T-Mobile Wing - My Tweak roundup for July 24th

I reviewed the tweaks I have made on my Wing so far. Here is a summary of what I have implemented so far to make the Wing the best Windows Mobile Phone I have used to date. I added  a "My WM Tweaks" as a category, going forward my tweaks will be easy to find. As always with any tweak use them carefully and at your own risk.

At the top of the list is modifying the page pool. This tweak makes all the difference in the Wing's usability. I still don't understand why T-Mobile has not issued an update, I am sure they are monitoring the forums and know that it works. The instructions from Paul at MoDaCo can be found here with my post on the subject here. Paul's instruction vary slightly for the Wing. The starting of Part02 of my ROM starts at hex 0x39d0000 instead of 0x40d2000 (yours should be the same but double check it) and the direct address to modify my ROM is 0037B55A instead of 0037B558 (yours should be the same but double check it). I modified it to 00 00 60 00 which equates to a 6MB page pool. With this page pool size my Wing has been very stable.

The next item is increasing the processor speed and thus increasing the performance of the Wing. Most processors today provide a system level call for software to modify the clock speed. This is very important to help with battery life. The lower the clock speed, the less current is drawn from the battery which increases it lifespan between charges. Manufacturers recommend and warranty their processor at a maximum clock speed. Texas Instruments has rated the OMAP 850 processor in the Wing at a maximum 201MHZ clock speed. However the processor can run at higher clock speeds; this is called overclocking. As you increase clock speed, you increase the processor performance. This increases the amount of heat generated by the processor. If the processor generates to much heat for a prolonged amount of time, the heat will destroy it. The manufacturers try to balance processor life, execution speed, and battery usage. In the OMAP 850's case, I personally believe Texas Instruments is being too conservative with 201MHZ and I decided to risk my Wing's processor life to increase its performance. I have no idea how much I am decreasing its life but given the 12  to 18 month lifespan of these devices I can't say I am too worried. I am currently running the Wing at clock speed of 260MHZ, but only when it is awake. In stand by mode it reverts back to 201MHZ or less based on Windows Mobile's speed/power management scheme. To accomplish this overclocking, I use a great little Today Screen plug in called Battery Status (here is my post on it). BatteryStatus can be found here. The application has been nominated to Smartphone and Pocket PC Magazine's Best Software Award 2007 preliminary list.are Award 2007 preliminary list. It deserves to win.

Registry Tweaks:

I use C. Ghisler & Co. Total Commander version 2.0 to edit the registry. For novices I recommend using PHM's Registry Editor found here. It works like the desktop regedit. As with any changes to the registry, you must be very careful making your modifications.

Removing the Today Screen Tray

Delete the following key and perform a soft boot.

\HKLM\init\Launch92 string value Trayap.exe

 Enhanced File System Performance

Registry: HKLM\System\StorageManager\FATFS
Key: CacheSize (dWord)
Default: 0 (I am not sure what this equates to, the valid values I know about are 4096, 8192, 16384)
My Value: 8192

Store IE cache on Storage Card

Registry: HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\fCurrentVersion\Explorer\shell Folders
Key: Cache (string)
Default: Program Memory
My Value: \Storage Card\Temporary Internet Files

Remove or modify the startup jingle on a soft boot

Registry: HKLM\SOFTWARE\HTC\StartupAnimation
Key: Enable (dWord)
Values: 0 = jingle off 1 = jingle on

Key: Volume (dWord)
Default: 127
Values: 16 - 200 

You can also modify the sound and animation by changing the WAV and GIF files in these two keys.

Registry: HKLM\SOFTWARE\HTC\StartupAnimation
Key:  WAVFile (SZ String Value)
Default: \Windows\T-Mobile startup.wav

Key: GIFFile (SZ String Value)
Default: \Windows\TMO_Startup.gif

I reviewed the tweaks I have made on my Wing so far. Here is a summary of what I have implemented so far to make the Wing the best Windows Mobile Phone I have used to date. I added  a "My WM Tweaks" as a category, going forward my tweaks will be easy to find. As always with any tweak use them carefully and at your own risk.

At the top of the list is modifying the page pool. This tweak makes all the difference in the Wing's usability. I still don't understand why T-Mobile has not issued an update, I am sure they are monitoring the forums and know that it works. The instructions from Paul at MoDaCo can be found here with my post on the subject here. Paul's instruction vary slightly for the Wing. The starting of Part02 of my ROM starts at hex 0x39d0000 instead of 0x40d2000 (yours should be the same but double check it) and the direct address to modify my ROM is 0037B55A instead of 0037B558 (yours should be the same but double check it). I modified it to 00 00 60 00 which equates to a 6MB page pool. With this page pool size my Wing has been very stable.

The next item is increasing the processor speed and thus increasing the performance of the Wing. Most processors today provide a system level call for software to modify the clock speed. This is very important to help with battery life. The lower the clock speed, the less current is drawn from the battery which increases it lifespan between charges. Manufacturers recommend and warranty their processor at a maximum clock speed. Texas Instruments has rated the OMAP 850 processor in the Wing at a maximum 201MHZ clock speed. However the processor can run at higher clock speeds; this is called overclocking. As you increase clock speed, you increase the processor performance. This increases the amount of heat generated by the processor. If the processor generates to much heat for a prolonged amount of time, the heat will destroy it. The manufacturers try to balance processor life, execution speed, and battery usage. In the OMAP 850's case, I personally believe Texas Instruments is being too conservative with 201MHZ and I decided to risk my Wing's processor life to increase its performance. I have no idea how much I am decreasing its life but given the 12  to 18 month lifespan of these devices I can't say I am too worried. I am currently running the Wing at clock speed of 260MHZ, but only when it is awake. In stand by mode it reverts back to 201MHZ or less based on Windows Mobile's speed/power management scheme. To accomplish this overclocking, I use a great little Today Screen plug in called Battery Status (here is my post on it). BatteryStatus can be found here. The application has been nominated to Smartphone and Pocket PC Magazine's Best Software Award 2007 preliminary list.are Award 2007 preliminary list. It deserves to win.

Registry Tweaks:

I use C. Ghisler & Co. Total Commander version 2.0 to edit the registry. For novices I recommend using PHM's Registry Editor found here. It works like the desktop regedit. As with any changes to the registry, you must be very careful making your modifications.

Removing the Today Screen Tray

Delete the following key and perform a soft boot.

\HKLM\init\Launch92 string value Trayap.exe

 Enhanced File System Performance

Registry: HKLM\System\StorageManager\FATFS
Key: CacheSize (dWord)
Default: 0 (I am not sure what this equates to, the valid values I know about are 4096, 8192, 16384)
My Value: 8192

Store IE cache on Storage Card

Registry: HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\fCurrentVersion\Explorer\shell Folders
Key: Cache (string)
Default: Program Memory
My Value: \Storage Card\Temporary Internet Files

Remove or modify the startup jingle on a soft boot

Registry: HKLM\SOFTWARE\HTC\StartupAnimation
Key: Enable (dWord)
Values: 0 = jingle off 1 = jingle on

Key: Volume (dWord)
Default: 127
Values: 16 - 200 

You can also modify the sound and animation by changing the WAV and GIF files in these two keys.

Registry: HKLM\SOFTWARE\HTC\StartupAnimation
Key:  WAVFile (SZ String Value)
Default: \Windows\T-Mobile startup.wav

Key: GIFFile (SZ String Value)
Default: \Windows\TMO_Startup.gif

Comments

[Billy]

See, that page pool tweak is definitely something I want to try but it seems a little complicated and time consuming. I'd do it if somebody was willing to walk me through it, though. I don't know if T-Mobile will actually update the thing, so I'll probably give it a try sometime.

[Stephen Skarlatos]

The process should not take more than 30 minutes. However you should fammiliarize yourself with the tools first. You can educate yourself at no risk through the hex editing process (through step 4), since reading the ROM from the Wing will not impact its configuration. You do not want to write the ROM back (Step 5) to the wing until you are comfortable with the entire process.

The bottom line is that you need to follow the instructions very carefully and do not skip any of the steps.

[Josh]

Thanks! this stuff is very useful. Ive been using my wing for almost a month and i absolutely hate it but i think these tweaks will ease the pain. Is there anyway to disable the talk and ignore buttons(on screen buttons too) while the phone is locked? i use the case that came with the phone and everytime the phone rings the call is either answered or ignored when i pull the phone out of it's case.

[Stephen Skarlatos]

To get around that problem I use a BT headset, however it looks like Screen Guard may have the functionality you are looking for. It is currently in beta for WM5 and WM6. Here is the link http://www.pocketmax.net/smf/index.php?PHPSESSID=da5459e6aadc9c38d5a74b0276782091&topic=3894.0.

[Mike D]

Increase the Call Volume - I'm looking for a hack to increase my call volume on my Wing. I've found a link that takes me into the registry but the channel values are not present..arrrrg! Must be a WM6 thing. Can you offer any help. I'd like the call volume to be greater in my Blue Tooth Headset as well as my ear piece on my phone. Thanks.