Hacking the HTC Advantage for Windows Mobile 6.1
The HTC Advantage has been one of my favorite mobile gadgets for months and ZDNet blogger Matt Miller has often told me the same. When the new model, the x7510 was announced this year a couple of improvements cranked up the lust factor for that new model. First and foremost was the inclusion of the new Windows Mobile 6.1 which adds a ton of usability improvements to the aging OS. Second was the ability for the screen to auto-rotate between portrait and landscape like that famous fruit phone. And thirdly was the inclusion of the as yet unreleased Opera Mobile 9.5 which looks superb.
Matt is not one to wait for a device to actually be released before getting his hands dirty so this weekend he's spent hacking upgrading his Advantage to the same ROM level as the newer one through the very nice project at XDA Developers, the Athena Project. Matt has posted about that experience and even shot a video of his "new" Advantage to get everyone's appetite for this new version properly whetted. Matt's enthusiasm for this new version running WM 6.1 was so great that I must admit I bit off the project for my own Advantage. Let me tell you, Opera Mobile 9.5 absolutely rocks and comes the closest yet to providing the Safari/ iPhone browsing experience. 'Nuff said.
Photo courtesy of The Mobile Gadgeteer
UPDATE: The Mobile Gadgeteer has removed their post that is linked to in this piece.
Agreed but anyone who hasn't done this yet may want to wait until the revised AP 4.1 is out shortly which addresses a few bugs/memory issues with this release.
Also, anyone tempted by this must READ UP as there are a number of things to address before flashing this new Rom.
That being said I'm running 4.0 just now and it is very good indeed!
Posted by: Gavin Miller | May 04, 2008 at 07:44 AM
Gavin, are you seeing system slowdowns that just appear and then go away? I'm thinking it's the MiniSD card access but I'm not sure.
Posted by: James Kendrick | May 04, 2008 at 08:49 AM
Hi James, I've watched Matt's video and read your post. My own HTC Advantage is conveniently nearby and trying to avoid eye contact with me. Have you lost any functionality in the HTC by doing the ROM upgrade? Have you encountered any problems since the upgrade. I know about the risks and not asking you to recommend, but all I ask is having done it to your HTC Advantage, if you had another one, would you want to upgrade it too?
Posted by: Taxman | May 04, 2008 at 08:59 AM
Oh, and do I have to be running Activesync on a Windows PC to do the upgrade?
Posted by: Taxman | May 04, 2008 at 09:00 AM
Taxman, I haven't noticed any lost functionality and the only issue I've seen is intermittent system slowdowns. I don't know what is causing those yet.
If I had another Advantage here I'd probably wait until version 4.1 like Gavin mentioned. I simply haven't run this long enough to feel strongly about it yet.
Posted by: James Kendrick | May 04, 2008 at 09:03 AM
James
It may be the free memory with this release. Are you seeing it with a few Apps open? Also, some of the cabs, like the Manila dialler are very memory intensive.
There is a cache memory tweak I applied which I'll look up and post back, and I've been running nicely since then, whereas before Opera would sometimes bug out.
Also, worth nothing that the changes that this version does to the Advantage are (currently) non reversible and you therefore cannot 'downgrade' to an operator or other rom. I know this is being worked on but worth bearing in mind if you are still under Warranty!
Posted by: Gavin Miller | May 04, 2008 at 09:33 AM
Gavin, I look forward to the memory tweak you mentioned to get this thing sorted out. Good point that this is not reversible so folks should be warned.
Posted by: James Kendrick | May 04, 2008 at 09:49 AM
Found it!
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=2152430&postcount=243
Try this James. The Schaps config tool has some useful general tweaks in it also.
Hope this helps.
Posted by: Gavin Miller | May 04, 2008 at 10:41 AM
Thanks Gavin! A few tweaks have already improved things. What a comprehensive (and scary) utility. :)
Posted by: James Kendrick | May 04, 2008 at 11:56 AM
I haven't noticed any loss of functionality and every application I have tried works fine. I am even able to connect to my new REDFLY (arrived today), use the latest Skyfire beta (although it is a little slow), and switch to high res version (128 dpi) with RealVGA. I am also running Spb Backup, SplashMoney, TeleNav (GPS works fine), eWallet 6, HanDBase, iFitOne, and Agenda One.
Posted by: Matthew Miller (aka palmsolo) | May 04, 2008 at 01:15 PM
Man, I dunno what HTC's definition of 'long term loan' is but I want that dictionary the next time I rent a movie!
One year ago: "HTC will send you the new Advantage to review right after we get it back from JK. It shouldn't be much longer."
Are you gonna buy one, James? Or will you just trade it for the new model when HTC comes a knockin? :D
This is the way to do mobile tech, people. Get it from the manufacturer and hack away! Priceless! :D
Posted by: Frankie | May 04, 2008 at 05:43 PM
How long did it take to complete all the steps? Is it adding to the risk if I use a Mac running windows in Parallels to do the install?
Posted by: Taxman | May 04, 2008 at 09:27 PM
It took several hours but please be clear I am not recommending anyone do this as it is not reversible. If you have problems you CANNOT go back to the original WM5 ROM. I would not do it under Parallels just in case.
Posted by: James Kendrick | May 04, 2008 at 09:49 PM
How did you get Skyfire to run on the Advantage?
I didn't think it worked on VGA devices and it certainly isn't working on mine!
Thanks.
Posted by: Marc G | August 25, 2008 at 06:53 AM