BlackBerry Master Control Program 0.9.3.0 Beta 5

Release Date:  2/25/10

Click the image above for the full sized screenshot.

MCP has been downloaded over a half million times!  518,063 downloads so far!  :)

Third party module backups now include PIN in folder structure (suggested by NH3 in the MCP Forums)

In the past MCP would only create subfolders based on the current date and time:

C:\Users\sgt-d\Desktop\x\mcp\2010\dst\backup\20100225193352

MCP will still work the exact same way (above) if no PIN is selected, however, if you do select a PIN it will be added to the path as shown here:

C:\Users\sgt-d\Desktop\x\mcp\2010\dst\backup\3X1X2X1X\20100225193352

Great suggestion NH3!

One comment about third party backups...  as you can see by the sheer length of the paths shown above, you may have to move the PIN\date folders out to the root of a drive if you ever really need to restore your files.  The loading path has a limit, so if you can't get COD's to reload, now you know why!

Desktop Manager is no longer automatically closed when MCP starts OS installation process

I thought this was a problem so in beta 5 MCP would kill DM.  DM wasn't the cause, so this decision was reversed.

MCP "Application Loader" icon's ability to continue a failed OS installation now requires PIN

Since CTRL + left clicking the Application Loader icon attempts to recover a failed OS installation you now have to have your PIN selected in MCP before you attempt this combination.

EXE's are once again digitally signed, might help with UAC issues

Hmm, don't know.  I'm buying new certificates soon that should aleviate all UAC issues.

Go to MCP Downloads now get your copy!

/d

• 

BlackBerry Master Control Program 0.9.3.0 Beta 5

Release Date:  2/21/10

I worked on MCP a little today (2/19/10)...  look what happened exactly 13 months ago:  CrackMem 3.4 (1/19/09).  Weird.

I worked on MCP all day today (2/20/10)...  look what happened exactly one year ago:  BlackBerry Master Control Program 0.9.1.1 (2/20/09).  Weird.

BlackBerry Desktop Manager (DM) is now automatically closed when MCP starts the OS installation process

If BlackBerry Dekstop Manager (DM) is running during the OS installation since it has it's own built-in Application Loader it can cause the OS installation to the device to fail.  Sadly I don't think I have documented or expressed well enough that DM should always be closed prior to the OS installation - but that is something I have always done manually just to make sure no outside processes can interfere.

When you click the "Install" button in MCP an informative screen shows up that explains the processes.  At this point (starting with 0930 Beta 5) when you click the "Continue" button MCP will check to see if BlackBerry Desktop Manager (DesktopMgr.exe) is running and if it is running MCP will silently kill the task.  This will allow the real Application Loader to run without any outside interference.

MCP's "Application Loader" icon now has the ability to continue a failed OS installation

In the past I've had OS installations not work (it's rare but it has happened a few times) and I had to re-click MCP's OS "Install" button to start over.  Well, that normally works, but it sucks because you have to wait for it to wipe the device and delete the JVM again, adding more time to the process.  I wanted an easy way to restart Java Loader but to trick it into only seeing the currently selected OS in MCP.   To do this now you can hold in the CTRL key while left clicking the Application Loader icon.

When you do this, MCP will hide itself and wait for Application Loader to exit...  just like it does during an OS installation.  Application Loader will only see the OS that you had selected on the MCP OS Management page.

MCP OS Management is now compatibile with either Shrink-A-OS or CrackMem

MCP now has a new option...  the ability to switch "compatibility" with either Shrink-A-OS or CrackMem.  By "compatibility" I am only referring to the locations where Shrink-A-OS and CrackMem save the COD files that are removed from the currently selected operating system's path.  Examples:

Shrink-A-OS Removed Files:  C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Research In Motion\Shared\Loader Files\9550AMEA_v5.0.0.451_P4.2.0.198\Java\RemovedFiles

CrackMem Removed Files:  C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Research In Motion\RemovedFiles\9550AMEA_v5.0.0.451_P4.2.0.198

The last public release of CrackMem was on 1/21/09 - 13 months ago from last Friday - and I'm not sure if it is still under development.  In the mean time, lyricidal's Shrink-A-OS is gaining popularity and is included in BBHybrids.net releases.  Since Shrink-A-OS is still being developed and it is being used by a lot of users I thought it would be a nice idea to add some basic support for those users in MCP.

So now it's your choice.  If you use Shrink-A-OS more than CrackMem, here is your chance to make MCP look for COD files the correct folders.

If you have used MCP in the past to optimize your OS'es and you plan to switch this new option to "Shrink-A-OS" I would like to suggest something before you make the switch:  go to the OS Management page in MCP and for each OS in the drop-down selector click the "All On" button.  This will put all the files back into their original locations.  Then you can check the new "Shrink-A-OS" option in MCP Settings.

To facilitate this change I needed more room so the old "Javaloader.exe" section had to be hidden for now.  It was kinda useless anyway.  To get a better idea of what commands will look like you would be better off experimenting with MCP's Area 51 page.

MCP Touch, Gestures and Touch Keyboard!  Hmm...  iMCP?

I decided to play with some new shit today...  something I've wanted to check out months ago, I just never had time.  What I ended up with was pretty cool, at least for my first ever effort.  MCP should now work pretty well with touch screens and I've added some gestures as well.  Think of the entire area of the MCP window as the canvas.  To start a gesture, touch and hold down (or click the mouse down and hold it in) while performing the gesture.  I've even added a touch keyboard so if you need to touch type you now can!  These gestures work with touch devices or with a normal mouse.

MCP "Touch" Gestures

Triangle or "S":  MCP Settings
Square:  Information
Down:  Load Modules
Up:  Erase Modules
Left:  Save Modules
Right:  Downloads
Circle:  OS Installation
Shake left to right (scratch out):  Close MCP
Chevron right (>) or down:  Show touch keyboard
Chevron left (<) or up (^):  Hide touch keyboard

When it comes to the circle, left, down, up and right gestures, look for "arrows" on the MCP icons (left side).  The OS icon shows two arrows that create a circle shape.  The load modules shows a down arrow.  The erase modules icon shows an up arrow.  Save modules has an arrow pointing to the left.  Etc.

It goes without saying that these new abilities might be a little problematic.  I will need tons of feedback from everyone, particularly from touch device users.

Added Shrink-A-OS download and website to the MCP Downloads page

Self explanatory.

MCP Home page showed "Copyright 2009", changed to 2010.

Self explanatory.

Go to MCP Downloads now get your copy!

/d

• 



BlackBerry Master Control Program 0.9.3.0 Beta 4

Release Date:  1/27/10

Click the image above for the full sized screenshot.

MCP Portable Fix: Save Modules Page

Thanks Gerd for reporting this bug and for helping me test the fix!

This problem only affected MCP Portable.  It did not affect other versions of MCP unless they were running from a USB flash drive.

Regarding BOTH the "Operations" section's "Save" button and the "Backup & Restore" section's "Backup" button.

Both of these buttons were correctly generating ALX/JAD files in the modules and backup folders (respectively) but in the portable version of MCP the COD files were being saved to the Windows System32 folder.

My best guess...

...is that javaloader.exe can access the BlackBerry device over USB because it is being recognized externally by BlackBerry Device Manager (running in your system tray) even though typically MS-DOS Command Prompt - based applications (like javaloader.exe) have NEVER been able to "see" or access any kind of USB device.

Well...  in the case of a USB thumb drive (MCP Portable) javaloader.exe can access the modules on the device but then shits itself when it tries to save the COD files to a USB device that it can't possibly "see" or begin to recognize...  so it panics and dumps the COD files to a failover location, in this case %system% (your System32 folder).

To fix this...

I am now telling javaloader.exe to save the modules to your %temp% folder under a sub-folder named "mcp", so, %temp%\mcp.  As soon as the file is saved I can then tell Windows (which is fully capable of managing files on USB devices) to move the COD files to their final destination:  the modules or backups folder on your USB thumb drive.

Even if my "best guess" is totally wrong, this new method works 100%.

Save Modules Page Fix:  ALX/JAD Creation During Backup

In old builds of MCP (all versions) during the Backup operation the final entry in the ALX/JAD files was always an "empty" entry:

ALX Example (empty final entry):

application id=""
name  /name
version /version
fileset Java="1.38"
files .cod /files
/fileset
/application

JAD Example (empty final entry):

RIM-COD-URL-129: .cod
RIM-COD-Size-129:

These are both fixed!

MCP Portable Fix:  Images & Icons

The images on the left panel and some of the icons were old versions when running MCP Portable.  Fixed!

Operating System Management (OSM) Page Fixes

OSM Page:  Operating System Section

"Full Wipe" and "Delete JVM" now default to checked (true) on clean installations of MCP.

If "(None)" was selected for the OS, the "Full Wipe" check mark could still be checked/unchecked.  Fixed.

OSM Page:  OS Modules Section, More / IMs Button

The pattern for BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) was:  pattern=*peer*

The pattern for BBM has changed to:  pattern=*peer*;*qm_lib_barcode*;*qm_api*;*bbgroup*

Meaning these new COD files (BBM 5+) will also now be included/excluded from OS installations:

net_rim_bb_qm_api.cod
net_rim_bb_qm_lib_barcode.cod
net_rim_bbgroup_calendar.cod
net_rim_bbgroup_database.cod
net_rim_bbgroup_inbox.cod
net_rim_bbgroup_lists.cod
net_rim_bbgroup_messaging.cod
net_rim_bbgroup_photos.cod

OSM Page:  OS Modules Section, BlackBerry Games Button

Due to my typical shitty coding, Peggle Demo was automatically being checked and unchecked in sync with the state of the Monopoly check box.  Fixed.  :)

• 

BlackBerry Master Control Program 0.9.3.0 Beta 3

Release Date:  1/24/10

You can now right click the retrieved lists of modules on both the "Erase Modules" and "Save Modules" pages inside MCP for a context menu.  "Save Checked To File..." will save the currently checked items in the list to a text document.  "Save All To File..." will save the entire list to a text document.  All of the normally seen details (module name, version and size) will be saved to the document.

I also noticed that when I added the new controls in 0.9.3.0 Beta 1 (below) that the new modules list controls didn't show informational hints in the help area at the bottom of MCP.  Fixed!  These lists now have the original help plus information about "right clicking" them for the new menu.

Download

Get your copy here!!!

• 

BlackBerry Master Control Program 0.9.3.0 Beta 2

Release Date:  1/5/10

Changes in MCP 0.9.3.0 Beta 2

This build of MCP fixes a problem with OS installations.  In cases where the same OS build (for example 5.0.0.419) is installed on the PC for multiple devices (for example the recent 5.0.0.419 releases for both the Tour 9630 and Storm 9530)...  in these cases the 9530 version of the 5.0.0.419 OS was "seen" by MCP first (9530 comes before 9630) so ONLY the 9530 version of the OS was being made visible later to Application Loader.  Of course this is perfectly fine if you are installing to a 9530 device but if you attempted to install to a 9630 device Application Loader would report that no OS was available.

Example:

9530AMEA_v5.0.0.419_P4.2.0.179
9630AMEA_v5.0.0.419_P4.2.0.179

In previous versions of MCP only the 9530 version of 5.0.0.419 would be available to Application Loader.

MCP now identifies the full path and isolates the device and OS correctly.

I can't believe this one slipped through my QA department.

Oh yeah...  I don't have a QA department.  PROBLEM FIXED!  :)

• 

BlackBerry Master Control Program 0.9.3.0 Beta 1

Release Date:  12/6/09

Modules Lists Updated

Modules lists on the Erase Modules and Save Modules (Java Loader) pages have been updated.  The new modules lists display the name of the module followed by the module version and size (in bytes) in parenthesis.

Old Method...  Module name only, example:  BeejiveIM - Screenshot

New Method...  Module name (Version/Size), example:  BeejiveIM (1.9.7/1456772) - Screenshot

The addition of version information and the byte size for each module in these lists was something I started working on months ago and was hoping to have finished before 0.9.2.0 final was released but I just couldn't get to it.  A recent email from bohdiman helped push me to complete it and Dillinger's Keyboard helped.  :)  Until now, the only way you could see the module information was by using the "Directory" button on the Information page.  Incidently, this is still the only way to see the "build date" for each module on the device.

Because of the width of the returned strings that now include more detailed information, this window area is now only wide enough to see all of the information about 80% to 90% of the time...  some strings are just too wide.  For this reason a horizontal scrollbar was added so you can scroll left to right if needed.  I could have moved the management tools to the top and put the lists at the bottom and made them wider to facilitate the new width, but then users would have to scroll vertically at least two times more than in the past.

The new lists work a little differently than before.  In the past you could click anywhere on the line...  now you have to click inside the check box.

I've also turned on a new green check mark instead of the old boring black-grey icon which I think gives a better visual effect.

Things that needs to be watched carefully for awhile:  The modules that save should be saved as module.cod.  The ALX and JAD files must contain 100% correct information.  Many parts of the code in these areas has changed.  I've tried to make sure it all works properly, but it needs to be mentioned so users can keep an eye on things.

Backup Problem Fixed

There was a bug in all previous versions of MCP that included the new "Backup" feature (for third party modules):  in most cases at least one and sometimes possibly two modules would not be backed up properly.  This has been fixed.

Download

Get your copy here.

Closing

That's it.  Enjoy!