cmonex' mobilecustom_cabs.zip?

Well, I gave it my best shot. I uploaded the files (starting with the "Default" folder) to a web server and then added it to MobileCustom. I found that if I point it to the root of the web server it appears to find the catalog, the status bar goes across, and then it says "Download Complete", but then the catalog is empty. Any ideas what might be going wrong?

Does the registry offer any clues ?
(I realize it’s a needle in a haystack and Stingraze knows a lot more than I)

Not a bad thought, I'm not averse to thumbing through the registry looking for clues.

However, I strongly suspect this has to do with how the files are laid out/organized/files missing/etc with the repository. Without the original to reference it's really hard to say. It is encouraging to me that when configured the way I have it right now mobileCustom will connect and do a download, but I'm not sure why it ends up with an empty catalog.

Actually that brings up another question- stingraze, are there any "view log" or similar buttons or options in mobileCustom?

Well, the registry search revealed a clue- the original catalog URL. It is pointing to a file called "catalog.xml" in a directory called XSC that we don't have.

Stingraze- Do you have any sig3 that connected to mobileCustom and might have downloaded a copy of that file? Would you mind looking for it? I could probably recreate it if I knew the schema...

Edited by thenzero 2023-08-25 10:27 PM

I don't think I have the catalog.xml, but I'll also try to see what files it calls out to by using WireShark and looking at the packets.
Will try to do it soon and report back to you.

I will also try to see if it's somewhere inside the device when it gets connected to the server.

-stingraze

Well I can confirm that it's downloading "catalog.xml". Here's the exact URL:

http://www.pdabiz.jp/mobileCustom/Catalog/CE.NET/XSC/catalog.xml

You can't see this from inside mobileCustom itself, but you can view in the registry at:

HKCU->Software->NEC->mobileCustom->Hosts->Default->Location

I thought about just trying to make up a catalog.xml to see what happens but I think the likelihood of success that way is pretty low. We really just need an example of the format.

Edited by thenzero 2023-08-26 2:54 AM

p.s. Can you check \Download Data\Default and see if there's anything there on yours?

I think I found some candidates for the XML tags:

<Item>
<Description>
<Name>
<Preview>
<EULA>
<Mode>
<Extend1>
<Extend2>
<Extend3>
<Author>
<URL>
<Link>
<Type>
<EndItem>

Apparently "EndItem" is meant to be the list terminator and is always set to "mobileCustom"

Edited by thenzero 2023-08-26 4:32 AM

Also there is a reference to "\Temp\catalog.xml" in the mobileCustom executable. So if you're looking around for the file the \Temp folder might be a good place as well.

Ok! thanks.

Ok uploaded to a server and made catalog.xml with your schema. That launched what it seems to be a list. It is empty now as there are no cabs / .mca there. Will let you know if I can put in the catalog data and if it populates it.

Here's a snapshot of PDABiz back in 2004. It is listing part of the catalog as a list in Japanese... (not the catalog.xml, but might be a hint)
https://web.archive.org/web/20040614015830/http://www.pdabiz.jp/products/sig3/soft_mobilecustom2.html

Edited by stingraze 2023-08-26 6:22 AM






Attachments
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mobilecustom_catalog.jpg (74KB - 0 downloads)

Did you look at the web server log files, presumably the log will show that the client requested a file/folder that resulted in a 404 error. We can theoretically reconstruct the hierarchy from the fault log.

@C:Amie
Thanks for the suggestion. I will look at it now.

Okay so looking through the web server logs, the MobileCustom did indeed access my server with a UserAgent of: "mobileCustom/2.0 (WinCE/4.10[Jameson]; ARM/1824)" it only accessed "Default" directory which I specified in MobileCustom's settings.

Update: I checked the access log, and I could only find that it was looking at Default directory.

-stingraze

Edited by stingraze 2023-08-26 12:25 PM

Sorry I should have clarified- yes, the mobileCustom app will try to download whatever you specify in the box. Looking at the default, it should be pointing to the aforementioned catalog.xml.

Here's my current best guess at the format (still not working though):

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<Item Name="Package A" Author="Some Dude" URL="http://google.com" Link="http://google.com" Type="1" Description="Yes it is" EULA="http://google.com" Mode="2"></Item>
<EndItem>mobileCustom</EndItem>