Thanks beads, this is helpful. A few questions if i may:
1. Where do I find the crash logs? This happens with various applications from time to time. Installing new apps seems to fix things for a while, then they start crashing again.
2. Where do you get your jailbreak instructions for each new dot release upgrade? I'm currently not able to download bittorrent due to codetel blocking it, so last time finding places to download binaries was a bit of a challenge.
3. Which cydia app should I install to backup my cydia 3rd party apps? Will this also backup my installer apps?
If all this could be streamlined it would be much easier and your responses would be most welcome.
1. You will find the main iphone crash logs here after syncing....
Mac OS X : ~/Library/Logs/CrashReporter/MobileDevice/<DEVICE_NAME>
Windows XP: C:\Documents and Settings\<USERNAME>\Application Data\Apple computer\Logs\CrashReporter/<DEVICE_NAME>
Windows Vista: C:\Users\<USERNAME>\AppData\Roaming\Apple computer\Logs\CrashReporter/MobileDevice/<DEVICE_NAME>
If this is a Cydia related issue the logs are stored in /tmp/cydia.log
I dont quite understand how installing more programs will fix crash problems. A firmware upgrade can fix bugs and rebooting the iphone after installing a new application and even once a day to clear memory leaks can definitely improve performance. Anything beyond that and I would look in the log files to see what is causing the problem and report the issue to the programs developer.
2. The best and latest information in my opinion is found on the iPhone Dev Team blog... Dev-Team Blog
Finding required files from a trusted location is easy.... All the latest and the greatest iPhone news! - iPhoneFreakz
(do a search for the other iphone thread as all information and more for item #2 is in that thread in this forum already)
3. In Cydia install AptBackup. This creates a list of all your currently installed packages from Cydia and will allow you to recover all your packages by installing AptBackup again and telling to restore your 3rd paty applications.
As far as installer goes since firmware 2.0 they just dropped the ball so there really isn't anything available for backing that stuff up but they dont have much to install anyhow, so your stuck with manual installation or doing as most of the community has done and not even bother with installer anymore.