March 2008 News Posts
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Brayder’s
JackFlash and JackSprat review by Neil Brown |
Date:
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08/03/2004
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Brayder’s JackFlash and JackSprat Review
by Neil Brown
 This review shall focus on two applications from Brayder- JackFlash
and JackSprat. Whilst these applications can be bought and used separately, it
is when they are used together that they perform the best. JackSprat removes
items from a device’s ROM memory, and JackFlash can place information back
into it. Thus, if you have one of the compatible devices, and there is a
considerable list, you are able to put frequently used, but non-supplied,
applications into the ROM in a simple and effective manner.
What are the advantages of using ROM? There are
two main advantages to storing applications in ROM. Firstly, as ROM does not
require a constant electrical current to remain intact, applications stored
there will not be deleted in the event of a hard reset, or an empty battery.
This is to be contrasted with RAM, which does require an electrical current;
thus, any applications stored in RAM when a battery fails are lost. If you rely
on having a particular application in the event of a hard reset, storage in ROM
makes a lot of sense, although, to be fair, having a backup of your RAM on a
memory card would also be a sensible solution. However, usage of a memory card
is slow, which brings us to the second main advantage of ROM- it is very fast
to access. If you have an application which you use on a regular basis, and
currently have stored in RAM or in external storage, you may benefit from
placing it in ROM. Whilst you may only notice a second or so increase, and less
than this on some of the newer devices with fast processors, there is indeed
benefit to be obtained.
So, what about the products?
Before you look at purchasing copies of the
applications, you should download
JackFlashLite,
which tells you how much ROM your device has, and how much of it is currently
free. Some devices do not have Flash ROM, or simply do not have enough to make
the application run. It is important to try this out, as Brayder do not offer
trial versions of the applications themselves, probably for security reasons.
 When I used the applications, I decided to use
JackSprat first, as there were programs in my T3’s ROM which I do not use,
and would rather were not there. Before I could actually commence the removal
process, I had to authenticate the application- part of Brayder’s sensible
security system- and then make a copy of my T3’s ROM image. For OS5
devices, the only way of doing this is to back it up onto a memory card, and,
as the ROM is 15140kb, you will need at least a 16mb card to do this.
Unfortunately, unlike the OS4.1 and below version, there is no opportunity for
backing up via a Hotsync. This may be a problem for some, although, I think
that most people who are going to attempt something as specialised as
ROM-editing on their PDAs will probably have the extra external memory. Once
you have backed up to your card, I would advise making a copy of this onto your
computer, and, if you reinstall your PC’s operating system as much as I
do, onto another form of removable storage as well. The reason for taking such
pains over this is that the ROM image copied at this stage is the only copy you
have of the original operating system on the T3; if you lose it, you will not
be able to restore the device back to its original settings, which may be
required should you decide to sell it, for example.
The second option given by JackSprat is to remove
any unwanted applications. You are fairly safe to remove whatever you like
here, if you do not use it, although I can not stress strongly enough that you
should leave the file “Applications” in place. This is the default
Palm launcher, and, even if you use another launcher (in my case, LauncherX,
for example), removing this may cause significant problems, of the magnitude
that you may not ever be able to use your PDA again. Unless using it as a
paperweight counts. An expensive paperweight. With this warning in mind, you
are otherwise free to do what you like. If, for example, you use Agendus, you
probably do not need the default Calendar applications, so that can be removed.
You get the picture. Out of interest, I removed: Quick tour, Docs To Go,
Expense, Kinoma, Photos, RealOne and Welcome- this saved me a total of 5685kb
of memory. The interface works by selecting which files you wish to remove, and
then clicking “Update”- the files are then removed as part of the
“write” process. This means that the device seems to stop operating
for a few minutes, whilst it carries out the necessary operations; whilst it
may seem that the screen has frozen, under no circumstances should you force a
soft reset- just leave it for a while!
The third stage is to remove any extra language
packs installed on your device. This will only be available to those who have
European models, as they are the only ones with extra languages, thus making it
easier for PalmOne to sell. American or Japanese models do not have this
option, as they already have the Flash available for use. Once you have
exercised this option, and removed the extra languages (all languages other
than the one in use at time of removal are deleted), the option disappears.
Removing the extra languages frees up 8mb of Flash, which comes in very useful.
Once you have removed all the files you initially
want to get rid of, in comes JackFlash to take advantage of all the new space.
Just like JackSprat, JackFlash has an intuitive interface, which makes changing
the location of files very simple. You see a list of all the .prc files on your
PDA, and change change via a pull-down box whether they are to be stored in RAM
or ROM (listed as OS, or Operating System, memory). That is all there is to it;
it really could not be simple.
It should be noted at this stage that some
applications just do not like being in Flash- I can think of no logical reason
for this, but, it could be something to do with association with databases.
Especially, I would suppose that applications which cannot cope with their
databases being stored on a memory card if the program is in RAM would not
work. As the manual supplied with the applications points out, Flash ROM is for
applications which do not change- as ROM is Read Only Memory, once it is in, it
is in. For this reason, it is no good placing your Contacts database into ROM,
as you will not be able to alter it without taking it out first. To a somewhat
lesser extent, you may wish to avoid placing applications which receive very
regular updates into ROM, although, to counter this, it is not particularly
difficult to use JackFlash to change the location for each new update. Where
applications receive infrequent updates, and you use them on a regular basis,
Flash ROM is an excellent location for them.
This is not to say that JackFlash does not give
rise to problems. I am careful to phrase it this way, as JackFlash is not at
fault, rather, the applications which are placed into ROM. My example here is
DocsToGo, which comes pre-installed into ROM when the T3 is purchased. If you
hard reset the device, DocsToGo is still accessible without restoring because
of this. However, shortly after the T3 was released, Dataviz released an
update, which was then stored in RAM. I removed the original, out of date,
DocsToGo from ROM, and installed the updated version. This all works perfectly,
and is retained in the event of a hard reset. However, the registration
information is not retained; once I restore, I have to re-enter my reference
number and code. This is not very easy as I keep all this sort of information
in SplashID, which does not reside in ROM as I regularly add items to the
database. The only way I can find to remedy this is to use the trial period of
DocsToGo until such time as I can restore my PDA. As I have a backup on my
memory card this is not a problem, but, this does give rise to the benefits of
using ROM if it does not remember registration information. Unfortunately, I do
not have any answers to this. However, whilst DocsToGo resides in my ROM, it is
faster to load, and frees up RAM for other applications; therefore, the fact
that to obtain full usage requires a restoration is not hugely detrimental to
me, although it is only fair that this point is mentioned. As stated at the
beginning of this paragraph, however, this is not a fault with JackFlash,
merely an irritating observation linked to it.
The applications are extremely good, and take a
lot of worry out of what is a very delicate process. Editing the ROM on my PDA
was probably the most frightening thing I have ever tried on it, as there is
always the nagging thought in the back of your mind that, if you do something
wrong, you could ruin your device. I am happy to say, however, the Brayder
takes most of this worry away from you. There is still the possibility of
error, especially if you remove the “Applications” file, but, as long
as you read the comprehensive manuals, which double as walk-throughs, you
should be fine. It does not matter than the applications are monochrome, or
lack fancy graphics; this is not required, and would only increase the
applications’ footprints. If you are looking for a method of increasing
available RAM, as well as retaining applications in the event of a hard reset,
and additionally a faster load time, JackFlash and JackSprat could be very
useful applications. They perform their jobs admirably, and, as soon as I
decide which applications to place into ROM, I will be using them again, with
every confidence in them. Whether you have anything worth putting into ROM,
however, is another issue completely…
 JackFlash and
JackSprat are
available directly though Brayder’s website.
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