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> Review of WM 5 upgrade for MPX200
samdogg
post Dec 19 2005, 02:40 AM
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Hey folks,

I'm more of an observer than a poster, but I felt it was my duty to show (not brag, lol) another successful installation and review of WM 5 tongue.gif

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Of course I did not find this upgrade myself. I accepted darkoverlord's offer, except you dont have to send your phone in now, he will supply you with the goodies. Now I will try give an honest review of this highly sought out operating system.


First off to all those stupid people who thought it couldn't be done. It has, and it already was done. We first saw it a couple of months ago in a post by muchomorek, and then again in another post, darkoverlord installed the damn thing himself. Now, how he got a hold of it, I have no clue. The Mpx200 was the test unit for WM 5 by Microsoft from what I have seen and heard from alot of different websites. I guess, this is so, because if you can run the OS on this phone and keep it stable and fast, then it probably wll run better on all other SmartPhones released after it.

Install (For any one who cares):

I dont know if this is the way they install it at Microsoft or if this was darkoverlord's own custom way, but I didnt not use the Motorola Upgrade wizard at all. Basically I was given 3 bin files and a custom flash program (maybe made by darkoverlord) that you run using command prompt on your computer.

First off, the hardware fingerprint darkoverlord was talking about, its tied to the computer your installing from. The first time I ran the flash program, it gave me a hardware code, generated by my computer. I gave this code to Mr. Dark, and he generated a hardware key for my computer, which I never had to enter again. So basically I could install WM 2005 on any MPX200 phone from my computer, as many times as I wanted.

The only thing is, I am guessing if the hardware fingerprint is tied to your OS, then if you reinstall windows on your computer, you have to get another hardware key from Mr. Dark. Now, if the hardware fingerprint is ACTUALLY tied to your computer's hardware, then you shouldnt have this problem, and once you enter the key, you never have to enter it again. BTW, just a note, you have to have at least a 32MB SD, as some of you suspected. I had a 1 GB SD card.

Phew...now, once I put in the key, it allowed me to access the custom flash program and from there:

- I flashed the phone with the first bin file, WITHOUT the SD card or the SIM.
- Then I had to perform a Master reset.
- Then, flashed the phone with the second bin file, WITH the SD card back in
- Then, flashed the phone with the third bin file
- Then, had to do a soft reset, I think, clicked a couple fo options, and then it formatted the storage card. From there, I booted up and it was all good.


Appearance:

Honestly, the OS is NOT completly different looking, as you guys have probably seen. A little bit of a smaller fonts used here and there. And of course a little bit different graphics used for icons and borders and on screen buttons and what not. The START button has a windows logo by it, and the start menu is now all icons, instead of a list. If you really wanna know, look at the screenshots for yourself. Overall it still looks better then WM 2003.

Functionality:

Well there are good things and bad things, of course. Now, remember, that I received version 5.1.1700.1434. I dont know if this is a final version so things may be different from what other already available WM 5 SmartPhones have or dont have. With that being said:

Good:

- Better Bluetooth support (dont matter)
- Better Camera support (dont matter again)
- New Photo and Video Viewer
- Attatch custom pics and ring tones with contacts, so that when a contact calls, both come up
- New Internet Explorer, with options to save images, music, and sounds.
- Windows Media Player 10 (Essentially the same as previous versions but different looks)
- New MSN bar that can be displayed on the home screen, which gives you icons for hotmail, messenger, and MSN
- MP3 support for ringtones
- Overall faster OS

Forgive me if if I forgot anything, this my first time writing a review of an OS.

Bad:

Now, remember, that I received version 5.1.1700.1434. I dont know if this is a final version so things may be different from what other already available WM 5 SmartPhones have or dont have. With that being said:

- No File Explorer
- No easily accessible battery viewer or memory meter. There is no icons for either. Both of these are hidden in the Settings icon, under "Power Management" and "About"
- No Task manager

Again if I am missing anything please forgive and forget. If anybody has anything
else to add, please do so. As far as the lack of file explorer, Task Manager and batter/memory meter icons, yah it sucks, but I got around this by getting Resco Explorer 2003 5.15 and Resco System Toys 1.20. And if your broke, like me, just download the trial versions from the official site, and google for some serials or cracks. These 2 programs help ALOT, and I recommend them for anyone planning to do this upgrade.

As far as the OS being faster, You MUST use at least a 32 MB SD card. 256 and 1GB card work the best, but DO NOT use a 512 SD card. This OS has a serious issue with that size SD card for some reason. Follow these lines, and WM 5 will perform faster and nicer than WM 2003

Signal/Voice Quality:

When I first got my MPX200, of course it was a US AT&T phone with a AT&T SIM card. At that time I had Cingular, and I had WM 2003. With those 2, I had OK signal and voice quality, with dropped calls every now and then. I never had chance to unlock the phone and test it with T-Mobile. However, before I got the WM 5 upgrade, I switched to T-Mobile (Cingular BTW is *&^%, and is wasting what AT&T had setup before, in my opinion). So Mr.Dark unlocked the phone for me as well, with a program he gave me. Booted up my phone with my T-Mobile SIM, and WM 5, and I noticed a better signal and better voice quality. Now, I am no expert, but the better signal and voice, could be a result of switching to T-mobile, or just because of the area I live at, so I dont know for sure, so dont kill me if anyone else gets different results.

Battery Life:

Havent had the upgrade that long to test battery life, but so far, from what I can tell, it seems to be consuming a little less power. Either way, I dont think it will consume more battery life than 2003. I'll keep you updated.

Last Impression:

Overall I would recommend the OS upgrade if you want more functionality and speed as far as what I described. If you dont wanna bother with flashing the rom or with buying or downloading a couple of apps to fix this OS, then just pass on it. Otherwise, get this nice upgrade, and soon. Hope this review has helped people. You guys know where to get this thing. So good luck. smile.gif

Samdogg


UPDATE 1: Well, as some of you may be aware, there is a new way of installing WM 2005. Basically you have to get the bin files, if you can get a hold of them, and convert them to .img files. next step is to use Motorola Upgrade Wizard and follow basically the same install process, but with using that program. Yep, no hardware fingerprint, no nothing! If your looking to do this upgrade, as usual, google around for the files and the instruction, and you WILL find it. Good luck!

This post has been edited by samdogg: Dec 27 2005, 07:14 PM


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smeg36
post Dec 19 2005, 03:08 AM
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Wow, thanks a lot for the insightful review. That is some great info!


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abatis
post Dec 19 2005, 03:23 AM
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Nice job samdogg. You earn a pin.


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samdogg
post Dec 19 2005, 03:28 AM
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QUOTE (smeg36 @ Dec 19 2005, 03:08 AM)
Wow, thanks a lot for the insightful review.  That is some great info!
*


Thanks Smeg. That's the point of forums. you get help, you should give help too.

Wanted to add a bug I found in WM 5. I have an mp3 that I made myself, set as my ringtone, and when the phone lid is closed and not being used, and someone calls, the mp3 cuts in and out, kind of annoyingly. Not sure if that's a bug or if maybe I should use a lower a bitrate for the mp3 (the mp3 was 128kbs). Maybe that's Microsoft telling me to stick with WMA, huh, lol??? Anywayz, I'll keep you posted.


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KingDaddy
post Dec 19 2005, 12:42 PM
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Very cool:

Drop a font into \Windows\Fonts\ and you can use it in your homescreen!

The system font is Segoe Condensed, I like it!

I can't seem to make anything new the system font, but I haven't tried too hard. The registry won't let me change the key.

I think the possible slowness comes from everything running from the SD card. A fast SD card would almost definitely improve things. I'm using the card that the free Clearvue apps came on a couple years ago. It works great. I think it's an MMC.

The entire file system resides on the SD card. I couldn't delete any shortcuts from the Start Menu so I popped the card into a card reader and deleted them that way.

Sprite Backup won't run right in "local" mode. There's no "Mounted Volume" so it will probably only back up to and restore from the PC. I don't use it this way so I can't test it.

The StartMRU looks to be consistent between soft resets. Strange!

The phone app is visible in Resco Task Manager. Don't kill it unless you know how to restart it! I don't...

Maybe more observations later.


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neostar
post Dec 19 2005, 02:16 PM
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I also went with good old darky's offer, so I thought I would put my ten cents into the fold.

I am using a 256mb SD card, and its sluggish at times, but overall pretty good. I have to say my MPX200 has always been a bit hesitent at time regardless of what OS is on. I'm not sure how fast the MPX200's SD card slot reads or how fast my SD card is so like everyone else I can't comment on using a better one. Mine is a proper SD card though not MMC.

I really like the new UI, I also love the new txt message system that brings up a list of words, as below:



It works great with ActiveSync 4.1 but is slow to synchronise. Now its the first time I have sync'd with an exchange server rather than the local computer so it might be that rather than the phone.

I'm using a WMA file as my ringtone, and don't have any cut out problems with that.

I have sent some txt's and made a couple of phone calls. Everything is working ok, and as yet the phone has not crashed.

It takes a while to startup and shutdown, but once again the SD card might come into that.

All in all I think this runs better than both WM2002/2003 and there are definitley less bugs than 2003, the most welcome thing being the battery life seems better.

I think this is a big F you to the manufacturers who won't offer WM5 upgrades claiming hardware issues. If one of the oldest smartphones there is can run it, i'm sure devices less than a year old will manage.

Dan
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KingDaddy
post Dec 19 2005, 04:12 PM
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WM10 lets you fast-forward. I think that's a HUGE improvement.


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samdogg
post Dec 19 2005, 05:28 PM
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Sweet!

Even though its nice to be one of the few people that have this OS on an MPX 200, It's also nice to see other people have it. Enjoy it folks, Basically were are like Microsoft developers. Seriously not that many people have it, probably less than 50!

UPDATE 2:

Those hardware keys, from what Mr.Dark told me, are tied to our hardware, acting as if it was a developers hardware. So I guess as long as you dont change major components of your configuration, you can reformat your computer as much as you want, and you can still flash your phone with the WM 5 image. ^*&& yah.


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samdogg
post Dec 19 2005, 05:38 PM
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UPDATE #3:

As far as slowness in the OS, you all know that in my review, I had used a 2 year old MMC card, when Mr. Dark said use an SD. He confirmed to me that indeed your OS will go slower with an MMC. I also confirmed this because as some of you may know, at the time when this phone was made, SD cards were faster than MMC, so this phone, when I get an SD card, will benefit from it. Again Dark said that found that 256MB and 1GB cards work very well, but for some reason 512mb cards are not as good. So beware. It also may depend on the maker of the SD card. Stick with the best, obviously, Kingston, SanDisk, etc...

Now I did see however, that there are new MMC cards that are coming out, that are faster than SD cards, but most likely the reader/writer in the mpx200, wont take advantage of this extra speed, as it is an old writer/reader. If anyone else has anythign to add please do so....


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MPX200 unlocked with WM 5 and T-Mobile

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samdogg
post Dec 20 2005, 08:13 AM
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UPDATE #4


As expected, using an MMC card will slow your @$$ down whem using WM 5. However, anybody thinking about using a 512 SD card...PEOPLE, I'M WARNING YOU, DONT USE IT.....I had one laying around, and decided to use it, because it's not like darkoverlord tried every different manufacturer of the 512 SD card. I had a Panasonic. The install went fine, but when it came time for the first boot up, it just plain didnt. I tried over and over again and out of 10 tries (Meaning pulling out the battery and putting it back in) I only got it to boot 1 time. Not my kinda numbers. Just stick with any size other than 512, and you will be fine. More to come.


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neostar
post Dec 20 2005, 09:35 AM
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Yeah I tried a viking 512MB SD Card first and it didn't want to know. Its strange really given the fact a 1gig card works so its not a problem with the size of teh cards.

I would also like to update that so far the battery is holding out very well especially since I have been playing with the OS a lot.

The old MPX200 must have the most revisions of a smartphone OS released compared to any other phone.

I'm really surprised MS didn't test WM5 on the MPX220 given the fact the hardware was more potent and it has both bluetooth and a camera.

Dan
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neostar
post Dec 20 2005, 11:52 AM
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*UPDATE*

I read during the review of the Orange c600 that the phone is quicker if you turn off 'error reporting'

I have just turned it off, but haven't had time to see whether it makes a difference.

Anyone else tried?

Dan
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zlonx
post Dec 20 2005, 01:22 PM
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VERY NICE JOB YOU GUYS!

cant wait to try it on my MPx200, if only i know were to get this stuff!

Q: does 2003 programs run smooth on this OS?
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hyper
post Dec 20 2005, 08:10 PM
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Dear samdogg!

As far as I have understood you could install in the mpx200 WM 5.0. I had many questions.
In the first - where it is possible download OS with WM 5.0 for mpx200? What is necessary a key for installation OS?
And where (at whom) it is possible download? The sequence of actions of installation Also interests.

Thanks you, I hope for understanding.

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darkoverlord
post Dec 21 2005, 03:17 AM
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Nice Job Guys, I am happy to see that you are happy with the OS.

Error Reporting should be turned off, as it will give you better battery life, and overall performance.

Keep up the good work.


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SyubSnunb
post Dec 22 2005, 12:20 AM
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I've also got WM5 running on my mpx200. I've got sluggish response sometimes. Probably due to my use of a 64MB miniSD card. I'm going to invest in a SanDisk 1GB card in the next week. Overall I havn't seen much difference in battery life or signal, but I've only had it up for a few days now.
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donZe
post Dec 22 2005, 11:46 AM
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And is it possible to go back to 2003 once you have intalled WM5?

I really need to know (my mpx200 is my only phone at the moment and if I do sth wrong I would like to know if it is undoable)

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AndrewSh
post Dec 24 2005, 07:20 AM
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QUOTE (darkoverlord @ Dec 21 2005, 05:17 AM)
...Error Reporting should be turned off, as it will give you better battery life, and overall performance....
*

The Windows works pretty nice.
The only issue for me at the moment - how to unlock registry edit? I am from the Russian part of the world - so it's important for me to have the Russian text input. OK, I know how to do that but I need the registry editing feature enabled to complete the operation...
So, any ideas?
Thanx in advance and for sure Merry X'mas!


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sofene
post Dec 25 2005, 05:08 PM
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QUOTE (AndrewSh @ Dec 24 2005, 07:20 AM)
The Windows works pretty nice.
The only issue for me at the moment - how to unlock registry edit? I am from the Russian part of the world - so it's important for me to have the Russian text input. OK, I know how to do that but I need the registry editing feature enabled to complete the operation...
So, any ideas?
Thanx in advance and for sure Merry X'mas!
*
Do you have phm regedit installed? You should be able to do registry edit with that.
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smart-turk
post Dec 25 2005, 05:37 PM
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well in Turkey we made this upgrade succesfully and made a movie for this. It is not very very hard if you watch this movie and also you don't need any keys for installation.

Sorry i am new and dont know the rule about NOT to add rom hosting site link.You can send private message to me to have the link.

This post has been edited by smart-turk: Dec 25 2005, 06:52 PM
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