hi all, new to this pda, just recieved my axim x3i wi fi.
may seem like a daft question, but how is the operating system stored on these pda's, and can a new system be installed, say for instance if a new version comes out, say 2004 pocket pc.
how does one install it, and CAN it be installed by the owner or do you need special equipment etc.
any input appreciated, very newbie here...thanks anyone.
smedley..
The OS is stored on flash read-only memory. This is very similar to the way the BIOS is stored on a PC. Normally, it's designed so it cannot be erased or over written but, just like you can flash a new BIOS to your PC, a new OS can be flashed to the PPC. When new versions come out (Dell has released several for the X5 over the past year), it is an executable file which runs on your PC and copies the new OS onto the ROM of your PPC via an ActiveSync connection.
Since all the device drivers for the PPC's built-in hardware are part of the OS, you need to use the OS from the manufacturer. This is the reason you will not see M$ selling updates.
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Originally posted by smedley hi all, new to this pda, just recieved my axim x3i wi fi.
may seem like a daft question, but how is the operating system stored on these pda's, and can a new system be installed, say for instance if a new version comes out, say 2004 pocket pc.
how does one install it, and CAN it be installed by the owner or do you need special equipment etc.
any input appreciated, very newbie here...thanks anyone.
smedley..
Smedly,
Not a daft question at all. In fact that very same situation occurred over the summer. The X5 was original shipped with PPC2002. Over the summer, the 2003 version was released. Eventually, Dell released an upgrade CD that enabled current X5 users to upgrade their OS.
The OS and applications are stored in the Axim's Flash ROM. Like traditional ROM, the contents are not lost when no power is supplied. ROM contents survive dead batteries, hard resets, etc. Flash ROM however, can be rewritten, as well.
Any time Dell has to release a patch of either the Operating System, an Application or Driver, they release a new ROM file. The entire ROM is re-written. Therefore, the process for upgrading the entire operating system is no different from updating a single driver. In either case, the entire ROM is re-written.
I believe there have been a total of 6 ROM releases made for the X5 series (A0 thru A5), so it is highly likely there will be some for the X3 line, as well.
Thank you ikehiker, and everyone else, that made very interesting reading, at least i know now where the op system is stored...so i was wondering, if its like a bios flash, i know guys who have "flashed" bios's on thier pc's, and ended up with a pc that doesnt boot.!
can things like this sort of go wrong "flashing" a PDA.?? or does it usually work perfect if the flash is from the manufacturer.?
i would be very wary of doing any memory flashing myself, if it did go wrong would your pda still be under warranty i wonder.
sorry for so many questions, but no-one else to ask here.
thanks for the input all.
wilol check back later to see if any reply's
Trust me, when it's coming you'll know. Neither Dell nor MS will send you a letter (just like if you're running Win2k, you didn't get a letter for XP) but they make it well known through other sources such as the Internet.
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Originally posted by smedley ...so i was wondering, if its like a bios flash, i know guys who have "flashed" bios's on thier pc's, and ended up with a pc that doesnt boot.!
can things like this sort of go wrong "flashing" a PDA.?? or does it usually work perfect if the flash is from the manufacturer.?
An upgrade can go badly but based on the number of people complaining about an upgrade failure here, it has been pretty rare (I think we hear about problems here about as much as Dell CS).
Based on the problems I've read about, most of the people that had problems had 'flakey' ActiveSync connections before they tried the upgrade or they interupted the transfer before it was finished. A few people also tried to upgrade to a different OS language and that caused some failures, too.
I've upgraded my X5 from A00 to A02 to A03 and now A04 (PPC02 - not the WM03-A04) and had no problems with any of these.
__________________ -Ike-
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Things can wrong during the flash... it happened to a few folks around here from time to time. It appears there is a procedure that you can use to revive your axim if that happens. It involves copying a ROM image to a compact flash card, and executing a certain set of keypress combinations...
great feedback, thanx, i guess its one of them things you just have to trust goes ok, and dont do a flash sinc via infra red, do it hard wired via the usb for safety sake maybe.!
one other thing, i have just recieved my x3i wi fi today with pocket 2003, will it be dead up to date, or are there any critical updates for it already, any ideas, thanks.
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