Also, the phone occasionally locked up, black screen and I couldn't turn it on. I rebooted the pc, plugged the phone back in, and then re-wrote the datebook back into it and it woke it up and all was well.

Regards

I've been using MBE for a little over a week now and quite like it. I'll probably stick with it over EMS Manager as I've heard that some people in the past got their default ringtones renamed to 001, 002, etc when using EMS and writing back to the phone.

When I try to open the .ems file that I have edited with EMS with the new MBE program I receive the error:

Stream read error

Any thoughts as to why? Perhaps because it was saved in EMS?

TIA

I've never tried that but I suspect that you're right and that it may not be possible to open ems files between the two programs. Maybe someone here can confirm??


EDIT: Was able to download MBE and EMS from here at work and gave it a try...got the same error so it looks like MBE cannot read .ems files that were created with EMS

I'm kind of annoyed that I have to keep rebooting the laptop. For example, after I edit the .ems and go to PST to write it back, I get the error that the phone is not communicating and I should turn it on. I've tried using the 'Restart' icon, which appears to still communicate since the power cycles, but still I cannot get it to write back except by rebooting the PC.

Does anyone have a trick to get around this?

TIA

The phone can display up to 4,096 colors, but most graphic software has choices for the following color depths.... 4bit(16 colors), 8bit (256 colors ), 15bit(32K), 16bit(64K), 24bit (16.7M) and 32bit (4.2M colors).

Just Save them as 120x160 res and 256 color GIFs and you should be ok. Besides, GIF's max color depth is 256. For examples of the pictures I have loaded to my phone (and my EMS file), see... My Graphics there is a link to the ring tones I am using also. The colors are slightly different viewed on the phone vs viewed on the PC, but most of them look good. The BLUE.GIF and LIGHTNING_.GIF have the most noticable difference phone vs PC.


Since I have a SERIAL data cable and it kind of slow, I've made TWO EMS files, One for Graphics Only, and One for RingTones Only. I put 1 ring tone, a small iMelody format ringer (.IMY files listed on
My Ringers), in the EMS file that contains the graphics. The graphics EMS file loads just fine.

However, when there were NO Ringtons in that ems file, PST just told me FAILD as status of RingTones. I did not have to reboot the laptop. I just had to use the "Restart Phone" icon from the tool bar in PST.

And I never had the problem of having to reboot the laptop like you describe. But then again, maybe that is because I have a serial data cable, not usb?

BTW, one thing I do want to share.... When loading ring tones, I ran into a few that "did not work." They were normal MIDI files. I was able to play them on the PC, in EMS Manager, I was able to transfer them to the phone via PST and they would be listed in the phone, but would not play on the phone. It turns out SHORTENING the file name got it them to work... i.e. MissionImpossibleTheme.MID made it to the phone, was listed, but would not play. I Deleted that from phone. Renamed the file on the PC to MissionImpossible.MID. Loaded it onto the phone and now it Plays!

Thanks, Mark..that's some good advice.

I will try some ringtones later. As for the pics, I did the 256 color thing too, but it really didn't make a noticable difference in the picture quality-things just get kind of washed out and brown, but that's okay. At least I'm not paying SnapFish for it.

I did use MBE instead of EMS, but it too did not allow me to edit (read: remove) the default images and ringtones. I remember poking around in Picture Viewer when I bought the phone, and there were maybe 8 images there. Now there are all these little animations of a bird or something, and I don't know how they got there except maybe for the two times I've updated the software by using the Verizon utility (211? 411?? I can't remember really). I wish I could get them out of there. Also, there is a gif file called balloon that appeared in the list of images the first time I read the .ems file from the phone, but I could not see it when I tried to preview it. If I delete it from the list, PST gives me an error when I write back to the phone, so I have to leave that one file alone.

Do you think there is any advantage with using MBE over EMS?

Regards

Yeah, even when saved at 256 colors, the picts look slightly different on the phone's screen vs PC screen. (colors that is...)

I never tried to REMOVE any the graphics and ringtones included with the phone. Those animation images were already on my T730 fresh out of the box. I just added to what was there. I am not sure HOW to back up those default images/ringers or delete them. Sorry.
I have never used MBE as EMS Manager works fine for what I want to do, so I can not comment on one being any better than the other.

I know EMS Manager allows me to EDIT/Create an EMS file for my phone containing my custom ringtones and graphics.
However, Once loaded to the phone, removing the custom ringtones and graphics from the EMS file using EMS Manager does NOT delete them from the phone. Once loaded onto the phone, I must delete the custom ringers or graphics via MediaCenter on the phone if I wish to remove them from the phone.

what kind of cable do i need to have a usb/serial data cable or a service cable????