Black ROM for WM6 - Advantage X7500, MDA Ameo Upgrading

Is anyone using the black rom on their ATHENA/ADVANTAGE/AMEO WITHOUT issues. I have been reading the threads and am a little leary since most people are posting some kind of issue. I see that the black ROM shows a phone icon and assume that this icon activates the phone display which is primarily what I want.
I would like to find a rom/soft that allows me to have i-phone-like dedicated buttons (possibly with on/off toggle feature like menu settings in WM6 or customizable) on the screen that allow me to activate specific functions ESPECIALLY phone.
Are there any "cooks" that have successfully done this?

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Well, I personnaly use Black Dual PK 3 without any issue other than those of the software they include.
More specifically, I have had no problem with the HTC Home plug-in, wktask, etc.
I did disable the Quick Launch today plug-in, that I found cute but way to long-winded to cusomize, as well as extremely basic, and replaced it with the well-known iLauncher.
Having most used applications two screen-touches away at most is ALSO a bottom-line need for me. iLauncher, along with the launcher integrated in the HTC Home plug-in, fullfil that need quite nicely and practically.
I therefore have nothing to envy iPhone users, quite the contrary actually, in my opinion.

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HeartOfDarkness said:
Well, I personnaly use Black Dual PK 3 without any issue other than those of the software they include.
More specifically, I have had no problem with the HTC Home plug-in, wktask, etc.
I did disable the Quick Launch today plug-in, that I found cute but way to long-winded to cusomize, as well as extremely basic, and replaced it with the well-known iLauncher.
Having most used applications two screen-touches away at most is ALSO a bottom-line need for me. iLauncher, along with the launcher integrated in the HTC Home plug-in, fullfil that need quite nicely and practically.
I therefore have nothing to envy iPhone users, quite the contrary actually, in my opinion.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am in USA using tmobile. Do you know if the items you mention will work with tmobile? Do you have links for them?

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No reason why they shouldn't work with T-Mobile, they're not directly phone-related.
HTC Home is the big Today plug'in that can be seen at the top of the screen on Black Dual PK 3 related threads, displaying the clock and stuff.
Let me take and show a few screenshots of my current setup... There !
{
"lightbox_close": "Close",
"lightbox_next": "Next",
"lightbox_previous": "Previous",
"lightbox_error": "The requested content cannot be loaded. Please try again later.",
"lightbox_start_slideshow": "Start slideshow",
"lightbox_stop_slideshow": "Stop slideshow",
"lightbox_full_screen": "Full screen",
"lightbox_thumbnails": "Thumbnails",
"lightbox_download": "Download",
"lightbox_share": "Share",
"lightbox_zoom": "Zoom",
"lightbox_new_window": "New window",
"lightbox_toggle_sidebar": "Toggle sidebar"
}
This one shows the small animation iLauncher provides when switching tabs.

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And finaly, this one shows how well Audio Manager integrates into HTC Home. So the Athena's a very decent mp3 player interface-wise, IMHO; with this ROM at least.
Top is HTC Home, bottom is iLauncher and PocketBreeze (both of which are not supplied with the ROM, of course).

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I appriciate you sharing this with me. I like what I see and will give it a try. there are a couple of things that I don't know. I am really a basic newbie at this.
**Can I back up my existing setup\ROM and go bnack to it if I want?
If so, how do I achieve it?
**Are the additional items that are not in the ROM free to dowload? where can I find them?
**How long does the whole process take to do?
**Are ther how-tos posted somewhere for newbies like me who have only half a clue?
I am ready to learn all I can. I am happy to meet someone who has the knowledge.

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guardm said:
I appriciate you sharing this with me. I like what I see and will give it a try. there are a couple of things that I don't know. I am really a basic newbie at this.
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Click to collapse
No problem really. And I know that wile the forum is so rich in terms of information that it is the single place where you can find pretty much anything you want to know about the Athena, this information is so disseminated that it can be overwhelming.
guardm said:
**Can I back up my existing setup\ROM and go bnack to it if I want?
If so, how do I achieve it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Of course. Easiest way to do that is:
- to find your current ROM on the internet and download it to your PC for "safekeeping";
- use Sprite Backup that is provided free of charge with the Athena and backup your entire system (you don't absolutly need to back-up what's on the microdrive as it is left untouched by ROM upgrades. Of course, it is always best to backup as often as you can whetever data you deem important) to the microdrive, and then put that on your desktop 'puter along with the original ROM for safekeeping. You can make a self-restoring archive so that you don't even need to reinstall Sprite Backup if you go back to original.
All you'll have to do in order to go back to your current setup will be to flash the original ROM back and then restore the Sprite Backup back-up.
guardm said:
**Are the additional items that are not in the ROM free to dowload? where can I find them?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There are thousands of items to download free of charge for PocketPCs, and hundreds of sites to download them from, that's the beauty of Pocket PCs (Windows Mobile-based PDAs).
A place I like as a "starter" is www.pocketpcfreeware.com, one of those I've been using for years. It doesn't ave them all, but it has the essentials, and it's an excellent "point of entry" into the fabulous world of PocketPC (PPC) freeware.
A good freeware launcher is cLaunch. It's not as pretty and customisable as iLauncher (which displays the small iPhone-like buttons on my screenshot), but it is still very good. And there are a number of things that ressemble PocketBreeze (the bottom plug-in that shows my appointments and stuff). The HTC Home plug-in is provided with the Black Dual by PK ROM, and requires little customisation effort.
guardm said:
**How long does the whole process take to do?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, depends on what you do, how much you customize, etc. But mainly:
- 3 minutes to hard-SPL your Athena (which allows you to flash any ROM you want to your Athena - this is mandatory);
- 5 to 10 minutes to flash your new ROM, I'd say;
- 5 minutes to go through all there is to go through when you hard-reset your device (what you did when you first turned it on: setting the date, calibrating the screen, etc.);
- 15 Minutes to install the Black Dual by PK ROM add-ons.
And then, it all depends on what you install, and how much you tweak.
With practise, in less than an hour, you can have flashed your Athena to a new ROM, and installed 30 applications with a little bit of "tuning".
guardm said:
**Are ther how-tos posted somewhere for newbies like me who have only half a clue?
I am ready to learn all I can. I am happy to meet someone who has the knowledge.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not many how-tos, alas. First of all things you should do is to read through the Athena Wiki, which will at once let you know many things about your Athena and get you familiar with the "terminology" (most people here, myself included, have forgotten that you don't learn what a "soft key", for instance, is at school ).
Then the stickies in each forum.
And keep posting here. Dunno, maybe that thread COULD become a "beginner's walkthrough"...

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WOW!!! that's a lot to absorb and digest. I will take small bites and work at it. Again, the wealth of information is present. And thanks to people like yourself, I can learn somke things that I didn't know. thanks for the education. I will post with my results and potential questions in the next few days.

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I used the cooked ROM on my Athena with TMobile without any issues. I've since changed over to AT&T for the 3G but you shouldn't have any problems with TMobile. If you use their VPN Internet plan you'll just have to change the settings a little but nothing a little searching or a call to TMobile tech support won't resolve in an instant. Any time support tries to tell me they don't support my device, I return with a question of "What, you don't support Windows Mobile 6?"...that shuts them up quick and give me what I need. Good luck and you'll be flashing to a superior ROM.

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ltxda said:
...... If you use their VPN Internet plan you'll just have to change the settings a little but nothing a little searching or a call to TMobile tech support won't resolve .......Good luck and you'll be flashing to a superior ROM.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Changing settings scares me a little.....
it does appear that this ROM is superior in many aspects....
thanks for the support

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Well guys, I already encountered my first hurdle. The ROM upgrade attempt was unsuccessful. The ROM update returned a message that my rom image is corrupt. I downloaded the original "shipped" ROM from the HTC site and will attwmpt to load that to start "factory fresh" and try the cooked ROM again......

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guardm said:
Changing settings scares me a little.....
it does appear that this ROM is superior in many aspects....
thanks for the support
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Make sure the unlocker took effect. You can check by going to the BootLoader screen and checking the version on there.

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ltxda said:
Make sure the unlocker took effect. You can check by going to the BootLoader screen and checking the version on there.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My phone was unlocked when I recieved it. Is there another unlocker I need? Where is the bootloader screen?
Did I say I was a newbie? lol

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guardm said:
My phone was unlocked when I recieved it. Is there another unlocker I need? Where is the bootloader screen?
Did I say I was a newbie? lol
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Unless you purchased the phone used, it's only SIM unlocked. This means you can use it with any carrier that supports the technology. If you purchased the device new you'll need to run Olipro's unlocker to CID unlock it. CID unlocking the phone allows you to flash any ROM to the device without a problem. I think you should reflash with a factory ROM to get your phone up and running and take this weekend to do some thorough reading. I don't want to see your next post being that you bricked the device and the only thing you see is a red LED. Get your phone back up and running, take the weekend to educate yourself further so you can regroup and tackle this with a new perspective.

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I have it up and running at the factory ROM level from HTC.....

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I got the Dual Black to load. It appears to be working. Thanks for your patience. NO BRICK YET. lol.
I tried to use the add ons but I don't know what to do to install the .cab files.

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guardm said:
I got the Dual Black to load. It appears to be working. Thanks for your patience. NO BRICK YET. lol.
I tried to use the add ons but I don't know what to do to install the .cab files.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well if you got the ROM installed, you won't brick it. CONGRATS! and welcome to the club.
Move the CAB files to your device and double click/install from there.

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ltxda said:
Well if you got the ROM installed, you won't brick it. CONGRATS! and welcome to the club.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
THANKX to you and the other posters. I couldn't have done it without your guidance!!!!
BTW, what is the blue bar ticking across the top of the screen?

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guardm said:
THANKX to you and the other posters. I couldn't have done it without your guidance!!!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You could have. Go enjoy your "new" device now.
You should notice it runs smoother, faster, and probably likes you a lot better now. hehehe

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guardm said:
BTW, what is the blue bar ticking across the top of the screen?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You're welcome ! Glad to count you as a follow Black Dual by PK ROM *power*-user.
There are two bars on each side of the "taskbar" (the bar that has the "Start" button).
The top one shows the battery charge status. It is the program "dcibattery", which a link in the \Windows\Startup launches everytime you start your Athena (soft reset).
The bottom one shows the RAM status, available for the running programs. It is also launched at startup using the link "qwertymemory" in the \Windows\Startup directory.