Ringtones for Treo

February 5, 2005 12:41 PM

TreoFilter - trying to install custom MIDI ring tones [+]

I bought a Treo 600 which plays MIDI files for its ring tones. The standard approach to installing new ones is to browse the web via the phone and install them. This is not the case for me, since I declined the web browsing facility when I signed up. At this point, I'm at the end of my limits of patience. I have pulled the System Ringtones file and used par to append a new database record into it using a program I wrote which takes a standard MIDI file and puts the right header on it to make it look like a record. FileZ shows it as a correct database record, but it doesn't show up as an option. I've also tried creating a new unique file which that ring tone alone, but to no avail. WTF?

posted by plinth to technology (4 comments total)

check out this howardforums thread
posted by roboto at 1:59 PM on February 5, 2005

Doesn't help much. I tried using HoHo which saw the MIDI database I hacked together and could play the files. I then moved them into the System Ringtones where they didn't show up in the options menu, even though HoHo and FileZ said they were there. Grrr.
posted by plinth at 4:04 PM on February 5, 2005

I would suggest Treo Central. If it ain't there, it can't be done. The forums are great.
posted by TeamBilly at 4:41 PM on February 5, 2005

AnswerFilter: The system doesn't see any ringtones that go into "System Ring Tones" or "System Alarm Tones." They have to go into "MIDI Ring Tones".

In short: there is a program called Mider which will merge midi files into a palm pdb (I also used scripts that I wrote and the program par), then install that file, then use HoHo to move the tones you want to "MIDI Ring Tones." Also, make sure that your files aren't much longer than 16K or they won't work. I trimmed everything down to about 30 seconds of music (which is about 10K depending on the complexity).

As a result, I now have "Under the Sea" as my primary ring tone, which will be replaced by "Blue Collar Man" (don't ask) when I finish stripping out the first few bars of rest.
posted by plinth at 6:01 PM on February 6, 2005