X-Master 1.4

X-Master manages PalmOS system extensions (aka Hacks)

HackMaster, developed by Edward Keyes in 1997, has been the de-facto standard for managing Palm OS system extensions that patch system traps (so-called Hacks).

X-Master is a free 100% compatible successor to HackMaster which fixes some bugs and offers various improvements, both technical and in the user interface.

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
• Light version with reduced memory footprint (no patch info and no sets)
• Download now

Installation/Upgrade

The ZIP archive contains two files, X-Master.prc and X-Master-Light.prc. The latter is a stripped down version of X-Master for users running low on free memory. It is identical to the full version except for the patch info and the sets functionality. If you are not concerned with the extra KB, simply install the X-Master.prc file.

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 use a different extension (Hack) 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 deinstallation. Please perform a soft reset if you upgrade from version 1.0.

To remove X-Master from your handheld, first deactivate all extensions, then delete X-Master just like any other program in the launcher.

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 work during HotSync may not be compatible with this option set.

If you install a new version of X-Master and have this option set, you must open X-Master in launcher once to re-activate all extensions.

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.

A small number of Hacks falsely checks for the presence of the original HackMaster. Such Hacks can be identified in a text editor by searching for the strings "HackMaster" or "dwHM". If you find such a Hack, please contact the respective developer and ask them to remove this test or extend it to include X-Master as well. If they have any technical questions, we'd be glad to help.

Trouble-shooting

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.

Version history

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.

(C) LinkeSOFT GmbH, 2001 http://linkesoft.com/

This software is freeware by LinkeSOFT. You may freely distribute it, provided that the program and this copyright is not altered in any way.

THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY LINKESOFT GMBH ''AS IS'' AND ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL LinkeSOFT BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, PECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR THERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.

Freeware

HotSync ID:

John Doe

Serial:

123456

No registration information available. Try searching for this app in the Codez4Palm database.

Use HackMe to register without changing your primary HotSync ID.

Compatibility

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