WM2003 - how to relocate Opera from Main memory to storage cards!

WM2003 - how to relocate Opera from Main memory to storage cards!

Hi all,
as a WM2003se device owner, i can't let Opera waste even a single MB of my precious memory. Especially because, connecting through GPRS and thus paying on a byte-transferred basis, i need a large cache but large cache means less memory...

Is there a solution? Yes it is. And it's very simple too!

0) Install Opera's CAB file to storage card (use the free program cabinstl for this)

1) This is the most important step!!! On your PC or using a text editor in your PDA, edit the file \Application data\Opera\opera.ini and replace every occurrence of the path \Application data\Opera\*something* with \Memory card\Opera\*something* (supposing \memory card\ is your SD/MMC/CF card's path).

2) copy the whole Opera directory from \Application data\ to \Memory card\. Now you should have two identical folders: \Application data\Opera in main memory and \Memory card\Opera on the SD/MMC/CF card.

3) The most logical step now would be removing the former directory (the one in main memory) but DON'T do this. Opera executable, in fact, still looks for the opera.ini files located in \Application data\Opera.

4) In \Application data\Opera remove every file and folder BUT KEEP the three files: english.lng, opera.ini (of couse!), opera6.adr AND the folder 'Skins'. I repeat: u can REMOVE all the files and folders but u must LEAVE the 3 files and the folder i listed. Don't worry, they don't require much space while the cache folder is now on \Memory card\Opera

Enjoy!!!

Note: while editing opera.ini in the first step, u can also try to raise the amount of cache allocated by the program from 2000 to 10000 or more. The cache will reside in your flash card so space is not a problem any more.

Bye bye,
Isidoro

Sorry for double posting!!! I don't know how to remove the duplicate though!

Bye,
Isidoro

Haha, whats up with the "Special effects" and the "Turbo speed" -lines in the .ini

Don't know. I've switched both on (from =0 to =1) but noticed no difference.

Just wonder what kind of special effects we could have! (...ummmh....Slow motion?)

Although i am missing the really cool graphical interface of Picsel Browser-beta from the palmos-side. It had like really fast zooming and screendragging, animated icons and images of the websites as a back and forward buttons.
In opera, currently we dont have even smooth scrolling. But let´s see what they will bring to us!

I don't think eye-candy can be useful or even desiderable in a PPC, the screen is just too small for it. Instead, I'd prefer Java, Flash, RSS and Wand: most PPC owners will use Opera to check their webmail (hence the need for Wand), to read news (RSS) and to check stations' and airports' timetables (Java is required here).
Maybe, support for windows media streaming files and real media clips could be useful too (provided the user had installed windows media and real player for ppc, of course).

There's still room for improvements anyway.

Bye

Originally posted by risidoro:

Hi all,
as a WM2003se device owner, i can't let Opera waste even a single MB of my precious memory. Especially because, connecting through GPRS and thus paying on a byte-transferred basis, i need a large cache but large cache means less memory...

Is there a solution? Yes it is. And it's very simple too!

0) Install Opera's CAB file to storage card (use the free program cabinstl for this)

1) This is the most important step!!! On your PC or using a text editor in your PDA, edit the file \Application data\Opera\opera.ini and replace every occurrence of the path \Application data\Opera\*something* with \Memory card\Opera\*something* (supposing \memory card\ is your SD/MMC/CF card's path).

2) copy the whole Opera directory from \Application data\ to \Memory card\. Now you should have two identical folders: \Application data\Opera in main memory and \Memory card\Opera on the SD/MMC/CF card.

3) The most logical step now would be removing the former directory (the one in main memory) but DON'T do this. Opera executable, in fact, still looks for the opera.ini files located in \Application data\Opera.

4) In \Application data\Opera remove every file and folder BUT KEEP the three files: english.lng, opera.ini (of couse!) and opera6.adr. I repeat: u can REMOVE all the files and folders but u must LEAVE the 3 files i listed. Don't worry, the three files don't require much space while the cache folder is now on \Memory card\Opera

Enjoy!!!

Note: while editing opera.ini in the first step, u can also try to raise the amount of cache allocated by the program from 2000 to 10000 or more. The cache will reside in your flash card so space is not a problem any more.

Bye bye,
Isidoro

Hi,

I found that if I moved the skins directory that the refresh, go to etc. buttons wouldn't appear. This occured even though I edited the ini file. It appears that something in the program also has a skins reference, other than through the ini file.

Opera Mobile's standard_skin.zip is broken, but it's also Opera's default as a fallback for values undefined by other skins. windows_skin.zip doesn't define any button image, so Opera attempts to fallback, but expects to find \Application Data\Opera\skins\standard_skin.zip (or whatever, I'm working from memory.)

Either leave that file in place there, or I've found that Tango Native works well in Opera Mobile. There are of course plenty of buttons in that file that are unnecessary, but if you're using the skin off a memory card you should probably have the space.

Originally posted by kbachler:

Hi,
I found that if I moved the skins directory that the refresh, go to etc. buttons wouldn't appear. This occured even though I edited the ini file. It appears that something in the program also has a skins reference, other than through the ini file.

SHAME ON ME!!!
You're completely right. I've used Opera a lot since i moved it to SD, but i NEVER NOTICED there were no buttons!!!
Excuse me for being such a dumb a$$!!!

OK, so you must leave the folder \Application data\Opera\Skins in main memory.

Thanks,
Isidoro

I did your solution on my iPAQ 2495 running WM5 and it worked like a charm. Thanks for posting a very helpful solution.

I have it working on my storage card with Tango Native icons. Some additional changes need to be made to fully implement it on storage card. URL links need to be reoriented so that you can launch from E-Mail. I have tried some registry edits for anything that has the path to the old Opera location and changed the path to show "Sorage Card" but I still do not have it working. I will persist. If anyone else knows a trick I would like to know. I have started with HKCR looking at the default icons in htmlfile, http, http.org, https, and https.org.

Hi, I am sorry for my stupidity but how do I start with translocaliting. The only thing I see is an opera icon but I don't see how do i edit it.

Thanks Risidoro, for a very helpful post. I followed your instructions and it worked (almost) perfectly. I also increased the cache to 20,000 (and the image and documents caches to 12,000 and 8,000 respectively) which seems to have speeded everything up nicely. Finally, I also changed the download folder from "\my documents" to my storage card, an important step if, like me, you like to download video clips.

Opera developers, if you are listening, these options are essential for the final version!

But, I have one problem which I hope you or someone can address: I can no longer scroll through documents using the joy stick (is that what it is called? the navigation control buttons) or even the arrow buttons on my slide-out keyboard.

Any thoughts on how to restore that functionality?

I have Windows Mobile 5 (a Cingular 2125 phone). I had to do things differently. I tried the steps above (but selecting Storage Card as installation place using the option during install available to WM5, and using /Storage Card instead of /Memory card, as that changed in WM5 also). The result was an inability to move the cursor or scroll through pages, as the above poster described.

I was able to get the application to work with the program dlls/executables (~4mb) and cache files all on the storage card. The downside is the /Application Data/Opera folder and all it's files must remain on the device itself, which takes ~682kb (over 1/2mb). Here is what I did:

1. Download and install Opera Mobile on oyur computer, then sync your phone to copy over the files (will happen automatically if your phone is plugged in and activesync is running). On the phone, select install to storage card when prompted.

2. Edit the Opera.ini file in /Application Data/Opera. Change the following lines as displayed below (use whatever home page you want - you may also increase the cache size to whatever you want, it's in kb):

[User Prefs]
Opera Directory=\Storage Card\Storage\Application Data\Opera
Home URL=www.google.com
Help Directory=\Application Data\Opera\Help

[Cache]
Document=8000
Figure=12000

Note: Either use a text editor on your phone to edit the opera.ini file, or copy it to your computer, edit it, and paste it back to the phone, overwriting the original file.

3. Copy the /Storage directory on your phone. Paste it into /Storage Card. Do NOT delete the original one on the device - don't worry, it takes very little space (if there are files in the /Cache4 directory, you may delete all of them). Note: If there is anything other than /Application Data/Opera in the storage folder on your phone, only copy the /Application Data/Opera directory (maintain the directory structure on the storage card though so it is still /Storage/Apllication Data/Opera on the card and device).

Let me know how it works for everyone, or if you have any other improvements/suggestions! Good luck guys.

If you leave the smartphone_keyboard.ini file in the main memory then the keypad navigation works again while the Opera directory is installed on the Storage Card ;-)

I really wish someone would post the exact steps on how to get these files on to the storage card. I have tried doing this with the above directions and so far opera continues to open in the same location, so if someone would be kind enough to justt lay it out for us knuckleheads at least i would be very aprciative of your time and effort to do this.

yes if you have a pocket pc you must leave a few files on the sd card..English.lng, input.ini,opera.ini, and opera6.aDR AND REST CAN BE COPIED TO THE MEMORY CARD. just edit the opera.ini left in the main memory and change anything that says application manager/ to sd card/ or whatever your external card is named,