www.Mototheme.com

Guide to Modding your A1200

This write-up explains how to perform most of the main modifications that users like to make to their A1200's.

It was created by combining and summarizing the information provided in the dozens of threads on this forum and then rewriting it as easy-to-follow steps that new users can print off and have all the information that they need in one place to (hopefully) easily and successfully perform the mod. It does not attempt to describe everything you can do with this phone (such as seem editing or telnetting), but covers the following topics:

A1. What are rar files and how do I use them?
A2. How do I copy files to my phone?
B. What is MPKG and LINLoader and how do I install them?
C. How do I install various programs and games?
D. How do I change shortcuts 1 and 2 on the bottom of the Home Page (to something different than web browser and video)
E. How do I install themes and skins to change the way the screens look?
F. How do I increase the volume of the phone
G. How do I turn off the camera "shutter" sound
H. Many other useful Tips and Tricks and FAQ

• There are often different methods described for installing a program described on different threads (eg for installing linloader) - and different versions of the programs. Part of this is because programs often have to be installed differently on the A1200 than other Motorola phones - but this was only discovered through trial and error - so some of the methods described in the threads are out of date. In other cases, what works for one version of the firmware does not work for another - but it is often not clear which works on what. This writeup describes the most straightforward method that worked on my phone (with firmware bint .08p). If you follow this method and it does not seem to work then review the relevant thread and try one of the other methods or try to download a different version of the program.

• Most of the software mentioned here can be found in the Downloads sticky. If it is not there, then you should be able to easily find it by doing a search in the threads. Type "A1200" and the name of the file you are looking for then press Enter.

• If you do not understand something here or have any problems then each section has the thread(s) listed where you can go to get more information.


A. GETTING STARTED

All you need to perform any of the modifications described in this writeup are the following:
• a Motorola A1200 (aka Ming) with a MicroSD memory card (= Transflash card) installed in order to copy files to your phone.
• a Windows PC with at least 1 free USB port (If you have a Mac, then read http://mac.themotoguide.com/index.php )
• a Motorola USB data cable that plugs into the mini USB port on the bottom right of your phone and the USB port on your PC
• Motorola Phone Tools (MPT) installed on your PC - this is a program that should have come with your phone and should be used to back up the data on your phone (contacts, calendar, etc) before attempting any of these mods.

Rar Files

Most of the files uploaded on this forum are "rar" files. These are compressed files (similar to zip files) making them smaller to download. You need to install a program that can "unrar" them before you can use them. UnzipThemAll ( http://www.softpedia.com/get/Compression-tools/UnzipThemAll.shtml ) and 7-zip ( http://www.7-zip.org ) are two free programs that can unrar files. (Other users use Winrar though several users have reported problems installing files unrared with this program).

To use a rar file, you download it, then use the tool to unrar it before copying the uncompressed file(s) to the SD card in your phone.

How to Copy Files To/From Your Phone

1. On the A1200, go to Application Launcher-->Setup-->USB Mode and ensure that “Mass Storage” is selected
2. Plug in the cable that connects the phone to the USB port on your PC.
3. Open Windows Explorer and ensure that you have “Show hidden files and folders” turned on in Explorer (Tools-->Folder Options-->View-->Show hidden files and folders)
4. You can now use Explorer to view the folders on your SD card on the phone. The SD card will probably be drive E: or F:. The root folder of this SD card shows directly under the Drive in Explorer – but its full path is /mmc/mmca1/ (i.e. if you copy something to the root you are copying it to /mmc/mmca1/).
5. You should see a folder called .system under root. If you do not check you have “Show hidden files” on (see 3 above). You are only able to view/edit files on the SD card – this method does not permit you to view/edit files directly on the phone (which is why you need installer programs like MPKG and linloader to install programs on your phone).
6. You can now copy/cut and paste files to and from your PC to the folders on your SD card.
7. Unplug the phone when done. (Before unplugging, you should always use the unplug or eject hardware facility. This will ensure integrity of the filesystem on the transflash card).

Wait a couple of seconds then you can then use File Manager under Application Launcher on your phone to view these files.


B. MPKG AND LINLOADER

Before you can install many programs on your phone you will first need to install the following 2 pieces of software that will permit you to install other software.

1. MPKG - a package installer that will allow you to install executable app packages of type **.pkg (similarly to a java app installer). Once MPKG installer is installed you can install **.pkg files by opening the File Manager application on the phone, go to the folder where you have the **.pkg file, hold the stylus on the icon and a small menu should pop up. Choose 'open with' and then choose the "MPKG" app. This will install the app and let you see it and run it from the phones Application Launcher

2. Linloader - this is a program used to run shell scripts. Most of these scripts have the extension **.lin. Once linloader is installed these shell scripts are run by opening the File Manager application on the phone, go to the folder where you have the shell script you want to run, click and hold, choose 'open with' and then choose the "loader" app.

How to Install MPKG

Get the MPKG Installer file from here then do the following:

1. Unrar the file. You will see it consists of a folder called .system.
2. Plug in the phone, then use Windows Explorer to copy the entire old .system folder from the SD card to a safe place on your PC (so can recover if necessary). [If you can not see the .system file then you do not have “View hidden files” on].
3. Copy the entire .system folder from the rar file to replace the one on your SD card.
4. Unplug the phone from the PC and restart it. You should see a MPKG icon under Application Launcher on your phone.
5. You do NOT run this program by clicking it - rather you open files with extension *.pkg by holding the stylus on the file until a small menu displays. Select “Open With” and select MPKG. You should hear a bell indicating the program has loaded.

[If you have already installed some programs on your SD card before installing MPKG then you should uninstall then before doing the above otherwise you will not be able to access them anymore (phone doesn't find them). You can reinstall them when complete]

How to Install Linloader

This is the program that users have the most problems getting to install correctly - which may have to do with the version of firmware running on the phone. As a result there are several different methods for installing it described in the threads - as well as different versions of the mpkg and linloader download file that people say to use. The method I described work for me (on Bint 08p plus). An alternate method is also described.

MPKG must be installed first as you need mpkg to install linloader.

1. Download the loader_A1200.pkg file from here
2. Copy the file to the root folder of your SD card (Make sure extension says .pkg - not .mpkg)
3. Unplug the phone from the PC then use the phone's File Manager to find the file.
4. Hold the stylus on the file until a small menu displays. Select “Open With” and choose MPKG. You should hear a bell indicating the program has loaded.
5. Turn the phone off and on and you should see a Loader icon (a yellow smiley) appearing under Application Launcher.

Alternate Method

This method seems to work if you have generic 08p.

1. Try a different MPKG installer - download the MKPG installer attached in topic "Yan's mkpg and linloader.mkpg installer"
2. Follow the instruction given above to install it.
3. There is a modified mkpg.lin file attached in topic "Volume Increase". Copy that file and overwrite the mkpg.lin on your phone which is from yan's mkpg installer. (Not sure this step is necessary - but can not hurt!!)
4. Download the LinLoader.mkpg attached in topic "Yan's mkpg and linloader installer".
5. Rename LinLoader.mkpg to LinLoader.pkg before copying it to your SD card.
6. Follow steps 3-5 as above

If this still does not work then see the full discussion on LINLOADER and the issues that users have encountered - see http://www.motorolafans.com/MotorolaFansPHPbb/viewtopic.php?t=4623&start=0 and http://www.motorolafans.com/MotorolaFansPHPbb/viewtopic.php?t=7776.


C. HOW TO INSTALL APPLICATIONS AND GAMES

Installing java/j2me apps

If the file extension is *.jar or *.jar then these applications are very easy to install:

1. Copy the file to a folder on the SD card. The folder can be called anything (eg "My Downloads") .
2. Unplug the phone from the PC then find the file using the phone's File Manager
3. Simply click once on the jad/jar file to install it. A popup window will appear asking you whether to install the program on your phone or on the SD card and what category you want it to be listed under (Office, games, etc). You may get a popup stating that the application is an untrusted application - but if you got the file from Motorolafans then it is probably safe!
4. Once the application is installed the .jar file is automatically deleted
5. Turn the phone off and on then you should see the new program's icon under the Application Launcher.

Installing pkg files

If the file extension is *.pkg then:
1. Copy the file to a folder on the SD card. The folder can be called anything (eg "My Downloads").
2. Unplug the phone from the PC then find the file using the phone's File Manager
3. Hold the stylus on the file until the small menu displays. Select "Open With" and choose "MPKG". You should hear a bell indicating the program has loaded.
4. Turn the phone off and on and you should see the new program's icon under the Application Launcher

Note: If a file has the extension of *.mpkg, you should rename it to *.pkg before trying to install it.

For a list of games and applications that work on the A1200, check the Downloads section of the website here:
http://www.motorolafans.com/MotorolaFansJoomla/index.php?option=com_docman&task=cat_view&gid=13&Itemid=44

And for a discussion on some of the Games/Apps that other users have found useful, see: http://www.motorolafans.com/MotorolaFansPHPbb/viewtopic.php?p=57841#57841


D. HOW TO CHANGE SHORTCUTS 1 AND 2 ON THE HOME PAGE (TO SOMETHING DIFFERENT THAN WEB BROWSER AND VIDEO)

The A1200 only permits you to change the 3rd and 4th icons on the bottom of the Home screen. You can not change icons 1 and 2 from the default of web browser and video.

However there is a fairly simple mod that will allow you to do this. This mod obtains a copy of your current ezx_idle.cfg file (where the shortcut info is stored) from the /ezx_user/download/appwrite/setup directory on your phone and saves it so you can always restore it if necessary then shows you how to change the section of the file that controls the icons. (Note - it is not possible to change the ringer profile - the extreme left shortcut).

You will need the following 2 files that you can download from the download section to you PC:
• get_ezx_idle.lin - Copies your current ezx_idle.cfg file from /ezx_user/download/appwrite/setup to the root folder of your SD card (i.e /mmc/mmca1/).
• put_ezx_idle.lin - Copies your modifed ezx_idle.cfg file from the root directory of your SD card back to /ezx_user/download/appwrite/setup.

Once you have downloaded these files, follow these instructions:

1. Go to Setup --> Home Screen Setup and select in slots 3 and 4, the 2 shortcuts that you eventually want to have as shortcuts 1 and 2. (Doing it this way means you do not have to type anything - they will be moved over as part of this process).

2. Rename the 2 files that you downloaded to your PC :
get_ezx_idle.lin.txt ==> get_ezx_idle.lin
put_ezx_idle.lin.txt ==> put_ezx_idle.lin

3. Plug your phone into your PC with your USB cable and copy the 2 lin files that you downloaded to the root directory on your SD card.

4. Unplug the phone and touch the get_ezx_idle.lin icon (within file manager), select "open with" from the contextual menu and select "Loader".

5. You will know this has worked if the file "ezx_idle.cfg" appears in the root folder of your SD card. (Note - You will need to refresh the view by going to another folder then returning before the file can be seen).

6. Plug your phone back into PC again and copy the ezx_idle.cfg file to your PC so that you have a backup copy if anything goes wrong (you can simply copy it to a different directory on your SD card also).

7. Edit the ezx_idle.cfg file in the root directory of your SD card using an editor that supports unicode (Do NOT use notepad or MS Word). I found Wordpad worked for me. All you have to do is replace the 6 lines of code for shortcuts 1 and 2 with the 6 lines of code for shortcuts 3 and 4. I found the easiest way was to replace all 6 lines then change _3 to _1 and _4 to _2. Be careful that you do not add any extra blank lines or spaces.

i.e:

8. Save the file and unplug the phone from the PC.

9. Touch the put_ezx_idle.lin icon (within file manager), select "open with" from the contextual menu and select "Loader". If the ezx_idle.cfg file disappears from the root directory (after refreshing the view) the program has worked.

10. Turn your phone off and on and you'll see your new icons on the Home screen. Shortcuts 1 and 2 should be the same as shortcuts 3 and 4. You can then go into Setup --> Home Screen Setup and change shortcuts 3 and 4 to something else so they are all different.

What to do if something goes wrong!!

The first time I did this I left some extra spaces in the ezx_idle.cfg file and as a result my phone had no shortcuts!! This is easy to fix. Simply:

1. Plug your phone back in to the pc

2. Copy the backup copy of your original ezx_idle.cfg file back to the root directory on the SD card

3. Rerun put_ezx_idle.lin to restore your original ezx_idle.cfg. Turn your phone off and on and your icons should be back. Then you can try editing your ezx_idle.cfg again.

Once you have the process working, it only takes a couple of minutes to change these shortcuts at any time.


E. HOW TO CHANGE SKINS AND THEMES

1. What are Skins and Themes?

On the A1200, “skin” means
• all display icons
• all GUI components like buttons, status bar, scrollbar, etc.

while “theme” means
• the poweron/poweroff animation screen (by default usually the Motorola startup)
• the wallpaper.

Skins and Themes can be changed separately.

The skin configuration data is stored in a file called ezx_skins.cfg while the theme configuration data is in a file called ezx_theme.cfg. Both of these are located in the /ezx_user/download/appwrite/setup folder within the phone’s folder structure (so is not directly accessible unless you install a program like telnet).

CAUTION

Changing themes and skins is one of the most common means that users kill their phones. You must not change themes and skins simply by installing them using linloader or else you run the risk of freezing your phone. (This is different from previous Motorola phones where you could simply install additional themes). The reason is the limited space in the ezx_usr folder. If it fills up the memory it will not leave enough space and will freeze the phone when you reboot. The following 2 situations can cause this to occur:

• if a skin or theme is added to ezx_usr and does not leave sufficient free memory
• you get an error during theme installation, then you try to select that partially installed theme and then reboot the phone

If your phone has crashed then the phone will hang on turning it on - it will freeze on either the motorola screen or startup wall paper of theme. If you try to turn it off using the red power key, it will just beep and do nothing. The only way to turn it off is to take out the battery.

If this happens, first try to take out the battery, wait a few minutes and then reinsert and turn back on. If it still freezes then the only solution is to flash your phone to restore it back to vanilla (This will also wipe out all your stuff including contacts/sms/files...everything on the phone!! – so make sure that you back these up using Motorola Phone Tools before trying any theme/skin changes. Even though the phone has frozen you will still be able to get it into boot mode (see section on flashing)

If you are not sure or have a firmware version that you can not recover then it is recommended that you do not change your phone’s skins or theme!

What method do I use to Change Skins/Themes

There are several ways described in the various threads to change themes/skins. Some seem to work for some people and not for others so it is hard to write a general set of instructions. Two of the methods that I tried are (1) using a skin/theme installer program written by eakrin; and (2) using the linloader script. I froze my phone twice just using the linloader method requiring me to reflash it (see caution above), but found that that Eakrins’ method only changed the status and scroller bar colors and did not change the Global Navigation Bar (GNB) icons at the top and the shortcut icons at the bottom.

After a lot of experimentation I found that using a combination of the two methods appears to be a successful (and safe!) way to install skins. At a high level you need to do the following (detailed instructions for each step follow):
1. Download the skin you want and install the skin using Eakrin’s Skin Installer program.
2. Turn the phone off and on
3. If only the status and scroll bar has changed, but not the icons, then use linloader to run that skin's lin file to complete the change
4. Turn the phone off and on and the skin should now be complete.

If you want to change the phone to another skin then use Eakrin's Skin Installer to install the next skin (which will delete the old skin). When you turn the file back on, you will notice the icons have returned to the grey default. It is now safe to use linloader to run the next skin's lin file. Using this method I have successfully changed over a dozen skins.

NEVER RUN LINLOADER two times in a row without running Eakrin's skin installer first to clear out the old skin - otherwise you run the risk of filling up the memory and freezing the phone.

2. How to Install Eakrin’s Skin and Theme Installers

Eakrin’s program is a mpkg program that changes the phone to the selected skin or theme, by first deleting the old skin/theme before installing the new skin file into /ezx_user/download/skin and the theme file into /ezx_user/download/theme - so it does not fill up the memory.

1. Go to the thread on Installing Skins at http://www.motorolafans.com/MotorolaFansPHPbb/viewtopic.php?p=43788&sid=a7318d0f8c8bee0e70b7e1c83501f16f
2. Download Eakrin’s skin installer and theme installer on page 1.
3. These are regular zip files so you will need to Unzip them before copying them to your phone.
4. Copy these two *.pkg files to a folder on your phone’s SD card as explained in the section “How to Copy Files to your Phone”.
5. Install them using mpkg installer.

2a. How to Change Your Phone’s Skin - Part 1

To change your skin perform the following steps:

1. Select a skin that you like. See the following web sites for a huge selection:
http://www.mototheme.com
http://babelfish.altavista.com/babelfish/trurl_pagecontent?lp=zh_en&trurl=http%3a%2f%2fclub.ccmove.com%2fnclub%2ftopicdisplay-3422-555596-1.html

(The one that I like is tlinux1 !)

Even though many of the skins displayed in this forum and on the various skins websites are shown with Chinese characters - they will have your default language when installed - with some exceptions – if an icon has Chinese letters as part of the icon they will still be in Chinese; and the words for "Mobile"; "Home" and "Office" under Contacts stayed as Chinese characters – probably because these are also icons.

2. Download the rar file to your pc.

3. Unrar it – each skin should consist of a folder containing a number of skin and theme files:
eg:

IMPORTANT: Make sure you do not have any spaces in any of the folder names (ie do NOT call it themes\fun skin\) This will prevent the programs from installing.

7. For skin installation, use the phone's File Manager to find the *.pskn file in the skin folder. Hold the stylus on the file until the small menu appears. Select “Open with” and choose the skin installer. If it has worked you should hear a woman's voice saying “Installation complete”.

8. Restart the phone to make new skin active.

You should see the new skin installed. If only the status and scroll bar have changed then you will also need to do part 2b using linloader.

2b. How to Change Your Phone’s Skin - Part 2

1. Always run Eakrins installer program prior to doing this to clear out any old skins.
2. Create a new folder called "install" (without quotes) right under the themes\ folder on the SD card (ie themes\install) The .lin file copies some text file to this folder during installation
3. Use Program Manager to find the skin's lin file and tap and hold the stylus on the file until the small menu appears. Select “Open with” and choose the loader program (It may take up to 10 seconds to complete - you should hear a set of beeps when done).

4. Restart the phone and the icons should now have changed.

Note 1: On successful installation, you should see that three files 1) on.gif 2) off.gif 3) desk.jpg from choosen skin folder have been copied directly under the themes\ folder on SD card. This verifies that install worked correctly.

Note 2: You do not have to run the same skin's *.lin file as you installed with Eakrin's program. If you like the status/scroll bar to be one skin's style and the icons to be another skin's style then this works ok. (ie can install tlinux1 with Eakrin's installer then run LEE_blue.lin skin.)

2c. How to Change your Phone’s Theme

Changing your theme changes the animations displayed when you start and turn off your phone. Any theme can be used with any skin (or by itself)

Not all skins packages have associated themes files packaged with them. A themes file has the extension *.phm. The skin TLINUX is one skin that has a theme associated with it - which gives an orange screen with a cute linux penguin animation.

If you find a theme that you like in one skin package it can be copied to the skin folder that you want to install.
1. Copy the *.phm file to the skin folder that you have installed
2. Hold the stylus on the *.phm file until the small menu appears. Select “Open with” and choose the theme installer. If it has worked you should hear a voice saying “Installation complete”.
3. Restart your phone to make new theme active.

3. How to restore back to default skin and theme.

The original skin can be set back to the default by going to Setting -->Scheme on the phone and changing it there. However this does not delete the additional skin. Instead the skin and theme installer should be used to remove the old skin and replace it back to the default. This is done as follows:
1. Download the file with the A1200 default skin and theme from the same place as you found the Skin/theme installers.
2. Do as the above for changing skins/themes
3. Restart your phone to make default skin and theme active.

If any issues refer to the thread: http://www.motorolafans.com/MotorolaFansPHPbb/viewtopic.php?p=43787


F. HOW TO INCREASE THE VOLUME OF THE HEADSET AND SPEAKERPHONE

Many people find the level of the volume on the headset and the speaker phone too low. The following mod will fix this. You will need yan0’s MKPKG installed prior to doing this mod (see section B above).

Go the thread http://www.motorolafans.com/MotorolaFansPHPbb/viewtopic.php?t=6217&start=0 and download the following 2 files from the first page of that thread and unrar them
• volumeup_v1.01.rar ==> (unrars to) ==> volumeup_v1.01.pkg
• mpkg.rar ==> (unrars to) ==> mpgk.lin

Now plug the phone into the PC and do the following steps:
1. Go to the “.system” folder on the SD card
2. Then go to the directory \QTDownLoad \mpkg\
3. Rename the “mpkg.lin” that you should find in that directory to “mpkg.lin.bak”
4. Copy the new mpkg.lin that you downloaded into .system\QTDownLoad\mpkg\ folder.
5. Copy the volumeup_v1.01.pkg to the root directory of your SD card
6. Unplug the phone.
7. From Application Launcher-->File Manager locate the volumeup_v1.01.pkg file and install it (see section B on how to install pkg files). You should hear a tone after it installs correctly.
8. Turn the phone off and on. When it come back on you will see a new icon called "VolumeUp" under Games in the Menu.
9. Run this app by clicking on it and you should hear an increase in the volume.

Notes:
• You will need to rerun this app every time you turn the phone off and on - as the phone will reset to default volume when turned off. If you dont want the volume gain for whatever reason just restart your phone.
• Running this app will disable the menu screen click sounds (when you tap on something). No fix for this has been found.
• Running this app may cause the radio volume to go down. There is no fix for this at the moment. See thread for more detail.

If you are not satisfied with this volume gain, then go to the last page of the same thread and download the latest sound table file from Alpha. At the time of writing this was called "Alpha's jan07_ezx_volumetable.rar" . Unrar this file to Alpha's jan07_ezx_volumetable.cfg then rename it to ezx_volumetable.cfg.

i.e: "Alpha's jan07_ezx_volumetable.rar" (unrars to) ==> Alpha's jan07_ezx_volumetable.cfg (rename to) ==> ezx_volumetable.cfg

Alpha's file tweaks the volumetable file to increase the volume slightly more and improve the sound quality. To use this file, do the following:

1. Plug the phone into the PC
2. Go to the root directory of the SD card
3. You should see a new directory called volumeup\
4. Copy ezx_volumetable.cfg to this directory
5. Go the directory .system\QTDownLoad\ and you should see a new directory volumeup\
6. Copy ezx_volumetable.cfg to this directory also

[In other words copy ezx_volumetable.cfg to 2 places: the directory volumeup\ and the directory .system\QTDownLoad\volumeup]

7. Unplug the phone.
8. Turn the phone off and on.

Depending on your firmware you may or may not have to run the volumeup app. I found with Bint's .08p plus the volume was louder as soon as I turned on my phone and the menu screen clicks could be heard (and were loud). Starting the volume app turned the sound back down again. You may have to experiment how it works on your phone.

G. HOW TO TURN OFF THE CAMERA SOUND

Many people do not want the camera "click" sound when taking photos. There is a download file called nosound_A1200 in the downloads section that will permit photos to be taken with no sound. Download it then follow these instructions (You will need MPKG installer installed on your phone)
1. Unrar the file
2. Copy the file to your SD card
3. Unplug the phone; find the file using File Manager and install it using mpkg.
4. Turn your phone off and on and you should see a new icon in your Application Launcher of a speaker with the round circle with a bar through it. Click on this icon to turn the camera sound off.

One this is run the camera will no longer make a sound (even if you turn phone off and on). The only way to get sound back is if you actually go to the camera setup and choose a sound.


H. MISCELLANEOUS TIPS AND TRICKS AND FAQ

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
• How to copy and paste text on your phone

It is not very obvious, but you can copy and paste text on your A1200. You do this by selecting the text that you want to cut/copy and then hold down the stylus on the selected text. A menu will pop up including "Copy" and "Cut" (and "Paste)!

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
• How to Turn On Tower Display Information

A tower display works as a gps device does, it tells you the location of the cell tower that your phone is using right now (its not the mobile, its the sim card that connects to the closest tower for signals and displays that same place on your screen).

(For example, if you were in London, in Southhall and there is a tower for Orange installed in Middlesex to provide signals, the phone will display "Middlesex" as the area you are in right now.)

To turn this feature on do the following:
1. Go to Messages ==> use the menu (at bottom left) ==> Service Setup ==> Info Services
2. You should see "Info Service Setup"
3. Switch Service to "On"
4. Select the "Active channel" bar and delete any channel that may be there already
5. Use Menu (at bottom left) to create a new channel with value 50.
6. Save and Exit.

It may take awhile before the tower information starts to be displayed (it took my phone a couple of hours), but you should see a third line under the date showing the location. (You will only see this when flap is open; flap closed does not show it).

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
• How to make the screen go brighter

Hold down the left button at the bottom for 4 seconds - the screen will go temporarily brighter - useful when outside.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
• How to Place a Call with Cover Closed?

Following trick allows you to place a call with cover closed (without seem editing)

1. With the lid open push the VR button on the side of the phone,
2. While it is saying "Please say a command or name" close the lid
3. The VR will continue speaking, so say a name in ur phone book (or just voice dail) and when/if it recognizes say yes and, bam, it will dial with the lid shut

After it is connected you will see the left smart buttons turn into phone options like end call, record conversation, etc.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
• Why doesn't the Business Card Reader (BCR) work very well?

BCR application is setup for Chinese style business cards - so only works so-so with US business card layouts (gets phone numbers and names but not very good with address) . Nothing much you can do about it!

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
• How to get back to the Home Screen when Running an Application

If you a using an application and want to quickly jump to the Home Screen for a minute, all you have to do is press End (the red button), then after using the other thing, if you press End again, you´ll jump back to the previous application. (The app doesn´t close, it just minimizes!!)

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
• How to Make Quick Text (SMS) Replies

When you receive an SMS, you can quickly reply when the cover is closed and without using your stylus by pressing the middle botton on the left side and then pressing again to select "Quick Reply'. This will display about 20 standard replies (such as "OK"; "I'm on my way home", etc.) that you can quickly scroll though and select and send.

To add additional replies you go to Compose>menu (at bottom left)->load->quick text->menu(bottom left again)-->New. You can add and edit your own Quick Replies, but you cannot delete or edit an of the preloaded ones.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
• Why do I see the annoying message "Some of the conditional call forwardings are active" every time I make a call?

You have "Call Divert" active - which means you have rules activated to divert calls, e.g. someone is calling you and your line is busy than the call is diverted to your voicemail.

You can try to deactivate all diverts by going to the Dial Pad, tap the lower left corner--> Setup-->Call Divert and try to cancel all diverts. Some providers (like mine) do not allow you to disable this (because they want to make money with the voicemail) so the "Call Divert" will stay active even after you tried to disable this feature - so you are stuck with the message!

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
• What if I am left-handed?

The Ming should work fine for you - even though there is no way to change the scroll bars to the left. You can change the input for handwriting recognition from Application Launcher-->Setup-->Input Setup-->Writing Hand-->Left.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
• Where Can I get a Dictionary for my A1200?

See thread http://www.motorolafans.com/MotorolaFansPHPbb/viewtopic.php?t=6645&highlight=dictionaries. Available in different languages.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
• How to install Zmplayer

This is a far superior player. See thread http://www.motorolafans.com/MotorolaFansPHPbb/viewtopic.php?t=5116&start=0
Download the Zmplayer from the downloads section of the website.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
• How to increase limitation of the real player playlist

See thread http://www.motorolafans.com/MotorolaFansPHPbb/viewtopic.php?t=4919&start=0

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
• Why Do Photos Copied to my A1200 Look Distorted

If you copy photos to your A1200 and they look distorted (eyes look bruised or shut, the shape of the face looks distorted or grainy) - it is because you do not have them at the correct ratio for displaying on the A1200 screen. They must be exactly the ratio 3.2:2.4 (i.e., 320 x 240, 640 x 480, 1024 x 768, 1280 x 1024, 1600 x 1200 etc.). To correct this use a graphic program on your PC to crop the pics to the ratio above - it must be exactly the ratio, NOT even like 640 x 481, but EXACTLY 640 x 480. If you do this then they will display perfectly.

A little guide:
Ex.
A picture with a resolution of 755 x 520
= size it down to 640 x 480 (NOT higher)

A picture with a resolution of 430 x 280
= size it down to 320 x 240 (again NOT higher like 640 x 480)

A picture with a resolution of 1600 x 1201
= size it down to 1600 x 1200

**BUT
A picture with a resolution of 1600 x 1199
= MUST size it down to 1280 x 1024 (or it will be distored on your A1200)
OR
A picture with a resolution of 639 x 480
= must size it down to 320 x 240

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
• Can you take notes with a stylus digital notepad?

Unfortunately at the moment there is no application known to run on the A1200 that will allow you to scrawl notes (or make pictures) with the stylus

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
• Settings for some carriers regarding internet, MMS and email.

T-Mobile - http://www.motorolafans.com/MotorolaFansPHPbb/viewtopic.php?t=4489&start=0
Cingular - http://www.motorolafans.com/MotorolaFansPHPbb/viewtopic.php?t=3466&start=0
Rogers- http://www.motorolafans.com/MotorolaFansPHPbb/viewtopic.php?t=6779&highlight=rogers
Fido- http://www.motorolafans.com/MotorolaFansPHPbb/viewtopic.php?t=5943&highlight=fido

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
• How to change MSN messenger language to English?

1. Click "MSN Messenger"
2. Click "選單" (Bottom Left corner)
3. Click"語言" (The 5th Row)
4. Click"英文" (The 1st Row)
5. Click"確認" button (Bottom-middle-leftside)

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
• Telnetting and how to telnet

Telnetting allows you to send files directly to your phone (as opposed to just the SD card). See thread http://www.motorolafans.com/MotorolaFansPHPbb/viewtopic.php?t=4756&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
• How to "Seem Edit" and some seems that are confirmed to work

Seem editing permits you to change configuration settings directly on your phone. To learn how to "seem edit" - see the thread:
http://www.motorolafans.com/MotorolaFansPHPbb/viewtopic.php?t=5589&start=0

Some "Seem edits" that work on the A1200:

• Flip close seem edit works

Element ID:0032
record #:0001
offset: 008A
length:0001

Click on RDELEM
Change DATA read from $40 to $44
Click on STELEM
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
• Time Auto upate

Element ID:0032
record #:0001
offset: 0000
length:0001

Click on RDELEM
Change DATA read from $D6 to $D7
Click on STELEM

Element ID:0032
record #:0001
offset: 0055
length:0001

Click on RDELEM
Change DATA read from $68 to $6C
Click on STELEM
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
• Cingular ENS

Element ID:0032
record #:0001
offset: 008B
length:0001

Click on RDELEM
Change DATA read from $00 to $10
Click on STELEM
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
• Voice mail bug fix

Element ID:0032
record #:0001
offset: 0002
length:0001

Click on RDELEM
Change DATA to :8B or 8b ( Test which one works for you)
Click on STELEM
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
• Roam triangle remove

Element ID:0032
record #:0001
offset: 0034
length:0001

Click on RDELEM
Change DATA to: $20
Click on STELEM

* Remember to Restart your phone after every seem edit so it can go into affect.*

MotorolaFans.com View topic - Guide To Modding Your A1200