X-Master 1.5 X-Master manages PalmOS system extensions (aka hacks) X-Master is a free, stable, easy-to-use hack/extension management program. At A Glance - Fully compatible with HackMaster, all existing hacks are supported - Freeware by LinkeSOFT - Protects active extensions - Safe (and complete) removal of active/inactive system extensions - Information about patched Palm OS functions - Support for switching "sets" of active extensions You can find a wide variety of hacks for X-Master on the big Palm software sites. X-Master is a free 100% compatible successor to Edward Keyes' original HackMaster which fixes several bugs and offers various improvements, both technical and in the user interface. A light version of X-Master with reduced memory footprint (no patch info and no sets) is available. Installation/Upgrade X-Master runs on all currently available Palm Powered (R) handhelds with at least Palm OS 2.0. X-Master is a regular Palm OS application. After starting X-Master, the list of system extensions (hacks) found on your handheld is displayed. Active extensions have a checkmark to the left. X-Master will recognize if you have HackMaster running and will take over the set of active hacks from HackMaster. Because it makes no sense to have two utilities with the same functionality, it will then remove HackMaster from your handheld. If you've used another extension management application like EVPlugbase or TealMaster and want to use X-Master, you should first deactivate all extensions in the other program. Note that using multiple extension managers at the same time may lead to unpredictable results. You should eventually delete the other application. You can install newer versions of X-Master over the old version without problems. Deinstallation or deactivation of hacks is not necessary To remove X-Master from your handheld, first deactivate all extensions, then delete X-Master just like any other program in the launcher. Note that the upcoming Palm OS 5.0 will no longer support hacks, hence X-Master and other hack managers can no longer be used on Palm OS 5 and later. Details The Details dialog shows version, status (active/inactive), and the Palm OS functions that the currently selected extension patches. Tapping on Configure will take you to the extension's configuration dialog (if available). To get general information about a particular system extension, tap on the (i) in the upper right corner of the Details dialog. If you tap on Delete, the system extension will be deactivated and removed from your handheld. This includes all data and the preferences. Reset All system extensions are automatically deactivated after a reset by the operating system. X-Master will pop up a dialog asking you whether you want to re-activate your formerly active collection of system extensions. When you check the corresponding preference option, this popup will automatically be confirmed after 5 seconds. Sets If you have many system extensions installed, chances are you do not want to have all of them activated at the same time. X-Master provides support for easy switching between multiple sets of active extensions. To store the currently active set of system extensions tap on the menu Extensions->Create Set. Once you have sets defined, a popup trigger in the upper right corner will appear that lets you select or edit your sets. You can define up to 30 sets. Note that the activation order of extensions within a set matters, i.e. you can have two sets that contain the same extensions but in different order. To update a set to the currently active extensions, tap on Edit Sets..., select the set you want to update and tap on Refresh. To switch between sets with a simple stroke in any application, install our XMSwitchSet extension. Extension patch chain The extension patch chain dialog, available through menu Extensions->List All Active, lists all applications that alter system functions. The first called extension comes first. Note that this list may include applications that are not X-Master compatible (i.e. do their own trap patching). These applications will not appear in the main X-Master extension list. Preferences In the preferences, you can select whether you want the original HackMaster style layout (with little (i) and (...) buttons next to the extension name, or the default layout with Configure and Info buttons at the bottom. By default, X-Master sorts active and inactive extensions alphabetically with all active extensions coming first. When you select Strict Alpha, all extensions will be sorted alphabetically, regardless of their activation state. When you select Activation, the list order will mirror the activation order with the most recently activated extension coming first. The option Disable during HotSync is available on Palm OS 3.5 and later. If this option is set, all extensions will be automatically deactivated when a HotSync begins and activated again when HotSync ends. This way you can install a new version of an extension without having to manually deactivate the extension first in X-Master. Note: A few hacks that expect to work during HotSync may not be compatible with this option. Order of activated extensions Sometimes, the order in which extensions are activated matters. Some extensions may not work if a different extension is activated first. For technical reasons, for any patched system function, the last activated extension will be called first. X-Master retains the order in which you activate the extensions after resets and in sets. To find out the current order in which extensions are called, view the extension patch chain or select the preference option to display activation order. Compatibility X-Master runs on all Palm OS devices with at least Palm OS 2.0. X-Master is fully compatible with HackMaster. It uses the same protocol and the same activation procedure as the original HackMaster. All hacks written for HackMaster should work. X-Master fixes many shortcomings of the original HackMaster program. It therefore makes obsolete various third-party hacks and applications that have been specifically written to fix such HackMaster faults. If X-Master finds such an application, it will display an alert. You should disable and remove these hacks and applications. X-Master is compatible with LeftHack. X-Master can be moved to Flash ROM. You should not move X-Master to an expansion card, because applications on cards do not receive reset or HotSync notifications. Troubleshooting Because system extensions call deeply into the operating system sometimes subtle problems occur if several extensions interfere with each other, or if the extension was not written for the current operating system. Things to check if a system extension is not working properly or if your handheld is unstable after activating a certain system extension: - Is the extension (Hack) compatible with your Palm OS version and hardware? - Is it working if all other extensions are disabled? - Perform a soft reset. Sometimes, applications that patch system functions without adhering to the hack standards can interfere with X-Master. You can try Daniel Seiferts Hackfinder to find applications that may perform hack-like activities. If a simple soft reset does not work, i.e. you're stuck in a reset loop, try a reset without notification of applications - Press the scroll-up key (the upper arrow key) - While keeping the scroll-up key pressed, enter pin into reset hole at back - Release reset pin - Release scroll-up key Freeware X-Master is freeware. You can freely use it and distribute it to others as long as the program is not altered in any way. If you like the program, you can donate a small amount of money to our PayPal account. Version history Version 1.5 (22-Jul-2002 - Improved interoperability with locking apps like OnlyMe - More compatibility fixes Version 1.4.1 (03-Mar-2002) - Minor compatibility fix Version 1.4 (25-Nov-2001) - Option to disable all extensions during HotSync (useful for installing new versions of an extension w/o manual prior deactivation) - Menu entries to quickly activate/add to current set and deactivate/remove from currentset - Faster switching of sets that only add/remove a few extensions (useful for e.g. XMSwitchSet) - Support for activation/deactivation notification of Hacks (useful for developers) Version 1.3 (09-May-2001) - More compatibility enhancements - Include new Palm OS 4.0 patch names - X-Master will no longer try to activate a patch if this patch is not available on the current OS - Reversed patch chain list to be consistent with main list (first called extension comes first) - Supports direct calling from Launcher III - Support for JackFlash - Support for Handera 330 - Support for XMSwitchSet extensionmore compatibility enhancements Version 1.2 (11-Feb-2001) - Fixed bug with garbled function names - Fixed various sets bugs - Improved sets handling - Added set refresh functionality - Reduced space between lines so that 11 extensions fit on one page - Added light version with smaller memory footprint (no patch info and no sets) Version 1.1 (5-Feb-2001) - Fixed Visor incompatibilities (our sincere apologies to all Visor users who suffered crashes with 1.0!) - Many other bug fixes - Added beaming Version 1.0 - Initial public release Thanks to Mike McCollister for valuable suggestions. Special thanks to Takanori Nakane for the Japanese translation. Thanks to Daniel Bergman for the Swedish translation. Thanks to Antonio Delgado for the Spanish translation. Thanks to Stanley Wu for the Chinese translation. Copyright (c) 1998-2002 LinkeSOFT GmbH, Berlin, Germany License ------- This license agreement settles the relation between LinkeSOFT GmbH and the user concerning the use of the enclosed software product ("program") of LinkeSOFT in its shareware version and its registered version. § 1 The user obtains through this license by LinkeSOFT the non-exclusive right to install and use this program on his PalmPilot. The program remains the sole property of LinkeSOFT. The user further obtains the right to make a back-up copy by means of the HotSync feature. § 2 The user may distribute the shareware version of this program or copies thereof. The shareware version may be published on the Inter- or Intranet or on software collections (on CDs etc.). 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