Wiki redesign - 8125, K-JAM, P4300, MDA Vario ROM Development

hey guys,
I'm a regular on the HTC tytn part of this board and have been quite active in updating the wiki and making it functional.
I thought i'd wonder over to this board and took a look at the wiki and have to admit, was sort of shocked. it's one enormous page that's not very intuitive!
I'm going to shift around some stuff to make the wiki for your device easier to browse and navigate, would love for you guys to help out with this venture!
I've started with this:
http://wiki.xda-developers.com/index.php?pagename=wizard_WM_6
WM6 definitely deserves a page of its own, complete with download links, links to threads etc. it does not deserve to be in the middle of some enormous page where most people can't even see it! it's linked back to the main wiki page under the contents page, which is easier to follow.
suggestions welcome, and please help in overhauling the poor state of the wizard's wiki!!
cheers

I don't know about others here in this forum, but I think you're doing us all a huge favor. Good start on the Wizard WM6 material so far.

Hi!
Ofcourse great job. I've learn from this site
I need to suggest to put some information about Not Big Deal 5.1.
I think, this rom is realy good. Realy. Not many ppl use it, but almost all of my friends that tried this rom, confirmed, that it's very ok.

You should probably rename the page to reflect the device it is for. The current name implicates it is a general WM6 page - which is not in fact.

Chatty said:
You should probably rename the page to reflect the device it is for. The current name implicates it is a general WM6 page - which is not in fact.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
awesome suggestion, silly of me. i've renamed the page to wizard_wm_6

I've updated the Wiki (Thanks for setting this up) with information and download links to my Crossbow Released rom.
Also I would like to make an observation... I disagree with the description of The Core, in that it says this is the best rom for Newbies (or thats how I read it)... Since this is a Clean / "core" rom, I don't know that I would call this a good general starting rom for someone new. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying The Core 2.0 isn't good, I'm just saying the claim that its the best rom for newbies is maybe misleading as many newbies want more than just a base rom. XPlore 1.1 (IMO) is actually a better rom for someone just starting out as it comes with some apps in it. Then Wizard Mobile 6 Business Edition is very nice with the set of apps in it too... Its just all of the roms have strengths and weaknesses, so to me calling a single rom the best for Newbies may be misleading. Let them choose what fits for them (or setup some type of Matrix to compare the roms).
BTW: This isn't criticism of this new WiKi page at all? I just wanting to provide feedback so this can become a valuable resource for the Wizard community (and I really appreciate you starting this project for us. Now I need to get back to working on the WM6 Cooking wiki pages I was setting up)

mfrazzz - good point. there should be no "favouring" of roms, it should be up to the end user to decide.
I've removed the whole best rom bit. let the person choose themselves

Related

The WIKI Ideas/Suggestion Thread

Hi,
Next to making ROMs I want to try and work on the wiki some more to make it THE prophet information source on basic questions.
I made this thread for users to suggest stuff that they think should be covered.
This is NOT a thread for asking questions about your prophet.
Thanks
Hi Jester
Wiki forums has pros and cons. Reading 20 pages of mixed text is not by far the best way to learn anything, the main problem for me is to distingish good info from bad one.
The 'Expert Selection': For each thread I would like to see only what an expert/senior member has selected. This filter can be multiple and tematic; the same 'expert' can select only some posts an 'rename' the sub-thread; and of course the same thread could be filtered by two or more members.
This way i can have the same point of view of them, and this is important for me..
Hi Jester,
Thanks for the big support on the Prophet and releasing ROM versions!
In the Forums there are many questions about how to upgrade your (for example) Dutch ROM to a WWE, what to do, maybe this is also something to add to the Wiki.
The Wiki side sould be rich of information about how to upgrade the ROM, what are usefull programms, free or payed, where does ipl and SPL stand for, What are the latest versions.
Groet,
TheTeek
Hi Jesterz,
Thanks a ton for your ROMs and your efforts!
One of the most eagerly sought after info is ROM editing specifically for G4 roms (specially again for Prophet).
Can you help in consolidating the tools (along with usage tips) to modify ROMs to achieve the following:
1. Steps to upgrade only the OS to whichever ROM OS you want.
2. Steps to increase the pagepool to X [I understand the device runs faster on an increased pagepool], but I am not sure of the ideal size to be kept. I got some details from here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=283280&highlight=pagepool
4. Steps to remove MS Office, voice dial and other applications from the rom and add a few apps. Will also need help in adding few apps like resco explorer and some registry hacks into the ROM.
5. Steps to move some programs from programs to system (for e.g smsdeliveryfix)
Am sure others can also add to this request.
Thanks.
Hi Jesterz,
thanks for this thread, I beleve there are a lot of stupid questions because a lot of information in the wiki are too much generic and the people have fear to make some errors (IS NOT YOUR FAULT because the newbie are sometime very newbie).
My dream wiki is:
- more specific
- with new information
For example, if you check the main procedure to update the rom, there are some step not very clear:
1) ***
If it states: "Could not update itsutils.dll to the current version, maybe it is in use ?" Do the following :
Copy the cab's from the Utils folder in the Lokiwiz03a.zip file to your Prophet and execute them.
(There are two files : "Cert_SPCS.cab" and "EnableRapi.cab")
This is not clear. A lot of user wrote me in private asking if you need to do a soft reset (or no, or an hard reset) after that.
2) ***
Sometime after that the itsutils.dll error is still alive. What the people have to do?
3)***
In some rom, you don't have to unlock the cid... right? But this is not on the wiki.
4) ***
There are some question where there are not answer, like this one in the ROM DUMPT.
"if you want backup your own rom, you have to do the unlock cid procedure and update the rom with another one. But if you do that you lost your own rom!!! So, why there is a Dump rom procedure, if you can not do that with your original one?"
5) ***
I would lik see in the wiky a tread with the list of the BEST ROM and the update.
6) ***
There are some etc...
I think what would be a *very* good piece of info for newbies is what are all the tools you guys use (cert.cab, etc etc....) and what each does to some degree....
as a newb myself, I find it *very* daunting and very scary to see lots of stuff posted on the forums that say "How To: Copy fileA and fileB to device, run fileC.exe on computer, then execute fileD on device, then wait, and poof! you're done". I'd be nice to at least know that the heck each of the components are and the purpose (even if it's very technical) of each one.
Also, if it's possible, list off any interdependencies these tools have. There are too many "half-instructions" floating around and it's really difficult to determine whether the user needs to do anything before hand before following the instructions.
*lastely*, Can we get a guide that lists off all the pros and cons for each of the custom ROMs that are getting posted. It's a little tough for newbies to know what are all the pros and cons for each ROM. Yes, we know there are pros and cons and nothings perfect, but *what* are the bugs? and what are the features? At least that way we can decide for ourselves whether or not the ROM will work for us...
I'm only into day 2 of all of this so I apologize if what I'm suggesting sounds stupid.
Thanks
Hello all,
Jesterz, thanks you for your investisment in the forum.
Some suggestions about the wiki.
One of the main issues for upgrading a rom is to have a clear view of what is going on.
There are many threads discussing different roms.
It should be grateful to have one main page giving an overview of every live rom and a page for each rom where the author can put a link and also give the current status of his rom and known issues. So I join to Mr Yellow for this.
It should be something very basic, not as far as an Issue tracking page (ie http://jira.codehaus.org/browse/MPA)
By now, whenever I want to update a rom, I have to read the entire post...
One solution can be, for each cooking rom version, adding a text file that describe everything to know.
Of course, a howto for cooking rom and useful mistakes can be also interesting.
cheers
Andre
Hi Guys - and yes, thanks for all the time & investment made here.
I'm a fairly new member, and one thing I think would benefit the WIKI is an idiots guide or introduction.
I found the the wiki a bit tricky in so much that it starts at a fairly high level and misses the basics
Whats an AKU and why might I prefer a new one ?
What extra features can I get with a new rom ?
Why might I need newer radio drivers ?
Stuff like that.
Also, a glossary would go down reall well.
JJ
doublej said:
Hi Guys - and yes, thanks for all the time & investment made here.
I'm a fairly new member, and one thing I think would benefit the WIKI is an idiots guide or introduction.
I found the the wiki a bit tricky in so much that it starts at a fairly high level and misses the basics
Whats an AKU and why might I prefer a new one ?
What extra features can I get with a new rom ?
Why might I need newer radio drivers ?
Stuff like that.
Also, a glossary would go down reall well.
JJ
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree with the above......more of a beginner area with more explaination
Not an idiot guide but something more for the leaner who want to be experts like most here
Get to it
I think these are all great suggestions. The Prophet wiki is looking pretty sparse at the moment. So why doesn't everyone start editing it, rather than just talking about it?
Cheers,
uayeb
Hello
read it !
agree!
Shall i make a tutorial for changing the case? I know there is one already in another forum(modaco). But i want one on xda-developers?
the more the merrier!
I think possibly the most useful thing would be 'How to recover Prophet stuck in Bootloader'. I seem to telling people how to do it most days and sometimes more than once a day...
I'll happily write a 'How To' if required.
l3v5y said:
I think possibly the most useful thing would be 'How to recover Prophet stuck in Bootloader'. I seem to telling people how to do it most days and sometimes more than once a day...
I'll happily write a 'How To' if required.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You know, that's what's awesome about the wiki... you *CAN* go ahead and write whatever you want. It only takes like 5-10 minutes to understand the syntax of wiki-code... create a new page, write your stuff down, and start formatting. Bam, you've created a wiki page that everyone can use. Announce to the fourm that you've done so and you're done!
Then you can start insulting newbies that complain about getting stuck in boot loader that they should search and read the wiki! It feels really good!
mr_yellow said:
You know, that's what's awesome about the wiki... you *CAN* go ahead and write whatever you want. It only takes like 5-10 minutes to understand the syntax of wiki-code... create a new page, write your stuff down, and start formatting. Bam, you've created a wiki page that everyone can use. Announce to the fourm that you've done so and you're done!
Then you can start insulting newbies that complain about getting stuck in boot loader that they should search and read the wiki! It feels really good!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
But how can I get it uploaded?
l3v5y said:
But how can I get it uploaded?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You don't upload anything. You can edit each page like it was a forum post. there's special syntax for lists, bullet points, headlines, links etc... but if you want to create a page, all you need is a title and that's it. Everything is done on the serverside.
The easiest way to start is to pick a page, click the edit button at the bottom, then add a new link to a page using the syntax [new page title]. when you save it, "new page title" becomes a link to a new page where you can create a new page and add more content there.
Give it a shot. Don't be afraid to break stuff.. you can always look back on old versions of the page and reverse any changes.
Pallas said:
Shall i make a tutorial for changing the case? I know there is one already in another forum(modaco). But i want one on xda-developers?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I second this!!! I've been looking at the modaco 1, & feel we need to have 1 from xda dev & Pallas is the man... heheh
mr_yellow said:
You don't upload anything. You can edit each page like it was a forum post. there's special syntax for lists, bullet points, headlines, links etc... but if you want to create a page, all you need is a title and that's it. Everything is done on the serverside.
The easiest way to start is to pick a page, click the edit button at the bottom, then add a new link to a page using the syntax [new page title]. when you save it, "new page title" becomes a link to a new page where you can create a new page and add more content there.
Give it a shot. Don't be afraid to break stuff.. you can always look back on old versions of the page and reverse any changes.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Breaking stuff can be fun I'll give it a try now...
l3v5y said:
Breaking stuff can be fun I'll give it a try now...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good Luck!

ROM Comparisons table (much needed)

I have been recently going through the enormous amounts of information on this site, and everything seems to be very useful, but things are hard to find.
I remember looking for modchips for my old xbox and came across a site that had a tabulated format for the different chips that are out there. I would it very very useful. May be someone with could create a thread in the Wizard section and sticky it to the main page.
This was the site I was talking about. http://www.xbox-scene.com/modchips4_table.htm
since there are the many excellent ROMs like:
5.2.1413 mUn Base - Pandora 02.x2 ROM Beta
FARIA-HTC WIZARD FINAL ROM WITH Pro Rom Kitchen...build the ROM as you like!
Crossbow Reloaded 1.7
If we could have one central location with the comparisons of the utilities in each ROM and the Registry fixes, many might find this info useful.
I could help if possibly
Thanks
this is covered in this thread
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=311605
Willing to help
Both initiatives are great and donĀ“t fight eachother, this one complements yours sandrobber, perhaps it can be added another row for this one to your poll?
I would suggest (with formatting and all) that you use the WiKi for something like this. You can have a thread here that then takes you to the WiKi page(s). Heck, even a seperate WiKi page for each rom that is maintained by the ROM cookers and their "fans" might be worthwhile (I've thought about setting up a Wiki page for my roms in the past, but just never did follow through with it. I think Faria's AKU 3.3 has a Wiki page where it lists known issues and fixes.)
One of the benefits with using the Wiki is that anyone can maintain it (unlike the first posts in the forums which can only be maintained by the OP).
Use the right tool
tyty180 said:
I have been recently going through the enormous amounts of information on this site, and everything seems to be very useful, but things are hard to find.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Exactly. A forum is great for Q&A, but terrible for finding information.
You can create ROM comparison tables using a specialized comparison table web app. Here's one I used to compare Galaxy S5 ROMs.

How would you guys like a Bugtracker?

I'm currently working on a Bugtracker for the xda-developers (my own project - wasn't asked by anybody)
The idea behind it is to allow:
The Developers to see what bugs are outstanding
The user to submit their problems
The curious to see which ROM has less bugs
The n00bs to do research before asking questions (and have more places to spam)
I'm not planning to replace the forums, I just want to make an extra tool that can be used along side the forums - but is neater for bug reporting
Feel free to post your thoughts on if you like it (and so what should be included) or if you don't like it (and so what should replace it, if anything)
Thanks!
Hey, that's very nice.
But.. Are we talking about a new website? or just a new thread?
DaVince said:
Hey, that's very nice.
But.. Are we talking about a new website? or just a new thread?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Entirely new website.
It will be hosted on my http://www.vidmes.com webserver
i voted approving the bugtracker but i like the idea of all the information about universal development being centralized in one only location.
so, i think it would be interesting to keep it in this forum.
It's ok, we'll just have a sticky thread that has a link to TehPenguin's site.
I vote you go for it TehPenguin.
DaVince said:
It's ok, we'll just have a sticky thread that has a link to TehPenguin's site.
I vote you go for it TehPenguin.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, I've done some tentative work on it - and its looking good (if a little bare - I'm a software developer, not a web designer )
I'm a little busy this week, so its going to be about 2 weeks before I announce the link for the Beta
In the mean time, I'd like suggestions as to what people want in it
(Also, I notice one negative vote - I'd like to see their argument....)
Thanks!
Great Idea
I think mandatory information should be
1) Device Vendor...ie Imate, XDA etc
2) Radio stack in use
3) OS Rom in use
4) Third party software installed ( I know this list can be big, I myself have well over 100 apps as std) but is important for diagnosing bugs. Perhaps we could get an AppMgr listing from each system, not too hard to obtain.
You could also go overboard a little and have a PDA page, browseable from our Uni's so nothing graphics intensive or fancy. A simple login dialogue ( Can we port XDA-Dev user accounts?) once the user has logged in, they fill in a basic form with the bug description, click on submit and we could pull the information in points 1 to 4 above off of the device with a script.
Just my 50pence worth.
Great idea m8, hope it gets somewhere.............let me know if I can help with anything.
Cheers,
Beast
yes! would be really helpful for cooks
beast0898 said:
I think mandatory information should be
1) Device Vendor...ie Imate, XDA etc
2) Radio stack in use
3) OS Rom in use
4) Third party software installed ( I know this list can be big, I myself have well over 100 apps as std) but is important for diagnosing bugs. Perhaps we could get an AppMgr listing from each system, not too hard to obtain.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What I was planning to do with this is to have them describe a "Bug" in very generic terms as the Bug's description. Then they are required to add a comment (which other people may add) - this comment would have a "template" which would have things such as vendor, radio (I didn't actually think of this one), etc...
beast0898 said:
You could also go overboard a little and have a PDA page, browseable from our Uni's so nothing graphics intensive or fancy. A simple login dialogue ( Can we port XDA-Dev user accounts?) once the user has logged in, they fill in a basic form with the bug description, click on submit and we could pull the information in points 1 to 4 above off of the device with a script.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Some good ideas but....
I can't actually get info from the xda-developer's forums database - this may be a security risk on their behalf and would require far to much messing around to organise (as much as I would like to do it)
You will be able to view the page on your PDA's - its _very_ basic and I'll try to keep it xHTML complaint and do fanciness with CSS (though at the moment it does use some table hax)
Pulling info out of the PDA is virtually impossible (unless I build an app for the PDA's.... maybe later ) since the pda only tells me what browser version it is using
Either way - these are the things I like to see - Ideas!!!!
Keep them coming!
DaVince said:
It's ok, we'll just have a sticky thread that has a link to TehPenguin's site.
I vote you go for it TehPenguin.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I totally agree with DaVince, having a bug tracking website would be cool and having a link directly to the site via xda-developers is a good idea. Keeping everything centralised and available for use by everyone who uses xda-developers.
You have my vote! Would be a great tool...
gsmknight
TehPenguin said:
What I was planning to do with this is to have them describe a "Bug" in very generic terms as the Bug's description. Then they are required to add a comment (which other people may add) - this comment would have a "template" which would have things such as vendor, radio (I didn't actually think of this one), etc...
Some good ideas but....
I can't actually get info from the xda-developer's forums database - this may be a security risk on their behalf and would require far to much messing around to organise (as much as I would like to do it)
You will be able to view the page on your PDA's - its _very_ basic and I'll try to keep it xHTML complaint and do fanciness with CSS (though at the moment it does use some table hax)
Pulling info out of the PDA is virtually impossible (unless I build an app for the PDA's.... maybe later ) since the pda only tells me what browser version it is using
Either way - these are the things I like to see - Ideas!!!!
Keep them coming!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi TehPenguin,
Surely we can run a JScript or Vbs through the PPC Browser to get the required data from the Reg, only a couple of RegReads!
Just another thought............... I prefer accurate information, the reg is less likely to make mistakes than a user!! (No offence intended to anyone)
L8r,
Beast
Bugtracker
Hi,
Would be great to have this.
Looking forward
Leo
Why not use one of the many bugtrackers already out there? I prefer Flyspray (http://www.flyspray.org/) since it's as mighty as Mantis, but more Web 2.0 ... and you should be able to browse it on your PPC, although I don't think anybody really wants this ...
Cheers,
-mARKUS
P.S.: As for getting registry stuff through the PPC ... I doubt you can read out the registry by a JavaScript running on the page itself. Also there are many geeks out there who use Resco so they could easily export a .reg-file and attach it to the report.
mbirth said:
Why not use one of the many bugtrackers already out there? I prefer Flyspray (http://www.flyspray.org/) since it's as mighty as Mantis, but more Web 2.0 ... and you should be able to browse it on your PPC, although I don't think anybody really wants this ...
Cheers,
-mARKUS
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've had a look at at a number of bug reporting systems - the problem with them is that I'd have to end up customising it quite a bit anyway. For instance, they are typically designed for one program, possibly with options to support different parts\plug-ins for these programs. My design involves having multiple "Devices" each with multiple "ROMs", which may be deprecated, and each of these ROMs have multiple bugs - thats a couple more levels of complexity than the average bug tracker can handle.
Although they are more "Web 2.0" the Javasript\other fanciness would make it difficult to view on a PDA. Personally I prefer the old style Web 1.0 and a PHP back end
The other advantage of me making it is that you guys can have, almost, anything you want - and it should be done as soon as I have time, seeing as I know the code intimately.
And the point I really like - I love coding
mbirth said:
P.S.: As for getting registry stuff through the PPC ... I doubt you can read out the registry by a JavaScript running on the page itself. Also there are many geeks out there who use Resco so they could easily export a .reg-file and attach it to the report.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Exporting a reg file is the only possibility. Due to "security" problems, no script can actually see the registry of the device (or your PC for that matter), except what is in the "User Agent" key.
I'll put it on the "TODO" list to make a .NET program that automatically dumps your settings and creates a bug report
Given time, this can become quite beautiful. And time is now something that I will have - since I'm on holidays for the next few weeks!! (Yay for no more exams!!)
The alpha version is almost finished
I'll put a link up onto WM-Gurus for the final testing stage of the Alpha and see how it goes
Once the Alpha is complete (ie not too buggy) I'll put the link for the Beta here
Enjoy!
this is really a great idea.
i hope all goes well...
thanks to all!
Okay,
ALPHA VERSION IS NOW AVAILABLE!!!!
You can see it by going to: http://xdabugs.vidmes.com
Feel free to register or use the following users:
Username "test" password "testing" (Access level - registered user)
Username "dev" password "dev" (Access level - developer)
Username "admin" password "password" (Access level - administrator)
PLEASE NOTE: At the end of the Alpha stage, ALL DATA WILL BE CLEARED FROM THE DATABASE!
What I need people to do:
Look for bugs
Write the Help\FAQ sections
Ask me questions so I can write the Help\FAQ sections
See what else is needed
Enjoy!!

Is there any benefit to putting upgradeable files in a rom?

What I mean is, it seems to me that it would be more efficient to put any/all files that may be upgraded as packages and instead of flashing cooked roms, we could flash a generic rom and uninstall old/reinstall new packages
Am I making sense to anyone?
I understand you
I believe this is part of what chefs who create "lite" or "unbloated" or "clean" or "naked" (in Garmin's ROMs) are trying to achieve.
I personally like the idea, and hope we see more of them.
My personal favorite ROM of all time was the very first Hyperdragon III
mbarvian said:
I understand you
I believe this is part of what chefs who create "lite" or "unbloated" or "clean" or "naked" (in Garmin's ROMs) are trying to achieve.
I personally like the idea, and hope we see more of them.
My personal favorite ROM of all time was the very first Hyperdragon III
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Up until recently the problem has been that cooks either created loaded ROMs with tons of stuff added to them, or lite ROMs, where they stripped this out.
The issue was however that it is quite easy to strip things out of a ROM. Making CAB packages out of those stripped out files however can be one of the more time consuming tasks and cooks didn't always offer those packages. In addition, CABs which were made available from other sources weren't always packaged in entirety and wouldn't always install.
Cooks have been getting better at this recently however. My new set of ROMS follows these concepts precisely:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=429117
I have been calling and advocating for this too basically since the dawn of UC
Previously I didn't post much under different nick, but I have "put up together" this concept in THIS thread finally, albeit with somewhat misleading "temporary" title, but it is good discussion if anyone is interested.
Granted, few apps have to be cooked-in in order to function properly, but those are really just very few. But as you can read there, most objections against this kind of "real lite" ROMs (where any "upgraedable apps" are NOT cooked-in) come from people who don't understand it, or don't know much about UC or Sashimi (BTW I'm for UC rather than Sashimi because UC is much easier for any newbies), or just don't know/have no clue how it works and are affraid it would make troubles to them if they don't have the same apps cooked-in.
Perhaps any of you could add your input there, since there isn't much sense in starting new thread about basically same thing.
Bengalih, I will test your ROMs with pleasure when I have bit m,ore time (or actually a second Kaiser would be great ).
But I can already give you my sincere congratulations now if you have created such ROMs
I have made ROM based on hang.tuah's ROMeOS (it was going to be an update, but ended in another ROM, LOL - not quite "lite" as I would want it, but I can't change the things that were "always there" now ). I try to steer its users into UC and use "extended packs" for things like dialers, comm managers etc. They'll have best proof that "cooked-in" is *worse* than "installed" soon, when they will have i.e. choice of Opal or Kaiser dialer in the extended pack - which obviously would be impossible if the dialer was cooked-in in the ROM...
@bengalih: your post is what got me to thinking about this again
I'm happy to see that you others share my attitude towards efficiency
I have not completely read thru both of your threads but I suppose what needs to be done is to create a universal standard
The way I see it, this type of system would be beneficial to cooks and end users alike. End users need a minimal variety of options to install these collections and a minimal variety of each basic rom release to install the collections to. Cooks need a simple system to adhere to that requires no more work to put together their collections than the current amount of work they do to create their roms.
Here is a sample proposal (what I'm thinking right now with a minimal knowledge of rom cooking )
A base rom of each flavor could be made available to download. By each flavor, I mean a different rom with each combination of files that must be cooked in to work. I haven't read anything like that before so if there are more than a couple combinations then no more than 4-5 with typcal combinations should be considered.
I need to do some reasearch to learn what benefits and/or caveats are associated with UC and Sashimi. I suppose cooks should be the ones to decide whether to make their collection(s) combatible one installer or the other.
selyb said:
@bengalih: your post is what got me to thinking about this again
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In the future it might just be best to post in the thread about this then. As a topic that has been tread over several times putting additional input into an existing thread would be more effective.
selyb said:
I have not completely read thru both of your threads but I suppose what needs to be done is to create a universal standard
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Perhaps you should read through the threads that are already out there before staring a new one that re-hashes the same information.
selyb said:
The way I see it, this type of system would be beneficial to cooks and end users alike. End users need a minimal variety of options to install these collections and a minimal variety of each basic rom release to install the collections to. Cooks need a simple system to adhere to that requires no more work to put together their collections than the current amount of work they do to create their roms.
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Good luck trying to get cooks to follow anything you propose. Not that it might not be a brilliant idea, but cooks are going to do their own thing. I decided to take matters into my own hands and cook my own ROMs according to the principles I thought best. I put the ROMs and my principles out there in hopes others will adopt them, but that's the best you can do...
selyb said:
A base rom of each flavor could be made available to download. By each flavor, I mean a different rom with each combination of files that must be cooked in to work. I haven't read anything like that before so if there are more than a couple combinations then no more than 4-5 with typcal combinations should be considered.
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Again, pretty much what I have done already with the HTC and AT&T official 6.1 releases. A base ROM for each with a set of CAB file to customize to your desires.
selyb said:
I need to do some reasearch to learn what benefits and/or caveats are associated with UC and Sashimi. I suppose cooks should be the ones to decide whether to make their collection(s) combatible one installer or the other.
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No offense, because I realize I am coming off a bit gruff in this post, but you do need to do alot of research. I agree with alot of what you are saying, but it has been said before (by myself and others). Also, there is no reason that a collection of CAB files wouldn't work with SASHIMI instead of UC or vice-versa. To your own admission, you don't understand how these installers work, but when you do your research you'll see that in essence they are both just installing CAB and XML files (and with SASHIMI the capability for much more).
Again, please don't take anything here as a personal attack. I can see that you are coming off of inspiration from my posts and I don't disagree with your basic ideas. However you will get better reception from all if you do these things:
1) Research what is out there before posting so you don't retread old ground.
2) Don't just "propose" ideas, put them into action. Even the best ideas are unlikely to be adopted unless you put effort into implementing them youself.
I say these to you for your own protection before someone not as nice as me begins to bash you for not doing research
Ok, well, I will quit posting to this thread before someone not so nice does come along.
selyb said:
Ok, well, I will quit posting to this thread before someone not so nice does come along.
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Heh... well seriously, take some time and learn more of what is currently out there and see where it is lacking.
I generally invite user feedback on my development projects. If you go back through the older threads, and take a look at what I am trying to do with my BRR ROMs, please feel free to comment in there about what additionally you would like to see and why.
Trust me, I very much welcome an open debate about what would be an effective way to do things. I just wanted to burst your bubble a little bit (seeing as you are a newer member) that your aspirations, although maybe valid, are most likely not going to get implemented by a majority of the cooks throughout the site.
I don't mean to shut down your thread, and you should continue posting if you see it as the best place to do so. I just feel that if you contribute to some existing projects that already have momentum then your ideas are more likely to get some attention.

Basics on how to change themes

Sounds daft & I'm sure the infos here. I just want to change the theme on my GSM HTC Touch Pro. I know all the software & links are here on this site. It's just there's no 'this software is what you need & this is how you change your theme' info.
Thanks
LOL, ok, google free wm themes, download it and transfer the tsk file to your device. Then simply goto settings/today and select the theme you downloaded... no extra software needed.
try this site, it has THOUSANDS
http://www.portablethemes.com/
Just realised tho, you might be wanting to change you manila theme.... http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=470023 there are some themes on here
Thanks for the reply, what exactly in Manila & how do I use it. I've already seen lots of reference to it but don't actually know what it is.
I've uplodaed a few tsk & cab files & selected them in my today them menu but all I get are slight changes like different icon, I've manged to add a different wallpaper, but as soon as the touchflo starts, it's lost.
Getting there
Ta
halo1234 said:
Sounds daft & I'm sure the infos here. I just want to change the theme on my GSM HTC Touch Pro. I know all the software & links are here on this site. It's just there's no 'this software is what you need & this is how you change your theme' info.
Thanks
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Oh my goodness guys, the test is coming up and I don't know any of the answers. I know all the information to pass the test is in the books. But that would require me to actually read and study.
You guys have already read the books and studied. Can you just give me all the answers to the test, I really can't be bothered to actually read and study myself.
I'm sure the infos here.
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You are right all the info is in the Touch Pro Forum.
I understand your point. However this is not an interest or hobby of mine. I'm just a guy who doesn't like how my screen phone looks. Once this is done I may never look at this again. In the 24 hours I have each day I have other things I have to do first & then all the hobbies & interests I have.
I had a look through the first 3-4 pages of this forum & then I tried a few searches. Found a few things, but not enough to fingure it all out.
I've ran out of time for this now really. I might try again when I get some spare time.
Thanks for your help.
search for Replacing/Changing TouchFLO3D skins/themes.
here's some basic help for you, halo (and some commentary)
denco7 said:
Oh my goodness guys, the test is coming up and I don't know any of the answers. I know all the information to pass the test is in the books. But that would require me to actually read and study.
You guys have already read the books and studied. Can you just give me all the answers to the test, I really can't be bothered to actually read and study myself.
You are right all the info is in the Touch Pro Forum.
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This is so right-on... and yet ... at the same time I respect the Original Poster's comment framing:
I understand your point. However this is not an interest or hobby of mine. I'm just a guy who doesn't like how my screen phone looks. Once this is done I may never look at this again. In the 24 hours I have each day I have other things I have to do first & then all the hobbies & interests I have.
I had a look through the first 3-4 pages of this forum & then I tried a few searches. Found a few things, but not enough to fingure it all out.
I've ran out of time for this now really. I might try again when I get some spare time.
Thanks for your help.
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And because i think it's valid to have people want to utilize great resources here at XDA, yet not have to immerse themselves totally into weeks of XDA Culture in order to do so, I hope this helps the Original Poster. (see Commentary further below my effort to help halo1234)
=================
halo1234: Some Overview Help. It may or may not help your specific request:
1. IF you are running a version of the "TouchFlo" interface as the primary finger-controllable navigation tool,
then here's what you need to know:
2. "Manila" is the name of the interface system that HTC (phone maker) introduced which allowed the bottom-of-the-screen left-to-right finger-slider navigation system. That term, Manila, is synonymous with "TouchFLO 2D" ... and it took days for me to finally "get" that linkage. Later, HTC introduced what they considered a "new & improved" navigation system called "TouchFLO 3D" ... but many people here at XDA consider that its added eye-candy and transition effects were no real added-value. Thus most people here prefer the "TouchFLO 2D" navigation theme.
The prior "favorite naivgation scheme" was called "HTC Home" -- and one can debate their personal preference. I consider TouchFLO 2D to be miles beyond "HTC Home" in terms of a user-friendly navigation system and interface.
3. How to modify a "TouchFLO 2D" interface: M2DC utility
This has actually been made super easy thanks to the work of an XDA-developer who created a customization tool called "M2DC" -- which stands for Manilla TouchFLO 2D Customizer. It consolidates about 100 controllable factors for modifying themes:
Background images, tab systems and icon systems, font colors and sizes and faces, many other things.
SEARCH here for "M2DC" and you will quickly find it. DOwnload it and install it. Once you have M2DC installed (AND YOU SHOULD DONATE GENEROUSLY TO THE SOFTWARE AUTHOR OF THIS GREAT UTILITY!), then it creates a THEME folder. And various designers of themes here at XDA have used the author's file-format which packs all the elements for a particular theme change into an .m2dt file (m2d theme)
4. Find some themes you like, prefer:
XDA user KidnamedAlbert has a consolidated thread here at XDA which does nothing except show people's themes they have created and have made available to you to download for installation onot your phone, IF you are running one of the "TouchFLO 2D" Roms. Here. People who design themes package them in one of two ways: (a) as an .m2dt file which can be dropped into the M2D2 "Themes" folder on your device... or (b) as a .zip file which has all the graphic pieces for that theme, along with an .xml file which composes all these elements into a theme. I suggest you use (a).
5. Launch the M2DC utility; find the theme file you just inserted into its theme folder. Then follow the wizards "next steps" of the M2DC utility. NOTE: it is highly recommended that you find the bottom tab of that utlitity called "Backup" or "Restore" (i cant recall which). There you can Backup all the custom settings and files you have adjusted, and M2DC saves them for later restoration.
6. Top-bar and bottom-bar of the screen:
These are, generally, separate elements from the whole "TouchFLO" or Manila theme. You can search for these separately on this site. Search for .tsk files .These control the color scheme and gradient-quality of the top and bottom bars on the screen. After you find ones you want to try, then the way you implement these is:
(a) copy, or place, the .tsk file(s) you want to try into the \Windows folder of your device. Use "File Explorer" for this, to show the directory structure of the files on your phone.
(b) then, to access and switch between those .tsk themes, go to: Start > Settings > Personal > and find the "Today" icon. "Today" is the setting you will be changing. You'll now see in the left-hand box on that page the names of all the .tsk files you just loaded into the Windows directory of your phone. Now you select the one you want to try, click "OK" at the top-right of the screen, and in a second or two, the top-bar and bottom-bar will change. If you like, keep it. if not, try another.
7. Now, all I ask from you is this:
Tell me: Did these instructions help you. Or not. It's okay if the answer is "they did not". I just want to know, so please reply either way. Thanks and good luck.
=================
My Commentary re the Complexity of This Site's information design:
The truth is, XDA comprises an incredible, 2nd-to-none, knowledge base and dedicated developer community, and yet, because of those 2 things, the site is so sprawling and dense that even with using SEARCH and reading Sticky Threads and following links to HOW-TO's, and Newbie Guides, it takes weeks sometimes, just to assemble and/or decode some basic answers. That's a sign that even with the flexible & powerful hierarchical structure of prob the best forum software out there (vBulletin), nevertheless, there is a baseline INFORMATION DESIGN PROBLEM here.
It's not an easy solve by any means. But just for the record, I am taking on that task, since my area of professional specialty is Information Architectire and Customer Usability.
/qs
he was talking about the Touch Pro.. that is not M2D.. but TF3D
for M2D i've written a guide in the guides thread in the Q&A section..
nir36 said:
he was talking about the Touch Pro.. that is not M2D.. but TF3D
for M2D i've written a guide in the guides thread in the Q&A section..
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Excellent stuff you've assembled & written. I really value those kinds of guides. Thanks. So i guess the answer to my #7 will be: nope, sorry, i am not using M2D... hah hah, well i had a good time wasting my time writing it up!
No not a waste of time. I read through your post & becasue you spent some time & effort on my post & decided to try again. So 2, 4 & 6 were useful, plus a few other links. Evetually I found some easy .cab files that worked without a problem from the Rapheal section & it's all working fine now.
If you hadnt bothered to respond I wouldn't of had another go, so it was worth it for me! Your right this forum is by far the largest I've useds & with so many variants of product & methods it's easy to get lost. My issue was that I new what I needed, but didn't know why or how.
Thanks
Peter
halo1234 said:
No not a waste of time. I read through your post & becasue you spent some time & effort on my post & decided to try again. So 2, 4 & 6 were useful, plus a few other links. Evetually I found some easy .cab files that worked without a problem from the Rapheal section & it's all working fine now.
If you hadnt bothered to respond I wouldn't of had another go, so it was worth it for me! Your right this forum is by far the largest I've useds & with so many variants of product & methods it's easy to get lost. My issue was that I new what I needed, but didn't know why or how.
Thanks
Peter
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Hey I am really glad you got some value from it. And that you found a solution overall for your Raphael. I'll tell you the OTHER value from it: I hadn't even known of nir36's outstanding GUIDES til he referenced them here. So there are multiple outcomes from asking questions. And I could spot that in your case you weren't the more typical "I need this now, i don't have time to look, so could someone just email me the answer?" user who parachutes into XDA-Developers forum land and expects to be handheld for their specific request.
There's a continuum here of what new users ask for -- and thus I think it would be way more realistic for some veteran members here to sometimes see new user questions from the ground level of someone coming into this land of knowledge and, as you sort of said, not even knowing how to frame the question, since the density of information is sometimes impenetrable, and just frame it out for a new user, vs just the standard reply to read read read read read.
As an information designer, I have never ever understood the impulse of some early-adopter people who have had to dig dig dig and read read read to finally pioneer the understandings and piece-together solutions to complex questions, to then want others who follow to work as hard at it as they did. My philosophy is build a better gateway to the knowledge storage, vs chastising people for using the wrong entrance.
For sure it's a 2-way street, and there are hundreds-a-day justifiable reasons for frustrations from knowledge-holders seeing the level of laziness and entitlement coming from the OTHER end of the new user spectrum. They give human beings a bad name
P.S. -- people hate my philosophy comments on a tech-board. I know. I don't try to be verbose, but I know it drives some people batty. In which case, sorry !
hah, i actually like these.

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