x50 english rom to x50 japanese rom

Kaician · 05-12-05, 04:58 PM

After months of waiting and anticipation, the japanese rom update for the x50v finally came out. I knew once it did I would drop everything and wouldn't stop till it was on my axim, which is actually exactly what happened today...

Firstly, for those interested, the Japanese rom is actually at Dell America first. The address is for the x50v, or you can go through the website and pick the one that you need.

Now, the conversion explanation.

You better be careful because if you mess this up you turn you axim into a brick, though there are a bunch of checks so it should be ok.

1.Take a hex editor (if you don't know what that is, time to study up before you try) and copy the first 32 blocks of the english rom.

2.Then open the japanese rom (AximX50v_A01JA.img) and overwrite the first 32 blocks of it with the blocks from the english version.

3.Save the newely edited japanese rom as the same name from the original english rom file (AximX50v_A03EN.IMG).

4.Take the new file and replace the original english rom file. Go through the installer as normal and it should have no trouble.

A note of caution. When I flashed my rom to a different version, the first blue screen took like 10-15 mins to go past and it was slow for a bit as well, but now works at perfect speed. Just a note so you don't think you bricked your axim when you probably didn't...

This should work for the x50 also, just make sure that you pick the right rom version or else you could cause some serious damage.

Also, make sure that you have a good working axim as well, because doing this voids your warranty (though if you do have trouble later you can just reverse the process and reflash the english rom and nobody will be the wiser.)

Note that this can be used for any rom language exchange as the process pretty much allows the roms to be interchangable, just make sure to get the rom verions that you need to make the switch.

On a side note, I would like to flip Zicorp a big fat bird for not bringing out Decuma Japanese handwriting recognition software. Their loss, their were multitudes of people who wanted to buy their software, but they didn't care. So now, glad I don't have to deal with them anymore. So Zicorp, this little guide is dedicated to you...

05-12-05, 05:10 PM

great tut! This should work going from/to any language ROM. By first 32 blocks though what do you mean? First 32 bytes?

Kaician · 05-12-05, 05:59 PM

To tell you the truth I only learned about hex editing when I wanted to flash my old h2210, so I only know extremly basically what is being represented on screen, but it is the first 32 items in the hex string. if anyone else can explain it better, please take a crack at it...

Enragin_Angel · 05-12-05, 06:47 PM

Wow, I've totally been looking for this, but the whole brick thing deters me from trying it. Can you recommend some hex editors or provide a step by step process using the hex editor you used? I really want Japanese input, but I also don't want a brick. Thanks in advance :)

05-12-05, 06:57 PM

well if its the first 32 hex chars then its the first 16 bytes (1 hex character = 4 bits, 8 bits = 1 byte). Hex Workshop is a great hex editor.

ed209 · 05-12-05, 08:37 PM

Nice work there Kaician, I've been looking to do something like this for a while now. Just curious though, how well do things work in True VGA mode? I'm guessing the box for inputing Japanese is the same size as the default inputs on the English side of things, but if you've tried things in True VGA mode, I'd like to hear how it's working for you.

Kaician · 05-12-05, 09:12 PM

Actually, the boxes for input don't even appear in TVGA, it just goes back to the resco keyboard I have installed. I don't know what it would be like if that wasn't on there, but i'm not really game to find out...

zh25 · 05-13-05, 10:36 PM

Originally Posted by Enragin_Angel

Wow, I've totally been looking for this, but the whole brick thing deters me from trying it. Can you recommend some hex editors or provide a step by step process using the hex editor you used? I really want Japanese input, but I also don't want a brick. Thanks in advance :)

At First I should thanks Kaician as I done it successful just 1 minutes ago. About the hex editor,Bz162 is the best one you should have.(free software)

prowang · 05-15-05, 03:32 AM

thanks Kaician again..I did the upgrade from A03 of english to A01 of chinese. There is another problem is when using the frist 32 bytes of a03 rom file, because my x50 is already at A03 version, the upgrade program said they are the same version and can't continue. So I first down-grade to A02 and then the upgrade is sucessful..
Thanks a million..

dePrins · 05-28-05, 05:27 PM

Hi all,

Does someone know if there is a dutch language file/update for the AXIM 50V?

I allready update it from Spanish to English, due to the nice words of Kaician. :approve:

Thanx

dePrins

ndepuy · 05-30-05, 06:47 PM

Ok guys, this may sound like a silly question but what does having a rom for a different language do for you? Does it just change the language the pda uses or does it make it bi-lingual? I just stumbled across this thread looking for something else so forgive my ignorance.

05-30-05, 11:32 PM

Originally Posted by Kaician

A note of caution. When I flashed my rom to a different version, the first blue screen took like 10-15 mins to go past and it was slow for a bit as well, but now works at perfect speed. Just a note so you don't think you bricked your axim when you probably didn't...

Man, I thought u meant the blue ROM flashing screen but am glad I waiting about 10 mins for the first DELL blue screen after hard resetting. I REALLY thought I bricked my Axim.

どもありがとう。　このガイドは本当によくできてってやくだってる。^＿^

Kaician · 05-31-05, 12:17 PM

Changing the rom changes both the interface, as well as the tools you have for interacting with the pda. for roms with romance languages it may change some of the characters on the keyboard, allowing you to write words from those languages easily. For those languages that don't use roman alphabets, it usually gives you access to handwriting input, which generally tends to be more convenient and faster in many circumstances.

Edikus · 06-02-05, 07:03 PM

hello, could someone tell me what i have to edit, i opened both images, and doesn't see a difference between them:

http://www.dellirium.info/rom.JPG

the imgage on the top is from the englisch rom and the bottom from the german one.

Can somebody mark the blocks which i must overwrite?

ErMeglio · 06-13-05, 08:45 AM

Finally it happened I'm really happy :approve:
Thanks Kaician!
@Edikus
There are differences, watch better :)
@All
Ok here we are...little problem...I'm not familiar with the hex editor, I've Winhex and..look at the image and please tell me if this is what I have to do, thanks!!
Screenshot