This is kind of wordy so if you don't have much time, check back when you do.
JackSprat ver 3 beta
After several days of debating whether to remove any files from ROM I decided to bite the bullet and downloaded JackSprat Ver 3 Beta. I have a JackSprat license so the folks at Brayder automatically e-mailed me an activation code for JackSprat when I requested it.
Being rather anal about messing with ROM I decided to unload everything I could think of that loaded when my 7135 boots. I autoload X-Master 1.5 with 7 different hacks, hacks Launchem VER 3.9, Autoexec 1.17 and Crash 2.0.
After soft rebooting with everything unloaded I started the default launcher and then launched JackSprat.
I then ran RemoveFP to check to check for FlashPro or InstallPro files. There were none. I then deleted RemoveFP.
Next I ran JackSprat. It soft rebooted and reinitialized itself. On the initial screen JackSprat gives you the choice of backing up ROM or deleting extras. I backed up the ROF to my SD Card. I highly recommend making a backup before deleting any files.
I don't know if a backup is required by the application before proceeding to removing files but there was no way I was going to proceed without backing up ROM. That is a question someone else is going to have to answer.
Anyway, I chose the "Card" button to start the backup. It took about 5 minutes to back up approximately 7 meg. It stated how much would be backed up but I was not making notes at that time. I decided to make notes once I started removing files.
Once the ROM was backed up JackSprat displayed the following info once I chose the "remove extras" button. This is before I removed any files.
Free RAM 5960K
Free OS Heap 15K
Free Flash 320K
Of course, the first file to go was the MP3 Demo Song. This is the memory info after removing the file.
Free RAM 5960K
MP# Demo Song 1036K
Free OS Heap 27K
Free Flash 1344K
It took approximately 2 minutes to remove MP3 Demo Song.
You are given two choices of what to do with a file when using JackSprat. You can delete it or move it to RAM. There was no choice as far as I was concerned regarding the Demo Song. It is history, hopefully never to be heard again.
I soft rebooted to check determine if 7135 would still work. I reactivated Launchem, X-Master, etc. I messed with the phone and apps for about 15 minutes to make sure all was well. Ran a hot sync. Everything worked well.
Interestingly, after checking things my available onboard RAM was listed as 5847K. It seems that some additional RAM memory was used loading my normal boot up apps. That indicates that programs take up RAM in two ways. One the physical size of an application takes up some space and the same application takes up more space when it is running. That may sound elementary but it helps explain why some users have stated they feel their 7135 works better with 2-3 meg of RAM free available at all times.
After a soft reboot I checked my files and found that JackSprat creates a program called FlashWrite (43K), which is the program that lets you restore your ROM if necessary.
I would like to point out that the folks from Brayder included very detailed JackSprat instructions in a PDF file. They were kind enough to include their recommendations on what files were safe to remove. There are several applications they deem safe to remove. I won't list them all but it
included the MP# player and interestingly some of the "regular" Palm apps.
PhotoSuite was the next to go. This application is no longer supported by ROXIO. I checked their website for an upgrade and found out they have discontinued their Palm application. So out it goes.
When I restarted JackSprat This time I got this memory info.
Free RAM: 6084K (JackSprat removes my startup files from memory before allowing files to be removed hence the 6084K instead of afore mentioned 5847K)
Free OS Heap: 27K
Free Flash: 1344K
PhotoSuite is 125K. It seems that it takes about 2 minutes each time you remove a single file. I will try multiple files next time. I also deleted a couple of pictures I had installed with PhotoSuite so that freed up additional RAM.
Enough memory information. You remove a file, you free up ROM. That is the reason for using JackSprat in the first place.
Suffice it to say that it seems JackSprat works well removing files from ROM. I am going to remove some more files over the next day or two and then start adding files back to ROM next week with JackFlash. If JF works as well with the 7135 as it has with my three other Palm devices there won't be much to tell except JF works great. I will let you know if I have trouble with JS or JF.
Hope this helps anyone considering using JackSprat or JackFlash on their 7135.
ps I have attached the JackSprat PDF (hope this is okay with the Brayder folks). It gives you a very good idea of what JackSprat will do.
bcottun
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