Database Info

How to customize a rom?

Excuse met to if this has already been asked im really not sure what to search for though. All the information i have found on the forum and in the wiki doesn't really answer my question.
So i started cooking roms a few hours ago becuase i want a lighter rom than i can find on the site and also just to educate myself. Anyways i finally got one working with all the hardware and cabs i want. But i would like to know how you do things like set up custom start menu items with icons, themes, sounds, and connection setting like i see in other peoples roms. I was under the impression you would be able to dump all of the os files from the nb and then put it all back togather. All the tools in the kitchen just seem to create images or binary files. Is there something im missing? Is this just all done with custom registry settings, if so is there a good thread somewhere about doing customizations via the registry? I was really hoping to rip IE and windows media player out of CE i guess there is no way to do that if you cant extract all the files from the os....
Also one more thing what are these packages Registry__Increase FileSystem filter cache 0x8000 in alex oem 5.1? I really wish there were some kind of descriptions with each package.
thanks you in advance.

boorishid said:
Excuse met to if this has already been asked im really not sure what to search for though. All the information i have found on the forum and in the wiki doesn't really answer my question.
So i started cooking roms a few hours ago becuase i want a lighter rom than i can find on the site and also just to educate myself. Anyways i finally got one working with all the hardware and cabs i want. But i would like to know how you do things like set up custom start menu items with icons, themes, sounds, and connection setting like i see in other peoples roms. I was under the impression you would be able to dump all of the os files from the nb and then put it all back togather. All the tools in the kitchen just seem to create images or binary files. Is there something im missing? Is this just all done with custom registry settings, if so is there a good thread somewhere about doing customizations via the registry? I was really hoping to rip IE and windows media player out of CE i guess there is no way to do that if you cant extract all the files from the os....
Also one more thing what are these packages Registry__Increase FileSystem filter cache 0x8000 in alex oem 5.1? I really wish there were some kind of descriptions with each package.
thanks you in advance.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Check the Kaiser Wiki it should have every tutorial you need there.

Is it at all possible to merge multiple cab files to create a single cab?

What I am interested in doing is taking multiple cab files and then merging them into a single cab file so rather than having to install multiple theme tabs i could just install a single file which would make the whole process simpler after a hard reset to get all my things reinstalled.
I'm a bit of a noob and have searched through the forum but havent really found a noob's walkthrough although i have found usefull posts they arent exactly what i'm looking for, i'm sure other members would find this really usefull too if its at all possible.
It could also be helpful for installing multiple applications at a time.
I appreciate that people dont have the time to sit and talk me through the whole process but any information you could give would really be appreciated.
I've attached the files that i would be interested in merging. I'm not looking for anyone to do the work for me i'm just interested in any knowledge of the process that you may have to offer.
Thx
Alex

Doobee24 said:
What I am interested in doing is taking multiple cab files and then merging them into a single cab file so rather than having to install multiple theme tabs i could just install a single file which would make the whole process simpler after a hard reset to get all my things reinstalled.
I'm a bit of a noob and have searched through the forum but havent really found a noob's walkthrough although i have found usefull posts they arent exactly what i'm looking for, i'm sure other members would find this really usefull too if its at all possible.
It could also be helpful for installing multiple applications at a time.
I appreciate that people dont have the time to sit and talk me through the whole process but any information you could give would really be appreciated.
I've attached the files that i would be interested in merging. I'm not looking for anyone to do the work for me i'm just interested in any knowledge of the process that you may have to offer.
Thx
Alex
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Simplest and easiest thing to do is to use UC to install all these cabs automated style when the ROM boots up. I am assuming you are using a ROM which is UC compliant (all the official ones arent.....the cooked ROMs are mostly UC compliant though).

The 'hard' way is analyzing the cab's -> extracting files/reg-entries -> rebuilding the cab-files to one cab.
Theoritically it's possible with a program like WinCE Cabmanager but it is a hell of job I think.
I would go for the UC-option mentioned by MrVanx. I use it myself and it works like a threat (you have to get familiar with wap-provisioning and stuff but it's worth the journey)

Ive tried using a few of the cooked roms over the past couple of weeks but to be honest they dont work all that well for me, none of them seem to work with msn (which is something i use all the time) i always get error messages saying that it cant find a data connection even through wifi which is always setup properly as i can search the net quite easily and have verified that the wifi is working and searched through the rom threads for fix's and all ive seen so far is that this seems to be a bit of a problem for a number of users, some fixes work for certain members but it doesnt for others, unfortunatly i'm one of the others.
Currently using Vodafone UK 1.90.161.5 stock rom.
I think the WinCE Cabmanager approach mite be the best option for me as i'm still a bit of a noob with regards to things and as most of the cabs i'm interested in merging are simple theme cabs so it shouldnt be that much of a task (gulps)
Are there any good tutorials that i could use for WinCE Cabmanager?
I'll have a search myself to see what i can come up with but in the past i've found it quite hard to find things in the forum and most of the time i stumble across certain "gems" by following links in peoples signatures.
Thanks for the info its much appreciated.
Alex

Over on the Kaiser section there was a user named bengalih, who made an automated installer called Sashimi. Although Bengalih has been banned, his work is still floating around. Check out this thread, or do a search for Sashimi. In theory, it should work for the Raphael, since it is still a Win Mobile device. Hope that helps. I might add, that right before Bengalih was banned, he stripped his Sashimi guides from his posts on xda, but they are available here.

This does look like the type of thing i am looking for unfortunately all his posts are just "..........................." but i regged on the other site and got the software so i'm going to go check it out and see how it works. Thanks for that
Alex

Just a quick question but does your mobile connection (Vodafone UK) allow you to use msn (or to that matter any IM program) or is it just http stuff only?
Tmobile wnw doesnt allow IM software over the data connection unless you use wnw+ so i wonder if this is the case with vodfone aswell?

Yeah it does, it also allows me to use skype too. Unfortunalty its the only ROM that does allow me to use msn although i havent tested skype as this is my secondary IM app.
In theory to make a theme (cab) i tried to extract files from a few cabs, files including:
1AA884~1.004
1BBFDC~1.001
1E29E8~1.005
4E6705~1.002
5A7AE8~1.015
5B86C9~1.016
5C27FF~1.017
etc
Then i used "QuickCab 1.0" to add all the extracted files from a couple of cab files, i directed QuickCab 1.0 to install the files to the Windows directory and the process made the new cab file with no problems however i tried to install the cab file that it had created but my TF3D didnt change at all even after a restart.
I'm trying to merge NoTopCurtain.cab-NoCurtains.cab-GlassClock_v1.cab-Pamas Transparant Slider.CAB & NeonIcon.cab
By looking at the xml file it looked like all the 90 files should be installed to the Windows directory.
Any idea of what i am doing wrong?
Thx
Alex

try cabmanager. You will see the actual files. And there is very logical registry structure.
I do not have a tutorial for the program but it's not that hard. You can export files (right mouse click) and reg-entries (under 'file'). Put those all together (import of reg-entries is also possible!) Adding files gives you a simple window with where to put the files on your ppc.
It is not that hard and you will be in control of the proces instead of working with the encrypted files you are doing now...
made dozens of (working) cab's this way myself and I'm no einstein!
Good luck

@merten3000 thanks for that for the next 30 days i can make working cabs, i initially seen your post and checked the program but noticed it was only a 30 day trial so i never bothered then with your last post when u mentioned "encrypted" files that sort of made sense when i originally seen the file names of the files i was extracting where as they are now extracting properly and i created a working cab, thanks very much.
Dont suppose you know of a free program that will do the same job? Money is tight and cant justify buying this app.
Alex

The simplest thing to do, for me, would be to take the stock rom that you like, extract and recook it making only the changes needed to make it UC compliant.
That way you get your rom just as it was, and can run all your cabs. Shouldn't be much work either. (well, it wouldnt be on the Kaiser - not used Raphael kitchens etc, but assume it is relatively easy)

WinMo 6.5 "What The Heck Is This" Game

Hey everyone,
Greetings from a very tired WinMo-tweakin' RN working on the third night-shift in a row... %-)
I'm sticking this thread in General (Mods feel free to move around if need be), since I'm thinking this is a general WinMo 6.5 issue rather than a device-specific issue.
Anyway... Had a Kaiser (AT&T Tilt) that had WM6.1 on it, and I regularly have checked/used FDC's Task Manager to see what processes were running & which ones I could shut down etc. Using the same sw on my new Topaz/HTC Pure, I noticed a process that I haven't seen in 6.1 -- "RegistryCSPTool.exe"...
Now, maybe I'm just gettin' old, but I've done search in XDA, and the internet using Yahoo, Bing, and Google, and even MS's knowledge base and the AT&T wireless forums... if anything comes up at all, it's the same thing, just listing this file amongst others that people claim they've shrunk for faster speed on their devices, bla bla bla... nothing anywhere that I can see that defines this process, its dependencies, etc. so I can tell whether or not I can hack it out of the startup.
Near as I can guess just by the name of it, and what I've read here from fellow Pure owners, I'm wondering if it may have something to do with what I've read some owners have experienced when they've tweaked reg settings only to reboot and have the original settings reapplied.
Can I pick some brains here and see if anyone has a clue what this process does? Is it really some dastardly AT&T insert into the ROM to keep specific settings from getting changed, or is it some innocuous .exe that actually does something useful?
Appreciate the thoughts...
~ BereanPK

backup the file... delete it from the startup folder (if it's there)... soft-reset your phone and find out.
BTW: RegistryCSPTool.exe was mentioned here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=3043016&postcount=16

Editing OEM/SYS when Cooking

hey folks. i'm new to this rom cooking thing. i'm using the Kaiser Kitchen. I've loaded a base rom into the folder and run the Begin command prompt. now i'm stuck. i have no idea what OEM/SYS items i can get rid of and what i need to keep. i'm just trying to build an extremely lite rom that has manila 2d with the weather under the clock on the home screen. but i don't want to go and delete something that i need, so i'm not comfortable doing any editing just yet. can anyone give me a breakdown of what this stuff is? or even point me in the right direction if it's already posted (which it probably is, i'm just not sure what to search for)? i'd greatly appreciate it. i'm enjoying this rom cooking quite a bit, but, like i said, i'm pretty new to this. i've never taken any classes or anything, so i don't understand some of the terms/procedures used on this site, so please use layman's terms if you reply to me. again, i appreciate your taking the time to help me out, even if it's just a finger pointing me in the right direction.

Hope it doesn't take you too long to read.
first off what's your base ROM (the ROM that you downloaded and put inside the BaseROM folder) and then I could tell you what to get rid of. By the kaiser kitchen you mean the one from the wiki correct?
I'm going to need more info on how you are putting the weather on the home screen (e.g. CAB, Package. etc.) and your BaseROM to tell you accurately what to do.
as for adding in that weather package, first make sure the manila version you are using is 2.x or more. I would say don't make a package out of the CAB (if that's what you are using to put the weather display on the home page). Instead go into the OEM folder and look for the OperatorPKG folder. Enter the OperatorPKG folder and look for a file named "config_operator.txt" (without the quotes).
Mine looks like this:
LOCK:Enabled
TSK: \WINDOWS\Htc.tsk
CAB: \WINDOWS\AMfix.cab
XML: \WINDOWS\Menu_Operation.xml
CAB: \WINDOWS\fixyoutube.cab
CFG: \WINDOWS\config_PT.txt
I'm positive yours will look different. Pay attention to the "CAB: \WINDOWS\"insert CAB file name here"
What you are going to do is take that weather CAB for manila and put it in the OperatorPKG folder. Now go in the "config_operator.txt" and add this string:
CAB: \WINDOWS\"name of the cab file you just put in the OperatorPKG folder, INCLUDING the .cab extension (ex: M2Dhomeweather.cab)"
After cooking and flashing the ROM and setting up your device it will auto install that CAB and you should be set to go.
Now once you tell me the baseROM you are using I can tell you what is mostly junk in the OEM folders you have.
Also in case you are curious.
In the "config_operator.txt"
A "TSK" represents a theme and will make the device load a certain theme.
A "CAB" (obviously) represents a CAB file and will auto-install the CAB file.
A "CFG" represents the next config.txt file and tells the device to look at that config file next.. There are 4 total in all used for different purposes but they all do the same thing more or less. In the "config_operator.txt" ALWAYS make sure the
CFG: \WINDOWS\config_PT.txt
string goes last. It will skip anything else after itself if you do not have it as the last string.
P.S. - Always get an opinion from more than one person

Using the above process you will be using 2x the amount of space .cab & install
Also when things are cooked in they are faster accessible than via .cab install.
Regards removal of OEM/SYS a very good guide
Universal Tutorials for Customizing any Device and Cooking
Holds alot more valuable info than just what your after

clsifford said:
hey folks. i'm new to this rom cooking thing. i'm using the Kaiser Kitchen. I've loaded a base rom into the folder and run the Begin command prompt. now i'm stuck. i have no idea what OEM/SYS items i can get rid of and what i need to keep. i'm just trying to build an extremely lite rom that has manila 2d with the weather under the clock on the home screen. but i don't want to go and delete something that i need, so i'm not comfortable doing any editing just yet. can anyone give me a breakdown of what this stuff is? or even point me in the right direction if it's already posted (which it probably is, i'm just not sure what to search for)? i'd greatly appreciate it. i'm enjoying this rom cooking quite a bit, but, like i said, i'm pretty new to this. i've never taken any classes or anything, so i don't understand some of the terms/procedures used on this site, so please use layman's terms if you reply to me. again, i appreciate your taking the time to help me out, even if it's just a finger pointing me in the right direction.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
BTW, you are better off using visual kitchen.in that way you tick what u need and untick what you don't. If you find out that you needed it you simply tick it again...LOL!

kaiser:
well, first off, i'm using the HyperDragon IV as my base ROM. it's the only one i can find that actually has the weather on the home screen. i love the ROM, don't get me wrong, but it just has a lot of extra stuff in it that i don't need, and i'd like to have that storage space. this ROM actually has the home weather already built in. updates automatically according to the GPS (i'm assuming since it always displays the weather for the city i'm currently in). very handy for taking a quick look rather than having to press any buttons (i'm one of those "no phone while driving" people). however, when i add the Blue Galaxy theme to it, it changes the clock and takes away the home screen weather. i'm very new to this rom cooking business, ie: all i know is what i've either taught myself or looked up on XDA, so i have no idea how to make packages from cabs or anything like that. but reading above about where to put the cabs to auto install with the new rom doesn't seem too difficult. i can visualize it in my head (i spent QUITE A WHILE looking at those files yesterday! haha!). the HyperDragon IV rom is about 110 MB, and it moves a bit slow, but that is my ONLY complaint about it. i'd like to get to the point of being able to build a rom from scratch, but i think breaking one down and rebuilding it to my liking is a better starting point. i'm checking into taking some classes on it. i really enjoy working on my phone and i think if i had some formal training on it, it could be something that i LOVE to do. i just have no grasp of the technical jargin used, so sometimes i'll find a post pertaining to the topic i'm looking for, but i get lost in trying to understand some of them, you know? same thing with cars: i can work on them all day, but i have no idea what most of the parts are even called, much less what they do. i actually have 2 Tilts (my wife thought it was too complicated and got a different one), so i use one to practice on and check out new roms, and the other for everyday use. last night i installed the Hyperdragon IV rom on the extra and printed out the HTCHomeSettings file (with home screen weather) and printed the HTCHomeSettings file from my regular use phone (Blue Galaxy theme installed so no more home screen weather) and was getting ready to print them out and compare the differences between the two. just out of curiosity, would that have done me any good?
Off-hand question: NRH, is that North Richland Hills? if so, nice to see a fellow Texan! i live in Arlington, born and raised.
Stylez:
yeah, that's what i understand. phone operation is much quicker when software is built into the rom. thanks for the link. i was looking for something along those lines yesterday, just couldn't find it. i appreciate it. i've actually looked up A LOT of usefull info that you've posted on here, so thanks for the knowledge as well!
Staxx:
thank you, thank you, thank you sir! i actually posted a request last week for suggestions on a more beginner level user friendly kitchen, but got not a single response (last i checked). that's exactly what i was looking for: something where i can just check what i do and don't want. i was using PPCKitchen at first, but after cooking 3 roms that were just as big as HyperDragon IV (110+ MB) the program started giving me error messages. the frustrating part was that it wouldn't give me errors until it was almost done building the rom. that's quite a while to wait and quite a bit of time (by my standards) wasted to find out that the program isn't going to produce anything! so thanks for the suggestion. i'm going to go search for and download it right now.
To All:
thanks again for the help and advice. you guys are life savers! i can usually figure things out on my own. i like to think i'm smarter than the average bear. but sometimes i just need to be pointed in the right direction, or have things translated from technical jargin to layman's terms. i appreciate yall taking the time to help me and answer my questions. it's nice to see that there are still people in the world willing to help complete strangers. so thanks again guys! i'm sure i'll probably have more questions arise, so i'll probably be posting those as well. i try not to post anything that has already been answered, but sometimes i can seem to find exactly what i'm looking for, even if it is posted already. there is A LOT of info on XDA, but that's a good thing, or a GREAT thing i should say.

Kaiser:
by the way. i'm looking to cook a WM 6.1 ROM with:
blue galaxy theme, but with weather on the home screen, of course
bluetooth function
data connection auto config
manila 2d (dont need the customizer)
quick menu
quick gps
google maps
kaiser tweak
S2U2
BT enabled voice command
BTAudio Toggle (not the btaudio on/off but the toggler button that has the little headphones on the icon)
smartphone tracker
activesync
camera
opera 9.5
***prefer but don't have to have:
volume control, the one that is all black with the white volume bars running up and the vibrate and silent buttons directly underneath
there is also a contacts list that matches the above volume controls, black background with scrolling
wow! that actually looks like a lot now that i've written it out! i actually have all the cabs for the above mentioned items (except camer,activsync, volume controls and contacts list). i also have the cab for manila 2d with the weather on the home screen, but i haven't been successful in installing it WITH the home screen weather working, or even on the screen. i believe it's actually an add on. it's not the full manila 2d, just suppoesed to replace the clock with the flipping clock and add the weather under the clock (which it doesn't seem to do), so i think it may be about useless.
that's really about all i want in the rom. i'll most likely be using the HyperDragon IV rom as my base rom, since it already has the home weather. after that (and some more practice) i may try to learn how to take another lite or naked rom and add the home weather clock to it with manila. that's my goal anyway, to learn how to add it to a rom that doesn't already have it or manila. well, i'm off to download and check out that other kitchen. thanks again for the willingness to help me!

You should probably ask the chef of this ROM for help I'm sure they would be more than happy to help you. They would know about everything in the ROM and would be able to help you the most. If not then I'll download Hyperdragon and look at it in the kitchen.
@off-hand question - yup.

kaiser:
well, i think i'm going to download a stock WM 6.1 rom to practice on first. i'll see if i can't get in contact with the chef in the mean time. i got it off of the Sakajati website. not sure if that's going to make any difference in contacting the chef, but i'll see how it pans out. thanks again for your help.

How to?

Hi very new here and love it so far, but I am curious how you make your own theme? I see other peoples themes and they look great, but I would love to be able and try to make my own theme(s). I did a google search to no prevail so any help greatly appreciated.

For the most part, alot of the things you'd be changing are (from what I remember) .png files (or some form of 'picture' file). I believe there is a program which helps in getting alot of the files (I believe majority of them are in the windows folder) and helps managing them. Once you change them you put them back in the phone (or you can make a cab).
I hope what I said isn't too wrong (this was the process for making your own taskbar icons, so I'm basing a lot on that; hopefully I'm not steering you in the wrong direction, and if I am, hopefully someone will correct me sooner rather than later).
Good luck on your theme!