Update:
I originally had intended to flash the Advantage to Athena Project 4, but during the process, the update failed, but after this potential setback, success!
1. First, I backed up my device with Sprite Backup to a storage card, then hard reset the device to start fresh.
I located an XP box. I have found on all my phones that applying patches or updates has been far more successful than on Vista systems, even with UAC disabled. I ensured that ActiveSync 4.5 was installed and paired with the Advantage.
2. Per the previously mentioned PDF's instructions, I downloaded and installed Microsoft's .NET 2.0 (or greater) Framework on said XP system. I believe the latest is .NET 3.5 SP1.
3. From the PDF links, I obtained the necessary radio ROM update as the AP 4 rom does not come with a radio ROM, so in order for the phone/Wifi to work, I had to implement this step first. Here's a screenshot. The first item flashes the device bootloader ROM to
take better advantage of rom updates and device-to-pc connections. With this Unlocker program run from the PC, it's really as simple as 1,2,3...
4. I then downloaded the
AP 4 Project ROM and add-ons from XDA-Developers and proceeded to follow the PDF instructions.
Unfortunately (actually fortunately, more on that later), the update failed at 1% with a particular error message that appeared on the PC after 1% of the ROM had been updated. Consequently, the device was now in an unbootable state as after trolling XDA-
Developers I found that I had to download an intermediate special AP 3 ROM as outlined
here. Thanks to the radio ROM update, pressing the camera button and soft reset puts the device into an ROM update mode that connects via USB, which I then did. I then downloaded the ap3newspl.zip file, and ran the program, and successfully flashed the ROM. Here's what a ROM flash progress bar looks like:
5. To ensure I could get back to the stock ROM, I reflashed with HTC's ROM off their site, and this worked like a charm. However, to test the AP3, I had to reflash the radio ROM as described in step 3.
6. As I mentioned before, I consider it a blessing in disguise that the AP4 update failed.
On the XDA-Developer site I came across some thread/posts describing how the AP4 ROM was partly based of the X7510's ROM, and that it had a larger partition size that the ROM update adjusted. What this means is that, at present, if you update to AP4, it is IMPOSSIBLE to downgrade your ROM back to stock. This was for me a show-stopper, as I certainly didn't want to permanently lock myself into an custom ROM (though further reading indicated it MAY be possible to get from AP4 to AP3 with some difficulty). Fortunately, I read up on the earlier AP3 ROM, which was backwards convertible to the stock ROM, so I elected to try that.
7. I downloaded the ROM and accessories from
this thread, and proceeded to make the attempt again. There was a few tense minutes, but then the bar progress advanced and after a few minute completed. Presto, a custom ROM!
Here you can see what the boot and screens of Athena Project 3 (Black Dual) look like:
Initial boot screen. This replaces the stark white HTC screen.
The OS boot screen, instead of Microsoft's green screen. NB: This changes depending on the DPI you have set. In this case it is the 192 dpi. For 128 or 96 dpi the screens had different graphics and a notation of the current dpi set in the included RealVGA app.
Here is the "stock" AP3 screen.
Followed by ROM/Radio version confirmation.
The Dialer has been slight modified. Note the Video Call button.
The ROM included the TekSoft keboard app. Quite large at 192 dpi!
A new app called Audio Manager was included that bypassed the default Media Player.
For kicks I changed the res to 92 dpi. Now I could see all the programs at once.
There were sundry accessory applications included in the addons file. I installed all of them to gauge their benefit.
Here's the desktop with HTC Home app.
The modified start menu. I didn't care for it myself initially, though I adapted faster than I thought I would. I'd spent too many years going down the menu to have to relearn looking for folders along the top of the menu.:)
Boot time IS noticeably faster, and many of the included apps were very nice. But I kept thinking to myself: If I simply installed some of these apps on the stock ROM, wouldn't I get the bulk of the same benefits? The updated radio ROM, while it was developed to improve reception, nevertheless had a drawback in that bluetooth audio quality was somewhat degraded. For my present use, this wouldn't be a problem for me as I tend to use the X7501 more for internet connectivity than as a phone or mp3/radio player via BT. GPS responsiveness was on par with the stock ROM, but worked flawlessly once it started going. It took a looong time to get a satellite fix the first time.:new_sleep
Many of the accessory apps are designed to run at 96 dpi, which is a bit small for my tastes. I don't have a problem reading the fonts, but some of the buttons seem too small for convenient touch-screen use. A better compromise IMHO is 128 dpi (btw...don't try Pocket Plus on it...their icons won't render correctly), but at 128 dpi and 192 dpi some of the app icons or text get cut off or are too large, and the default COMM Manager get positively mangled at 96 or 128. The new start menu font is unworkable at 192 dpi, though in all honesty I didn't delve too deeply seeing if I could better configure it. I just wanted to do a quick eval.In fairness to the AP3 developers, this is not the fault of the ROM, just the way the apps render via RealVGA.
It's quite impressive how well the XDA-Developers community meshes and puts out some high-quality products that are free for public consumption (though paypal donations are always a good thing to encourage them) and cross-development.
For the most part, I found the AP3 ROM snappy and responsive, but as I mentioned before, I felt my stock ROM was pretty decent, stable and lean to begin with, so after all was said and done I decided to return back to my old ROM for the time being. So here I am, back on my old stock ROM, and happy as a clam. I think Bigtsr hit the nail on the head when he said "if it ain't broke, don't fix it".:approve: There are some improvements, but they are incremental ones, not revolutionary ones. Personally, I think my X7501 has been among the most stable of any of the pocket pcs I've toyed with.
Black is okay for some themes, but I prefer mine a bit brighter.
As an aside, one thing put me off in reading some of the posts...some of the more seasoned members there were either downright rude or condescending to other posters seeking help. I understand the potential frustration in dealing with people unfamiliar with the processes or nuances of the applications (shoot, I work in a multimedia/software development environment), but that kind of behavior tends to drive away members and suppress newbie learning.
Apologies...I will now get off my awkwardly segued soapbox.
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