How do I get Activesync to install PPC apps on CE.NET?

Hello everyone,

I am sorry to bore you with what must seem a basic request, but how do I convince Activesync to install PPC apps on my SIMPAD, which has been flashed to CE.NET 4.1?

I thought all I needed to do to run PPC on my SIMPAD was install the files from the fakedll archive into the \windoze directory. It seems that Activesync 4.1 thinks it knows better because it won't install TomTom Route Planner 2002 on my SIMPAD. Activesync says that it won't install the application because it was not designed for my mobile device.

BTW Where is the default installation folder? Maybe if I could find that I could copy the files straight to CF and from there to my SIMPAD.

Once again, sorry for the basic questions.

Cheers,

Ade

First off, stub DLL's wont universally get applications working you will invariably need to perform hex edits on more complex programs.

Secondly, AS is reading header information, so in order to force the installation you need to either recreate the CAB's or you need to copy the cab installers to the H/PC and run the install from there.

There are articles in the support section which discuss host installs, CAB installs and CAB extraction from installers.

The member cmonex has a website with many other hexedited programs on her website.. Go here: http://izemize.fw.hu/hpc.php

Edited by tenjeangosi 2006-05-07 3:41 PM

By "Hex edit" I assume you mean that it is sometimes necessary to rename the dummy .dll and get the main program to load the renamed copy. That doesn't seem too difficult.

I found what i was looking for buried in another thread. Juergen describes how Activesync creates registry entries on the host PC for every program that you attempt to install on your handheld. I am used to the way that Palm OS installs apps from the PC and the activesync method is bizarre to say the least!

Thanks for your help everyone.

adeprice, correct. the basic hexedit method is just that.

there are more complex ones too though dont worry, not *that* complex!

Hello everyone,

I am still not having any luck getting PPC apps running on my SimPad with CE4.1 All the threads make it sound so easy that its frustrating to have no luck here. When I use execheck to load the app it always says the .dlls from the mfc distribution cannot be loaded. I have used every aygshell.dll from cmonex's website and haven't found one that loads yet. I am going right back to basics to see what is going wrong so I've got a couple of kindergarten questions to ask:-

Do the ppc .dlls on cmonex's website support CE 4.1 or only CE 3.0? Are they specific to a processor type? Mine is a Strongarm SA-1110 and I think the type ID is 7552 (I'll double check if its important)

aygshell.dll and most of the others contain strings "commcntrl.dll" and "coredll.dll" do I need these libs before I can use any PPC apps? If so, where can I find them? They are not in \windows\.

Has anyone tried using the ppc .dll package on silentservices.de? There appear to be some strange anomolies, particularly with the mfcce300.dll e.g. execheck says it cannot be loaded because a linked file cannot be found. A scan of the mfcce300.dll with a hexeditor shows that it contains the strings: "DynLinkLibrary \WINDOWS\MFCCE300I.DLL" (that's not a typo it really does have "I" at the end). It also contains the strings mfcce301.dll, mfcce301.pdb, COREDLL.dll and commctrl.dll I cannot find any of these in \Windows\ BTW Why have "mffce301" in a file called mffce300.dll? If the intention was that mffce300.dll should be renamed to mffce301.dll why not rename it before uploading? The olece300.dll file in the silentservices pack contains the string mfcce300.dll If I have renamed mfcce300.dll to mfcce301.dll am I right to think I need to hexedit olece300 as well as the ppc app? If so I am puzzled, why hasn't someone done this before uploading to silentservices?) I suppose the latter questions should be targeted directly at silentservices.

That will do for now, I'm sure I'll have other questions as we go along.

Cheers.

Ade

I have just made (for me) monumental progress.

commctrl and coredll are in \windows\ but canot be seen even if you fiddle with the options on the file explorer. However, they can be seen if you open a dos window cd to \windows and type dir /a co*.dll

Back to executibility check: When I tried to load aygshell it comes up with commctrl cannot be loaded. I've overwritten the OS version to 4.20 and now get the message:

"\Storage Card\ce.net-4.1\AYGSHELL.DLL" requires a OS version 4.20
OS Version of this machine is 4.10
"commctrl.dll" can't be loaded

I think I am nearly there, can anyone help me please?

This is one of the more advanced hex edits that CmoneX mentioned. If the header information in the DLL is set to CE 4.20. In order to bypass such error messages you need to modify the header to read 4.10, you can't run it stating 4.20, as your Windows CE version isn't 4.20. All the DLL's and the program itself need to state 4.10.

first, if you want to hack, forget the default win explorer. it is CRAP. use totalcommander. that will show every file for you.

silentservices: well i guess they didn't fully understand the hacking concepts. too bad. their files are available on my site too of course.

inspect the arm.zip (on my site) more closely. you will see a "hexedited" and a "non hexedited" folder. the MFC in the hexedited folder is what i recommend (it is already edited properly), but you need to change the mfcce300.dll calls in the program you want to hack. program = ALL exe's and dll"s that belong to the program.
i didn't hexed olece300 to 301, but you can do it if you want to, i never needed it. nor did anyone else, so far. just don't overwrite the original olece300 on your hpc. there are two different versions: one hpc, one ppc. the armmfc.zip on my site has the hpc versions, your simpad doesn1t have them out of the box, but hpc2000 apps may need it so i recommend loading them on your simpad in /windows.

edit: oh i did need editing olece once. the widcomm bluetooth driver needs that. as it is a driver you'd better hexedit olece, as it will always be loaded when the bluetooth card is inserted...

oh and all the dlls are OK with ce.net 4.1 too. they are ARM unless otherwise specified, so will work on your simpad. i think you need mfcce for that program, but i guess you already found out. btw, about the mfcce300I: leave it alone

i should really continue working on that tutorial

Just a quick question: Should Executbilitycheck be able to load aygshell.dll directly? I tried it and commmctrl.dll cannot be loaded.

if you just want to bypass activesync, you can always try the following.
if you install a program that installs through activesync, it usually puts the cab-files into either the program files\active sync folder, or in it's own installation folder. then usually activesync is started, and it detects your device, and tries to match-up a cabfile that works on your device. To bypass this, you can look for the cabfile(s) in the installation folders I mentioned, and copy the file to cf. then run the fiile on your device. sometimes your lucky, sometimes your not.

If you run a cabfile from a folder/card on your device, it will be deleted after install. if you make the cabfiles read-only, they wont. In my case, I have installation cabs in a "install" folder on my cf-card. read-only ofcourse. If the device gets a hardreset (or runs out of both batteries) I can always install the apps I need from there without ever having to use a PC to do it.

I believe there are registry settings that you can change on your device to allow you to install ppc aps(if the cabs whine when you click on them), but not sure.

As I recall, tomtom has the cabfiles on the cd/dvd somewhere. Just do a search for *.cab

Thanks for the info PocketDVD but I have managed to install the files on my SimPad but cannot run them (see my last 2 posts).

You are correct about Inactivesync using the Desktop registry for installation, this must be one the stupidest things I have ever come across in Windoze.

you can check aygshell with it just fine,

commctrl can't be loaded, as it is in ROM

heh, making them read only makes them unusable on older hpc's (CE2). hpc2000 is ok of course..

no such registry settings. the cab will install anyway. i met only one that wouldn't and then it was a cab within another cab, i extracted the cab from the first one and install worked fine then. (this was jeode)

Ok, I know I am only a newbie at this but I think all my problems stem from AYGSHELL.dll and it might be because it cannot load commctrl.dll

Here is my thinking: mfcce301.dll and Note_prj.dll both try to call Aygshell, so I presume if Aygshell doesn't load neither do the .dll's that try to call it.

I have tried all 13 Aygshells from cmonex's website. Apart from 1, 10 & 11 all of the rest fail and indicate that commctrl.dll can't be loaded. Aygshells 1,10 & 11 do not call commctrl but executabilitycheck reports that several function ordinary cannot be loaded, these are 9 69 65 3 4. I noted that Aygshells 1,10 & 11 do not call commctrl.dll

Lastly I also used executabilitycheck on Acrobat 2.0 from cmonex's website but Aygshell and its dependants couldn't be loaded. Looks like this was Aygshell version 5 in here?

The Aygshell on silentservices.de doesn't work for me (it looks like version 3 on cmonex's website).

I just don't know what to try next. Are there any other Simpad users with CE4.1 who have succesfully run PPC apps?