making roms - MDA, XDA, 1010 Software Upgrading

Hello All,
Firstly, I would like to say how great this website is and tip my hat off to all the people involved in maintaining this site.
I am very new to the whole XDA modification scene and have a ton of newbie questions. I know some of these questions have been asked before; however I still have not grasped the concepts fully. I have tried to restate the questions asked before so that I (and hopefully other newbie’s ) can fully understand how to modify XDA’s.
Any help anyone can provide will be greatly appreciated.
So here goes the questions:
When creating a customized ROM (using mkrom) my understanding is that one has re-create the initobj.txt and the Default.reg. Is it possible just to install all the applications you want, and then download the initobj.txt and the Default.reg and place them in the cfg directory for the custom ROM?
If this does not work, how does one know what to edit in these files?
When mkrom request a Rom image, is it requesting the backup ROM IMAGE? Will any image do?
When backing up a ROM, what option does one have to select to backup the operating system, settings and programs inside the ROM? Does CE do all of this?
What is CE, Boot, GSM stand for in the boot menu?
If one wants to just create a new boot image, what is the simplest way? Does one have to create a whole new ROM?
If one wants to just have the unlocking software, what is the simplest way? Does one have to create a whole new ROM?
When creating a Rom using RomKitchen, it asks you add Add your own ROM files? Is this your backup rom?
In RomKitchen one of the readme files asks for:
bootimage.bmp,_initobj.txt,_initdb.ini,_default.reg,xipchain
Is the default.reg and the initobj.txt in this directory have to be pre altered for the new programs one wants in the Rom like the way the mkrom wants them? Does the setup program create them for you?
Is the bootloader.nb0 file specific to the boot loader you have?
Very confused what is exactly needed in the /CFG directory.
In the CFG directory do you place your backup Rom dump?

Some ideas.
The most important issue is to know that you have to put the files you want to add int the folder files2 (up to 5 MB minus the amount in the folder directory) or in files1 (up to 900 KB).
The key is to manage default.reg (the registry of windows CE), you have to register the .exe's and dll's you want to use. It can be very useful for you the ssnap.exe (to show registry modifications by autoinstallabe programs) and a registry editor.
In initobj.txt, there are only links, but you should put links if you want to access to your programs in Start Menu-> Programs or in the Start Menu.
I suggest you to make different posts for each question, it would make easier to answer.
Regards.

Related

Own ROM with integrated TomTom2

Maybe this is a question especially to the developers, but I'm sure there are some other guys, that can advise me or give some hints.
I'm going to create my own rom with the mkrom-tool and I want to add some special programs. I also want to integrate my tomtom software to the rom. Therefore Ii don't have to reactivate every time, when Ii install the xda.
Now my question: Is this possible? Is there enough space to add this program?
What will i have to do?
Thanks...
Stefan
1) Create a snapshot file using 'ssnap' in your SE ROM
2) Install TomTom to the \Windows directory by moving the .cab to the device and double-clicking it. The CabInst program in the SE ROM will offer the option of installing to an alternative location.
3) Set everything up the way you want it. (i.e.: Twiddle all the settings, and install POIwarner and recent camera database also.)
4) create another snapshot.
5) Copy the two snapshot files to the PC, and compare them using a compare tool. (UltraEdit comes with one).
6) Filter the differences for things you do not need, such as 'last used' items in the file explorer and such...
7) Set up 'mkrom', adding the 3.17.03 ROM image, and test that it works by creating a ROM using the config that's in there.
8) Select what you want to lose, because 1.2 is full. Add the files the snapshot difference tells you are new into the 'files1' or 'files2' subdir, making sure the total file sizes for each doesn't grow.
9) Add the changed and new registery keys to default.reg
10) Run 'mkrom'
11) Presto.
I never found TomTom in ROM to be really useful, because it's big meaning you lose almost everything else, if it even fits. And for it to be useful, you always need the maps on SD-card anyway. Why not create an SD-card backup of the entire setup of your machine the way you like it on an old 16 or 32 MB SD-card? Then you can just put that onto your SE ROM device right after cold-boot, and you're in business.

Remove files from ROM

How can I remove from the original ROM some files like T-Mobile, AIM ... etc. ?
I cooked up a 4.00.10 T-Mobile with GPRS monitor and batterypack but i want some more addons.
Can someone tell me what steps are required to remove from the ROM some files ?
Thanks,
Decebal
ROM = Read Only Memory.
But, i've we're able to add Programs to the ROM in the ROMkitchen, i think we're also able to remove programs.
Regards
Stefan
cruisin-thru said:
ROM = Read Only Memory.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
obviously i do not deserve that
i was talking about the ROM image and since i've already succeded in putting into the ROM two apps i want to try something else.
so if anyone know how to remove at least T-mobile and AIM files from the image i'll be happy.
thanks,
Decebal
I believe they are in an area not able to be modified.
I was just quoting from that site, it does state that it cannot be erased, modified etc, no offence meant here. :roll:
The mkrom tools will allow you to 'unpack' a rom, i.e. extract all the files that are in it.
A rom, to the best of my understanding, has a 'native' or stock part to it, and then a series of XIP chains -- programs that are added into the free spaces of the rom.
I dont know what happens if you try to remove files from a rom that are part of the standard build...
Maybe the TMobile stuff is in a 'removeable' section of the ROM... there is also the 'operator' section... I am assuming that is a location that will give the 'operator' or creator of the rom space to put specialized programs, such as TMobiles phone apps, etc.
So, it seems that your best bet is to get the mkrom tools and read about how to extract/remove files/rebuild a rom.
Hey, it may even work!
J
You can rebuild a rom image from extracted files and leave some files out but Mkrom does not use compression and therefore the rom you end up with will probably be bigger than the rom you started with.
Richard
If I am correct, an eeprom is something else than a flash-rom.
so the article at least states it incorrectly.
if it is flash, you should be able to modify it.
XDA developer Itsme said:
If I am correct, an eeprom is something else than a flash-rom.
so the article at least states it incorrectly.
if it is flash, you should be able to modify it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Now, I do think that the real question is "How do we unlock the 'ROM' so that it can be modified being that it is an eeprom?"
Misterdollymaker
you need backup the ROM to *.nb1 or *.nbf file, than using tools to add/delete file to *.nb1 , write the new file back to XDA ROM. it is fun to add/delete file to your personized ROM!
cgigate said:
you need backup the ROM to *.nb1 or *.nbf file, than using tools to add/delete file to *.nb1 , write the new file back to XDA ROM. it is fun to add/delete file to your personized ROM!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
this is quite interesting...can you elaborate further?? I wish to learn more...
cgigate said:
you need backup the ROM to *.nb1 or *.nbf file, than using tools to add/delete file to *.nb1 , write the new file back to XDA ROM. it is fun to add/delete file to your personized ROM!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, please! I wish to learn more too! I am looking to remove the standard sounds and replace them with my own (using same names) as well as the boot image and desktop.
yea, no kiddin, i'd like to know how too!
im sure its not impossible, 'they' did it the first time arround.
why not hacking it? and since its all at no charge (no profit) are we realy breaking any patents?
I wanted to know if there is an easy :wink: way around, to put our own programs in the rom. xda-developers certainly can't put ezwap2.5, and the total commander appears to be older version, while new version is much better. There are some more freeware application I'd love to put in there
xda-developers already posted some tools to do job, such as MKROM ...
cgigate said:
you need backup the ROM to *.nb1 or *.nbf file, than using tools to add/delete file to *.nb1 , write the new file back to XDA ROM. it is fun to add/delete file to your personized ROM!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm interested too
How can i add/delete file from nb1 file?
Thanks
Fabio
I've used mkrom suite to do this (even for Smartphone2002). This are great tools.
Unfortunately it's not as easy as you might think. It's nearly impossible to build a ZERO-KNOWLEDGE ROM file explorer which can add or delete files "on the fly".
You will still have to look for valid gap's in the original rom where you can add a new XIP block.
All .exe and .dll files are "fixed up" that means they MUST run at THE fixed ROM position where they have been initially placed (execute in place). If you dump an exe or dll file you can't use it for other than disassembly to see how things work.
Removing files is a very hard task (they are splitted over the whole rom). And the resulting gap's are mostly not more than 10-16 kB. All you can do is to "hide" files (simply patch the directory entry).
So you see compression is not the real problem (see programers corner for a .bib file which can be used with romimage.exe - a Microsoft Tool to build XIP blocks, this tool supports compression)
John Smith
only the kernel actually runs in the virtual memory area mapped to rom,
all the other XIP stuff runs from a virtual memory area mapped somewhere
in the top of each processes memory space.
( look at the 'real=' values in the output of dumprom )
so for all the other modules it should be possible to move them around
in rom a bit, I think you only need to keep the pagealignment the same.
Hi,
The virtual memory address is also fixed in the module. (That's why I've to rebuild all the stuff I want to copy from other roms).
Since all relocation info is gone the module can't run from another memory position. So the only thing you can do is to move it in it's own XIP section...
John

Scoter Kitchen Release

The Scoter Kitchen team is proud to release the first release of the kitchen. This kitchen incorporates all the tools used by Oki and the rest of the team to decode, modify, and rebuild ROMs. It includes a help system that is meant to be clear to new users, and useful to old pros. Of course, this is only the first release, and thus will have bugs, and areas in need of improvement. This Kitchen is based on Bepe's WM5 Kitchen, and many of his tools. Special thanks to Mamiach, itsme, machinagod, gmap, buzzlightyear, and many others. Oki started the initiative, and we in the team are grateful for allowing us the privilege of contributing. There are also many additional tools not directly used for general ROM analyzing that can be found throughout. The kitchen is designed to be sleek and clear for the new user, while still containing all relevant tools for every part of the build process. This post is one of many across multiple forums. We are opening up development to all, and ask for volunteer translators. We will coordinate through forums primarily, but later plan on PM's, e-mail, etc. to effectively coordinate further development of the Scoter Kitchen. In addition, the kitchen is designed to extract most HTC ROMs, but it has it's limitations in the tools included, and the outlined process which are in the help files. Again, this will become better implemented through the help of the community. Now though this Kitchen is designed primarily for the Scoter, we intend to make this kitchen the primary hub for all PDA customization across all WM5 platforms. This post will be posted on many forums, and since the team members communicate primarily w/ English, we ask that those respond to this thread in English, or at least include an English translation. As a last note, you are solely responsible for any damage to your device or computer that might result from the use of the Scoter Kitchen, or any of it's parts. The following posts are left blank and will be filled w/ info later. Here are the download links:
http://www.MegaShare.com/107480
http://rapidshare.com/files/15460590/Scoter_Kitchen_1.0.exe.html
Regards,
Jason
Kitchen Team Members
Oki
JKR
DwD
Theo - Greek translation
Nadavi
gerttom
Preaper
Friends of the kitchen
Bepe (done as much as any other member and is considered an incredible contributor, and even that doesn't give him enough credit)
Kinger
blueboy
Marshal
cyril - French translation
bakker_be - Dutch and German translation
kterz
Regards,
Jason
Reserved,
Regards,
Jason
Bakup Files Of 0 Bytes
i had done a backup with ur utilites but the size of BDK0,BDK1 & BDTL0 is 0 byte why it is so ?????????? I stop here and wating for reply
to bad these dont work for the hermes .nb and .nbh files.. hopefully in the future it can be integrated..
shogunmark said:
to bad these dont work for the hermes .nb and .nbh files.. hopefully in the future it can be integrated..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yep, we plan to add the nbhextract to the tools. And as far as the backup utility, that only works for the Scoter. We don't own htc devices, so that why we've asked the community to fill in the gaps. The extraction is universal, since there will be back and forth on various ROMs. The ROM installer also only works for the scoter. So, some info on these and anything else that the HTC community would like added, just tell us how. We can't really test these things, so we rely on you guys. At some point, the installer will ask what device you have, and install apps that apply to your individual devices.
Regards,
Jason
thats cool.. integrating the the hermes stuff will be difficult at this time anyway since we dont have a good set process on everything, we are still fighting the possibility of bad nand blocks with some cooked roms.. Something that i think would be really cool would be a full blown GUI with all these features built in..
here's some release notes I posted over at Buzz's site
JKR said:
4d45h said:
Questions.....
1. What is OS.bat. It says missing OS.bat when I click Cooker and start the build OS.
2. Where do you put pakages inside LOC(Bepe ways of cooking)
3. What is CEImage.bin? Is it the same as nk.nba base ROM Bepe ways.
Thanks and what a great tool.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1. That is a file created when you decode a ROM. I'm not sure what exactly it is for, bepe could answer that.
2. You can't use the current Kitchen ROM archives. The Scoter Kitchen incororates some more advanced versions of bepe's apps. The best way to describe the current situation is that bepe's WM5 Kitchen is version 1.0, and the Scoter Kitchen is 2.0. Since bepe was a big part of the Scoter Kitchen development, this should make sense. Keep in mind that this is not ready to be a replacement to bepe's kitchen yet, because it is only setup for building ROMs for the Scoter. We released it to all for many reason: 1) To speed up the development of the Kitchen for use w/ other devices, 2) it currently seems to be the most complete set of tools and help files for decoding ROMs, 3) the help files have a lot of info that may be interesting to many users. Most notable tools from bepe that are in the Scoter Kitchen are: DMP2PKG.exe, and PKG2DMP.exe. These tools actually have their own UI's that are fairly impressive. So to answer you question, you'd need to decode your current ROM and then begin modify that. Oki is the ROM hacker on the team. Essentially what he does, is extract the drivers (in the OEM folder) from various ROMs for our device, picks the best ones, adds in the SYS files and then puts in the packages for various apps. Anyways, bepe combined the LOC and SYS folders together into the SYS folder. for aesthetic reasons, the SYS folder is referred to as the OS folder in the build room. This is only a short cut name, and actual folder is still called SYS and is located in the Utilities folder.
3. Yes, this is in the help files in file:///C:/Scoter%20Kitchen/Utilities/Tools/Excess%20stuff/J-Guide/Extraction%20Room.htm?zoom_highlight=.bin .nb, .bin, and .nba are handled in the same way. just copy the location i posted into your browser address box.
Regards,
Jason
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
JKR said:
A few release notes. The install directory is C:\Scoter Kitchen. You will also see an uninstall script in c:\. This obviously uninstalls the Kitchen, everything is removed (including any work files in the kitchen) except the desktop shortcut. Also, since the imgfs tools are used so much by ROM cookers including myself, the Kitchen will place a copy of the imgfs tools in the %SystemRoot%\system32\ directory. This allows these tools to be opened by any command box w/o having to change directories. As you explore the kitchen you will see readme files in almost all folders, describing what is in that particular folder. Lastly, you will see like 15 command box shortcuts throughout the kitchen, this just makes things easier since their working DIR is the one they are placed in.
Regards,
Jason
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nobody here seems to be too forthcoming w/ info about other devices. Now I could go and search for all this info on my own, but then I probably wouldn't have the time or energy to modify the kitchen accordingly. W/ that said, I'll list some specific questions.
1. What programs are required for installing ROMs on various devices, and what are the procedures?
2. Are other devices capable of changing just the CE image through the boot loader, or does this have to be done using itsme tools? And what is the procedure?
3. Is the page pool setting in the same address on all HTC ROMs, or does this vary from model to model?
4. Explain the whole IPL and radio rom issue.
5. What would you like added to this kitchen?
You could just point me to specific posts too. Like I said, the Kitchen is completely functional for us Scoter guy's, so we won't spend the hours and hours required to research this stuff, since we won't get any benefit. But if some direction is given, we are willing, and wanting to expand our kitchen for use w/ other devices.
Regards,
Jason
I thought that it is just for Mio, and a little more documentation to it will be nice, thanks
xplode said:
I thought that it is just for Mio, and a little more documentation to it will be nice, thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well it is fully functional for the Mio, but most all tools are here on this site. The two things specific to the Mio are the ROM backup utility, and the ROM update utility. Everything else applies to the HTC community. We are hoping that somebody will point us in the right direction for the equivalents of the two previously mentioned tools. Now as far as the documentation, yes, we plan to expand it. However, what specifically do you feel should be added?
Regards,
Jason
First of all, this's a very FANTASTIC tool!
In the BEPE's ROM Kitchen, there's an initflashfiles.txt file in the folder of each OEM apps which is used to create shotcut or copy/move files, its content will be combined with others into the initflashfiles.dat. Does this file still make sense in your kitchen?
BrightMoonHeart said:
First of all, this's a very FANTASTIC tool!
In the BEPE's ROM Kitchen, there's an initflashfiles.txt file in the folder of each OEM apps which is used to create shotcut or copy/move files, its content will be combined with others into the initflashfiles.dat. Does this file still make sense in your kitchen?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yep
Regards,
Jason
@JKR
I have reach up to using the DMP2PKG.exe stage, which can see the files in the *.dsm (see attached pic).
How to extract the files in the *.dsm?
How do I use RECMOD.exe?
CWKJ said:
@JKR
I have reach up to using the DMP2PKG.exe stage, which can see the files in the *.dsm (see attached pic).
How to extract the files in the *.dsm?
How do I use RECMOD.exe?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi,
You probably read the help files, huh? Yeah, those are dated, my bad. You don't actually have to touch DMP2PKG. The extract modules/files has dmp2pkg already scripted. At the time I wrote the help file, bepe didn't allow for command line commands. He has since, and I have scripted for it since. The following is an excerpt that I post over at Buzz's site.
JKR said:
Ahhh, I see problem. the .dat file needs to be in one of the folders, the OEM one i think. When Oki (rom team member) creates a file set, he includes the .dat file in the same folder that mxip_lang.vol is in, on our device it's 6acba9af-b4de-c7a3-802b-91ff1f140caf, but is probably different on yours. Anyways, I'm not sure where you got the idea to drag those to the tools folder, if it's in the help file, please tell me where. I've just re-looked at the help files, and they are quite dated. I've added a lot of automation to the process. Sorry for that. The correct procedure to extract a rom and rebuild it is to extract a .bin, .nba, .nb, or .nb0 file from your rom image. Then drag it to the extract modules. Open in another window the build room. put the .dat file (if it was placed in the modules folder) in the OEM folder. Drag all the contents of the OEM folder to the OEM shortcut in the build room. Drag all the contents of the SYS folder to the OS shortcut. Place the .bin or equivalent file in the rom template folder, and place the boot.rgu file in the \rom template\xip folder. The boot.rgu may be different for different devices, so use one that works on your device. I don't remember where exactly we got ours from, but I think it may have been from bepe's file set for his kitchen. Now launch the cooker. In the end, you should have a .bin file in c:\Scoter kitchen, aka one level up from the build room. hmmm, looks complicated. This is in the help files, but like I said, I need to update them, we were anxious to release the kitchen, since it had been under development for so long.
Regards,
Jason
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As one more note, you probably wouldn't have to worry about the missing entries in the dmp2pkg interface. Probably just dated references from your ROM, it's a custom ROM?
Regards,
Jason
The rom is custom rom by Helmi, AKU3.5 v1.3, see my signature.
I will take sometime to digest you writings.
Still have not able to extract the *.dll, *.exe, *.hv, etc.
Will try adding & delete files later.
@JLR
I am back, manage to get some time to try the extract problem I faced.
Thanks, the extract works.
See the attached zip file of extracted files' directory list.
I have some questions,
1. what "<DIR> SYS" does, seems to have some *.dsm and some repeated DLLs.
2. If I do not need some *.exe, *.lnk, *.etc files, I just delete them?
3. How do I know that I fully deleted the files related to the feature that I do not want?
4. How do I know which corresponding *.dsm to be deleted?
5. How do I know which files goes to which directory in the \Windows\ of PPC?
6. How do I add files, how do I know what *.dsm to add and the name of the directories with very long string.
Questions please...
What is the importance of extracting files compared to extracting modules?
I have a base nbf file that I converted to nba file, that I want to modify to add the apps to build the ROM, I am confused as to which one I need, is it the files or the modules?
Great work! Thx for very useful tools!
What about map.txt support that helps to replace the GUIDs with the actual Package Names? I seen it in Bepe's kitchen...
JKR said:
Reserved,
Regards,
Jason
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I need help. I was able to run the cooker file without any errors. Now what?
How can I recreate the .nbf file? Where can I find it? Should I be looking at the DUMP folder?

Creating a Kitchen

Hi there,
I'm pretty experienced with rom cooking, but need a bit of direction from the pros here in a project I'm working on.
I have a working WM6 rom that I'm looking to make a kitchen for in order to more efficiently customize the rom.
I've decoded the rom to nba/fat format (my device uses nba/nbf format) and dumped the imgfs to a dump folder without any issues and can edit the rom that way, but I'm looking to make a kitchen.
I've used bepe's package tool to convert my dump into OEM & SYS folders without any problems. I now just need to be pointed in the right direction on how to rebuild these packages back into a working nba/fat file.
I've tried putting the OS & SYS directories in an existing kitchen like the bepe/helmi/scoter kitchens and using the imgfs tools there building the packages back into a rom. The rom builds successfully but then won't boot past the initial splash screen after flashing it.
Is there something else I need to do? Is it possible Bepe's package tool isn't properly building the packages?
Any help is appreciated. Thanks for everything each of you does to help the community
anyone?
I'm no expert, but everytime I've tried to dump a rom then rebuild it and flash it, it freezes at the 2nd splash screen. I never could get it to work, then I read somewhere that if the RGU files are missing then it would fail to boot, and sure enough on every rom I tried to dump, the RGUs were gone
My advice would be to build your rom with an existing kitchen. Collect all the packages you can find, build the ones you can't. Save all your custom graphics, themes, sounds, ringtones. Export all the registry keys for the programs you have on your phone now and use them to tweak your packages. It really won't take you much longer than if you were able to use the one you dumped. Before you know it, the kitchen you put together will be so much better than the ROM you dumped that you'll forget all about it!
My kitchen is a work in progress, but right now it's SO close to the way I want it that I can do Hard Resets without a thought as the only thing that needs to be done afterwards is restore my contacts!
All my connection settings are there, all of the buttons are set the way I like, all the colors, graphics, themes...everything! I've even set up an extrended rom with custom cabs I put together with all my commerical software with the Registration keys built-in.
I can't recommend a kitchen since I haven't used them all, but I started with Octaivio's with a 1437 build rom, now I've replaced that base rom with the 1908 build one from his latest kitchen and it's worked fine. The reason I used Octaivio is because he used Pbar as a taskmanager instead of that awful useless HTC x button (remnants of it still pop up when switching from portrait to landscape and vice versa).
joemanb said:
I'm no expert, but everytime I've tried to dump a rom then rebuild it and flash it, it freezes at the 2nd splash screen. I never could get it to work, then I read somewhere that if the RGU files are missing then it would fail to boot, and sure enough on every rom I tried to dump, the RGUs were gone
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can easily dump a rom, change it, rebuild it and use it successfully. That's not my issue. And, by the way, you were given misinformation about the rgu's. The rgu files are supplementary registry files that are merged into the main hives for each specific package, to make the registry entries modular. Even if you were to delete some rgu files, your device would still boot but wouldn't have the desired behavior for the packages you installed as some registry entries would be missing
My advice would be to build your rom with an existing kitchen. Collect all the packages you can find, build the ones you can't. Save all your custom graphics, themes, sounds, ringtones.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There are still a number of devices where no kitchen exists--mine is one of them, and honestly I'm not looking to use someone else's--I'd prefer to make my own
I just need someone to tell me what needs to be done to convert the OEM & SYS directories generated by bepe's package tool back to a working rom.
Steps I'm attempting now:
1) Dump original rom to dump folder
2) Run Bepe's package tool to make SYS & OEM folders.
3) Add modules
4) Run G'Reloc to fix overlapping modules.
5) I run BuildOS which makes the dump in the temp folder from the SYS & OEM folders.
6) I copy the original rom's fat(nba) to a temp folder
7) I dump imgfs from fat(nba) to imgfs bin file in temp folder with prepare_imgfs.exe
8) I merge the dump back into imgfs bin file with buildimgfs.exe
9) I put imgfs back into the fat(nba) with make_imgfs.exe
10) I convert nba back to nbf to flash
11) I flash the rom successfully.
12) Doesn't get past splash screen
Can anyone tell me what I'm missing or what could be making this non-bootable?
Thanks.
So its not the RGUs..
Please, if you figure this out, post the solution. When I ran into this, I searched all over the forum for a solution and found at least 2 or 3 other posts with this problem, but never a response.
Good Luck
have you modified the Iniflashfile.txt? thats the step most leave out and then it wont boot past the second splash screen
austinsnyc said:
have you modified the Iniflashfile.txt? thats the step most leave out and then it wont boot past the second splash screen
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, at this point I'm not trying to change the initflash so I haven't modified it. I know that when the time comes to change it I'll need to do the hex edit thing for the first 2 bytes, the unicode and the last line empty,. etc.
Also I'm not even getting to the 2nd splash. I'm not getting off the initial splash screen.
I'm thinking at this point the imgfs isn't getting put back together properly.
There have got to be some old pros who can tell me what I'm doing wrong.
I think I found part of the problem. In step 5, CreateOS.exe is doing something wrong with the hives. After running it, default.hv which is 770K+ in sys/metadata goes down to like 42K.
Anyone know why this is happening?
source said:
I can easily dump a rom, change it, rebuild it and use it successfully. That's not my issue. And, by the way, you were given misinformation about the rgu's. The rgu files are supplementary registry files that are merged into the main hives for each specific package, to make the registry entries modular. Even if you were to delete some rgu files, your device would still boot but wouldn't have the desired behavior for the packages you installed as some registry entries would be missing
There are still a number of devices where no kitchen exists--mine is one of them, and honestly I'm not looking to use someone else's--I'd prefer to make my own
I just need someone to tell me what needs to be done to convert the OEM & SYS directories generated by bepe's package tool back to a working rom.
Steps I'm attempting now:
1) Dump original rom to dump folder
2) Run Bepe's package tool to make SYS & OEM folders.
3) Add modules
4) Run G'Reloc to fix overlapping modules.
5) I run BuildOS which makes the dump in the temp folder from the SYS & OEM folders.
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At this point I think that you have the XIP extracted already, in order to create valid boot.rgu
6) I copy the original rom's fat(nba) to a temp folder
7) I dump imgfs from fat(nba) to imgfs bin file in temp folder with prepare_imgfs.exe
8) I merge the dump back into imgfs bin file with buildimgfs.exe
9) I put imgfs back into the fat(nba) with make_imgfs.exe
10) I convert nba back to nbf to flash
11) I flash the rom successfully.
12) Doesn't get past splash screen
Can anyone tell me what I'm missing or what could be making this non-bootable?
Thanks.
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It's a suggestion, but i think you're missing the .rgu files.
Of course, those are not needed when flashing, but when BuildOS creates the default.hv and user.hv...these 2 being invalid, the OS can't boot.
Probably Bepe can clear you better on that one.
Cheers !
source said:
And, by the way, you were given misinformation about the rgu's.
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Click to collapse
Apparently not, after reading Anichillus' response (which agreed with mine) I converted the HVs to RGUs and it WORKS finally!
It's probably not a good idea to reject info out of hand like that..You almost had me convinced. Thankfully I always try to verify information before I accept it, or tell someone they're wrong, mistaken, or misinformed.
Thanks Anichillus!

Can i edit an existing rom?

Firstly apologies if this has already been asked in another thread, if so please point me in the right direction. However could anybody tell me if there is a way to edit an exisiting rom and remove programs and operator customisations? In other words to break it down into the basic components before cooking it? Any help would be appreciated. p.s im trying to edit a wm5 rom, and cant find a vanilla\clean one anywhere
Thanks
Gumibear
Yes.
That's what people are talking about when you see threads with the words "cook" and "kitchen". A kitchen ROM is one that has been extracted into several folders and usually also comes with the tools you need to rebuild it so you can flash it. You "cook" your own ROM by customizing it to your liking - removing what you don't want, adding what you do. Removing applications is as simple as deleting the folder for the app. There are lots of tutorials out there. Look for sticky threads in the Upgrading or Windows Mobile 6 sections with the words "kitchen" in it and you should be able to find everything you need.
For editing an existing ROM, you will probably need something like Hypercore. It has tools to dump an existing ROM into a workable kitchen. It has batch files that almost completely automate the process and makes it very easy to do. I highly recommend it.

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