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Hi people.
I got myself a himalaya just over two weeks ago and have been snooping around both here in the forums and over att buzzdev ever since. I have tried out a few different roms and a ton of other stuff, but for the past 4-5 days i have been going almost insane due to trying to find a somewhat coherent tutorial or guide on how to make your own rom.
Now i have found several roms that i like quite a lot, but either there packed with a ton of stuff i dont need/want or simply dont run properly. I found a lot of threads on how to cook your own roms and stuff, i even got the whole part on how to change poolsize and stuff, but to be honest, this place is a jungle. Its 2 bits of information here, antorher 2 bits there, and frankly im having a small meltdown trying to piece it all togheter. So, can anyone please point me in the right direction of some coherent help on how to add/remove stuff from roms (say i want to have the claunch installed from the start, how do i do that?) and where to find (or how to build) a clean rom to start from, please?
Oh, and if someone knows of any alternative to the WinCE cab manager, i would love to hear about it
While I am new to this field of MDA/Wizard workings. I simply love the fact that there are many different chefs in the kitchens cooking up ROMs for us.
I think I have tried just about all of them on my unlocked 8125 (which I use on the T-Mobile network, and have for almost 1 year now - I LOVE IT). I am hoping to get a faster device soon, as being a power user, I tend to bog this one down.
While I love all the 'prepared' ROMs, here is what I would like to see (and I am sure there are others out there with the same request). I would love a end-all to end-all COOKBOOK (cooking guide). I would like to find a book/instructions on COOKING ROMs. I would like to give it a whirl, and build my own. While I love all the 'prepared' ROMs, many of them have features/apps that I will not use, and are missing ones that I do. Once they are part of the ROM, it appears that you cannot get rid of them.
I feel there should be a repository someplace of ALL VIRGIN (ORIGINAL/UNALTERED ROMs), i.e., WM5, WM6, WM6.1, and the various packages that can be added. Like going to a supermarket and getting the items for your favorite recipe. I mean, the whole idea of COOKING ROMs, and the proggies called KITCHENS, lets carry the idea further.
What does everyone think?
***** To all the CHEFS out there, KEEP UP THE GREAT WORK - but remember as Chef Ramsey says "I am the best, you can only one day hope to be half as good as me!" Well, in order to be good, the best had to start off as simply good. *****
Hey you might want to look at the stickies at the top of the forum...
Kitchens are the way to go when building your own roms, and they have pretty in depth how-tos.. Pantry is where to go for the packages.. also stickied.
Look up near the top, and you will find the tools. Learning to use them takes time.
One VALID complaint I have is that people have stopped posting the cooking packages - that is, their dumps of whatever kitchen they are using.
You CAN rip apart an existing rom for a starting point, but there are often problems with doing it (missing pieces, etc) which you then have to resolve or the ROM you cook won't work. In some cases (particularly with 6.1) the XIP won't extract AT ALL which makes for lots of hacking around.
It would be nice if chefs posted their kitchens so we could modify too...... a lot of ROMs are close, but would be perfect with a few more inclusions...
as far as packages are concerned, I make my own from cab files, other peoples kitchens (maybe when I have time to rummage through.. You can also simply request a package on the kitchen tools thread, an I'm sure that we are a sharing peoples.
As far as kitchens, I would recommend finding Faria's to start with. It is extremely simple. All you have to know is that you have a limited amount of space.
As far as the kooking manual:
The WIKI is what you are looking for I got all the information I needed there.
yes it is faria that is easy to use though others prefer hypercore
it is always the preference of you if you like to cook in what kitchen
for me oem is the hardest part thou others find it easy what I hope is that there will also be a stickies on how to
there is a OEM creator
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=2089816#post2089816
it would be better if you can also ask for a short tutorial on doing that
Thank You in Advance for all your replies; I will address each one separately:
::Zack84a:: I have been through many of the STICKIES, and I find that many of them are a big mess of babble. While there are some interesting post there, they the concept of linear thought is disconjointed and often bordering on chaos. I would be more than happy to post an illustrated and in depth KOOKBOOK (so to speak) if I can simply get a handle on some of the aspects and theories.
::Genesis3:: I have downloaded several of the kitchens, and unpacked them in different locations on my computer. They all have a multitude of folders, and files within them. I am a very advanced Windows user, and I find it hard to believe that there is not something out there, like the Windows XP or VISTA (joke) installation CD/DVD where you can install the OS to a PPC and customize the install. You would then have to add the little apps to make the PPC your own. Much like installing XP and choosing to use IE, NETSCAPE or FIREFOX for your browser (or one of the other dozen or so out there). It seems that there is not a single post of a COMPLETE and UNALTERED ROM out there for any version. Surely there has to be one someplace. It would also be nice to see a CONCISE and COMPLETE glossary of the terms, and perhaps not written by just one CHEF - but a joint effort.
::Character:: I would agree with you and Genesis3. Perhaps the CHEFS need to start posting (or making available) the complete (uncooked kitchen of their ROMs). This would allow a budding CHEF to play with its nuances and learn what taking a piece out does, remember you can always add more salt to a recipe - but you can never take it back out.
::S.V.I.:: Ahh, saved you for last. I am currently running your latest "901" posting on my WizardA100 (CINGULAR 8125 but being used on T-Mobile), and I LUV IT so far. I had to tweak it a little for myself, add some sounds (that I like), install BATTERY STATUS, and turn on my TODAY items. I am debating an upgrade in June. My contract with T-Mobile is up then. This phone is a hand-me-down from a friend who got a new Q. I loved it so much when he had it, he gave it to me. I have been using the Original T-Mobile MDA 2.26 ROM for so long and wanted to go to 6.0 or 6.1 (which I have been reading so much about). I came to this forum and I think that I have tried about 30 different ROMs so far. Some of them are NICE, some are PRETTY, and one of them would not do anything after 2 minutes from a HARD BOOT. The TODAY screen would come up, and if you let it sit for 2 minutes or longer...nothing worked; no buttons, nothing on the screen, had to SOFT RESET. That one got dumped right away. I would really love to learn from the MASTER CHEFS out here, and being a fast learner - think I would someday make a good chef too.
If I decide to get another PPC device, which one do you think would be good? I know there are 400MHz models out there, and they seem appealing...but I love the HTC Wizard (and its cousins). The phone I am still trying to figure out who made/makes it - is the one from the NEW KNIGHT RIDER MOVIE (the one the bad guy used). It had the coolest screen - looked almost Holographic or LCARS (Star Trek looking). I am surprised that there is not a ROM out here with that theme (LCARS the ST:TNG touch panels).
Okay, enough rambling. I hope that someone will help me go to chef school.
here is what I learned (having successfully cooked my first rom) and may be you will find it usefull when you decide to make a new rocksteady tutorial:
I learned that the color codes in this machene a re a variation of the same stuff as HTML; but with unpredictable results. the only code that works is basic collors, and not very many variations. I learned that reading this rom's RGU's and XML's (provxml's as well) is pretty self explanatory. If you can read the registry, and have enough common sense, it becomes easyer with every hack you put into it. For me it is all trial and error. Last night I spent untill noon trying t get my splash screens to work, and when I finally got it right, I realized that it is not that hard afterall. It is just the initial shock of :
"What tha f--- does THAT mean?!"
I think that most people are getting intimidated by all this jargon, as well as some cooks who have had enough of answering the same (not supid) questions over and over again. They all say: "please refer to this post" and link it. which often times seems pretty cold. However, it takes quite a bit of time and effort to find and link the post in question, and in fact it is a benevolent gesture, not an arrogant reply.
There are thousands of people making posts. ofcourse the information is going to get distorted and chaotic.
I have to say this though: cooking is not difficult (I paint, draw, and make costumes for theatre) I don't come from a tech bakground. If I can do it, than anyone who can put 2+2 together and justify the outcome as 5 or greater; can do it too. lol
I really hope that someone will be able to put together a deffinative cookbook together. someone who can teach, has the time and the patience to go through it step by step, in a language that even george bush can understand. Maybe that person is you (?)
well said...
i think a lot of us would like to make a thorough guide, but oh where's the time? we're all too busy making roms there's a number of good guides for basic kitchen use, but finding the detailed info past making packages is very difficult...
209 seems pretty damn stable, maybe it's time....
My biggest problem with the current 6.1 stuff (using Hypercore) is that neither using it OR some of the other bundled tool sets have I been able to take one of the existing builds and get a clean XIP.
So my cooking produces a ROM that works great but has a wrong version number. Not a huge deal, but......
I believe that this has to do with the nb0 that you are using, not the xip. and there is a very complicated tutorial about it on the wiki. I haven't been able to figure it out.
I dod notice, that when I ised the smaller nb that came with the kitchen the numbers match up.
You can hack the os number. If you have the xip that you should have, you should be able to change the version number of any nb0 using a hex editor.
Well I can split the .nb into the proper files but when I run the XIP extraction tool on it the tool HANGS!
It prints nothing at all and sits - forever.
Anyway I got an XIP directory that extracted properly from an earlier 6.1 build and it works; I've not had the ROMs I've cooked thus far with it (using "slim" as the base) do anything evil, but it bothers me that I'm running a hybrid like this.
When I was cooking 6.0 I had a hybrid that worked well but it took me several weeks to get something that was MOSTLY stable, and it still had some nasty RAM leaks. On the other hand most of the leaks were in the POP3 email support, which I use HEAVILY. IMAP has some problems with my server that make it unusable (Specifically I can't send using it) so I'm stuck to some degree.
Overall however I've got a decent 6.1 ROM; I've not yet "published it" as I need to get back in there and remove the custom funky tahoma font sub default and also put my own "branding" on the startup screen...... but it runs and is very stable.
If I do release it I'll do so WITH the kitchen pack so it can be cooked on further by people. One of the reasons I really like cooking my own is that to the extent I can put apps into the base ROM I don't use up program memory.
ARGHHHHH!!!!! My Brain Hurtz
All these damned terms: XIP, .NB0, .NBK, OEM, SYS, Na-Nu Na-Nu, etc.
This is what I want to clear up. I am willing to do my best in creating a DEFINATIVE/PROFESSIONAL KOOKBOOK, but I need to lear some of these terms. How's about we start a GLOSSARY someplace. Start listing words and definitions someplace and all the CHEFS add to/expand on them??
While I am like SVI, I have 3 jobs, but I find that I have a lot of WAITING time in front of my PC, while another one is doing something - I would love to start compiling ROMS, I have over 1TB of storage space available. If anyone wants to send them to me, with a complete description, contents, versions etc. Perhaps I can create a repository for all of them and HOST them. I dunno. Just trying to do something constructive. I could sit here for days reading these posts and never get all the ROMs, patches, updates, applications etc. Geez if there was a simple FTP location with all of them!!!
Okay, Okay - getting off soapbox so that I can bang my head on it.
Much Thanks to everyone!
Upgrading???
Do you guys have any input on this missed question?
::: If I decide to get another PPC device, which one do you think would be good? I know there are 400MHz models out there, and they seem appealing...but I love the HTC Wizard (and its cousins). The phone I am still trying to figure out who made/makes it - is the one from the NEW KNIGHT RIDER MOVIE (the one the bad guy used). It had the coolest screen - looked almost Holographic or LCARS (Star Trek looking). I am surprised that there is not a ROM out here with that theme (LCARS the ST:TNG touch panels). :::
I think that PHONE was cool'r-n-hell, but have no idea what it was.
bearhntr said:
Do you guys have any input on this missed question?
::: If I decide to get another PPC device, which one do you think would be good? I know there are 400MHz models out there, and they seem appealing...but I love the HTC Wizard (and its cousins). The phone I am still trying to figure out who made/makes it - is the one from the NEW KNIGHT RIDER MOVIE (the one the bad guy used). It had the coolest screen - looked almost Holographic or LCARS (Star Trek looking). I am surprised that there is not a ROM out here with that theme (LCARS the ST:TNG touch panels). :::
I think that PHONE was cool'r-n-hell, but have no idea what it was.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry for continuing the off-topic but if you like phones that look like the wizard and have 400Mhz processors then you must get Kaiser a.k.a Tytn II a.k.a Tilt
cheers
Hey guys,
I got a mytouch yesterday and LOVE it...but I already have the itch to mod it.
I came over from a HTC Herald (well a T-Mobile Wing), so I have some experience in this kind of thing....but it seems "rooting" android is a bit (a lot) more technical and difficult. By the end flashing the Wing was a 5 minute job...now I'm reading this forum and have no idea where to start.
So..........some questions, if you don't mind.
1- What is the advantage of rooting the phone? Obviously it allows you to access system files and stuff...but what's out there right now? How are these ROMs different than the stock stuff? I've heard a bit about multitouch...is that true? What else?
2- If I do root the phone, I assume it clears everything off (including my apps I downloaded)? Is there an easy way to back this thing up? And after the process is complete, is there an easy way to redownload all of the apps, or will I have to write them down somewhere to get again?
3- Whenever donut comes out....what happens then? Are the roms usually updated with the new stuff, or might there be issues? Or are the roms so far ahead that donut will be meaningless?
I think I had another question but I'm forgetting it now...anyway, this is a start.
And I apologize in advance for whatever info is already out on these topics. I read much of this forum, and it's tough, because there are so many posts regarding this stuff, it's difficult to sort out the good information.
mikeybags said:
Hey guys,
I got a mytouch yesterday and LOVE it...but I already have the itch to mod it.
I came over from a HTC Herald (well a T-Mobile Wing), so I have some experience in this kind of thing....but it seems "rooting" android is a bit (a lot) more technical and difficult. By the end flashing the Wing was a 5 minute job...now I'm reading this forum and have no idea where to start.
So..........some questions, if you don't mind.
1- What is the advantage of rooting the phone? Obviously it allows you to access system files and stuff...but what's out there right now? How are these ROMs different than the stock stuff? I've heard a bit about multitouch...is that true? What else?
2- If I do root the phone, I assume it clears everything off (including my apps I downloaded)? Is there an easy way to back this thing up? And after the process is complete, is there an easy way to redownload all of the apps, or will I have to write them down somewhere to get again?
3- Whenever donut comes out....what happens then? Are the roms usually updated with the new stuff, or might there be issues? Or are the roms so far ahead that donut will be meaningless?
I think I had another question but I'm forgetting it now...anyway, this is a start.
And I apologize in advance for whatever info is already out on these topics. I read much of this forum, and it's tough, because there are so many posts regarding this stuff, it's difficult to sort out the good information.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1 there are many benefits that the average user typically wouldn't need... but, the best off the top of my head are of course installing cooked ROMs, having the ability to make system changes as you see fit, access to tethering applications, access to apk's that allow things like multitouch an array of programs built into your phone... the list really does go on... each ROM has its own elements; some are faster, some include multitouch in a lot of programs, some are based on the GUI known as Rosie developed by HTC (which is probably by far the most wanted implementation by newbie root users), the ROMs differ with each chef, so theres really no nailing it on the head
2 typically, any of the recovery images that are loaded onto your ROM when you're going through the root process will allow you to reload a nandroid backup... search up on nandroid and this will give you all the answers you need to know about system and program backup
3 roms being updated just really depends on the community and the chef of that ROM... when parts of donut were released, most of the chefs on this site started to implement them immediatley into their ROM's for the public... if you want true support from your chef of your specific ROM, then donate, simple as that... its their time they're putting in, so give them compensation as you see fit
Thanks for the response. Donating is definitely key, these guys deserve to be compensated for what they do, even if it is just for hobby. That goes without question.
Do the ROMs speed the phone up or smooth anything out at all? Not that I've had much issue with that, but coming from a wing I'm a bit paranoid about that.
PS....the fact that programs don't "Close" when you exit them is odd. I got a task killer but it's still crazy that I have to go into that to close everything. Probably my only complaint with android so far.
hey folks, i've been hunting around and trying ROMs for quite a while now. and for about 2 months i've been trying to get my hands on a particular ROM. what i'm looking for is a WM 6.5 ROM (NOT 6.5.x; i want the start menu in the top left corner, not the bottom left) that is absolutely BARE NAKED, nothing but the operating system and absolute system necessities, and not much else, if anything. i have cabs for all programs that i use. one other stipulation is that i have WAlien's M2D and weather localisation cabs and i need a ROM that i can install this on. i've been trying to learn how to cook on my own, but i can't seem to find a learning friendly kitchen. and the instructions might as well be written in Chinese for all the sense i can make of them. too much technical terms used that i don't understand. i'd love to build my own, but it's just not an option right now. anyway, just wanted to know if anyone would happen to know where i can find a ROM that meets these criteria, or if some wonderfully kind chef out there might cook me one up? either one would make me friggin EXTACIC! i don't like the WM 6.5.x roms, not sure why, i just don't seem to mesh well with them. anyway, if anyone could help me out, i would really appreciate it. also, if anyone could tell me what particular builds will take to WAlien's M2D cabs, that would really help in my search. i know the 23xxx builds are all the 6.5.x that i don't want, but i really don't know about any others. i believe i had a 21550 build that was running M2D with Home Weather (my big concern), but the ROM was over 100 MB, fluffed up with all sorts of programs that i would never even use. by the way, i'm using an HTC Tilt/Kaiser/Tytn II, whatever you want to call it. love the phone, but can't seem to find just the right ROM, or a decent kitchen to teach myself on. no idea what SYS or OEM files are, where to put them, what they do, or anything. i just know that they are used to cook ROMs. anyway, if some kind soul could take the time out of their day to enlighten me, i'd love to get a better grasp on this stuff. i'd actually like to take some classes on the subject, but i'd rather get my feet wet first, so i'm not going into it blind. thanks for your time, even if you can't help me, i appreciate you taking the time to see if you might be able to help.
clsifford said:
hey folks, i've been hunting around and trying ROMs for quite a while now. and for about 2 months i've been trying to get my hands on a particular ROM. what i'm looking for is a WM 6.5 ROM (NOT 6.5.x; i want the start menu in the top left corner, not the bottom left) that is absolutely BARE NAKED, nothing but the operating system and absolute system necessities, and not much else, if anything. i have cabs for all programs that i use. one other stipulation is that i have WAlien's M2D and weather localisation cabs and i need a ROM that i can install this on. i've been trying to learn how to cook on my own, but i can't seem to find a learning friendly kitchen. and the instructions might as well be written in Chinese for all the sense i can make of them. too much technical terms used that i don't understand. i'd love to build my own, but it's just not an option right now. anyway, just wanted to know if anyone would happen to know where i can find a ROM that meets these criteria, or if some wonderfully kind chef out there might cook me one up? either one would make me friggin EXTACIC! i don't like the WM 6.5.x roms, not sure why, i just don't seem to mesh well with them. anyway, if anyone could help me out, i would really appreciate it. also, if anyone could tell me what particular builds will take to WAlien's M2D cabs, that would really help in my search. i know the 23xxx builds are all the 6.5.x that i don't want, but i really don't know about any others. i believe i had a 21550 build that was running M2D with Home Weather (my big concern), but the ROM was over 100 MB, fluffed up with all sorts of programs that i would never even use. by the way, i'm using an HTC Tilt/Kaiser/Tytn II, whatever you want to call it. love the phone, but can't seem to find just the right ROM, or a decent kitchen to teach myself on. no idea what SYS or OEM files are, where to put them, what they do, or anything. i just know that they are used to cook ROMs. anyway, if some kind soul could take the time out of their day to enlighten me, i'd love to get a better grasp on this stuff. i'd actually like to take some classes on the subject, but i'd rather get my feet wet first, so i'm not going into it blind. thanks for your time, even if you can't help me, i appreciate you taking the time to see if you might be able to help.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You may want to consider using spaces when you post, like having paragraphs
If you feel adventurous enough, head over to ppckitchen.org and get your kitchen and cook it yourself with all the bells and whistles (or lack thereof) that you wish.
Alternatively, go to the Kaiser section and look for something there.
FYI, the different UI has nothing to do with 6.5.X, but rather with the COM branch. You are looking for any rom of the COM2 branch (usually anything above 218XX (but always remaining in the 21XXX branches) will have the start menu on top).
I hope this helps you some.
yeah, i tend to ramble a bit. anyway, i tried ppckitchen. thouroughly unimpressed. i produced 3 roms, 2 of which worked, however, they weren't what i was looking for. didn't have much expericence at the time, and now that i know what i'm looking for, PPCK's BuildOS runs all the way through the rom building process then gives me an error. i sit there for X amount of time picking and choosing all my stuff, then sit for 10-15 more minutes, and now after that, it just gives me an error every time. it's been a while since i even thought about messing with it again. i can't even remember exactly what the error message was. thanks for the input though.
so i need to look for builds with 21xxx then. sweet. that will help narrow down my search at least. just basically looking for something with no bells, no whistles, that will run the M2D cabs from WAlien. i had a rom a couple weeks ago that met all the criteria except for the bells and whistles, but i've been flashing so many roms looking for the right one, that they pretty much all say "KAISIMG" now and it's about impossible to remember which is which. plus, they pretty much look the same once loaded, so i don't really know until i get the results when i try to install M2D. anyway, thanks for the help with the build numbers. i'll try searching those.
i actually just figured out the other day that the 23xxx builds are the ones with the start menu in the bottom left.
clsifford said:
i actually just figured out the other day that the 23xxx builds are the ones with the start menu in the bottom left.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
23xxx, 28xxx, 25xxx, 24xxx, 22xxx... they all have the new UI. The latest one available for the COM2 branch is the 21892.
What kind of error messages are you getting out of PPCK? They just released a new update the other day, which deals with some error messages (among other things).
Lastly, what I do with the roms is to first create a folder with the rom number and who made it and then drop it in there. You may want to consider doing that
wasn't aware of the 22xxx ones, but i knew 23xxx and up were the ones that i'm not looking for. hey, i found a rom that will serve my purpose for the time being. came across the Shifu v4.2 Rom last night. it's a 21854 build. works with WAlien's M2D with Home Weather cabs also, which was my biggest concern. thanks for your help. i think i'm gonna be content with this one until i learn how to cook my own. it's got a bit of "fluff" stuff that i don't need, but it is still rather small compared to some of the other roms of similar builds that i was checking out last night. thanks for all of your help, bud! i really appreciate it.
oh, and about PPCKitchen: i'm not sure, but i'll try to run it when i get home. it's been quite a while since i tried using it, but i do remember that the day it started screwing up on me was the same day that i downloaded updates for it. maybe the updates messed it up. i'll go home and check for more updates and see if it'll run or not. i'll keep you posted. all i remember was that when the error came up, it made a loud sound that scared the crap out of me. forgot that i still had the volume turned up loud from watching movies the night before! hahaha! my wife even jumped, and she was in the kitchen, the REAL kitchen, not the rom kitchen. anyway, i'll check on that and get back to you if it's still giving me problems.
As I am working my way through the public transportation circuit back to my dev chair, I have a chance to ask for help if someone(s) are interested in helping the doubleshot development effort at large.
Development in the open source community is about two main points:
1. Being driven by your curiosity to learn something new or make something do whatever it does differently or better.
2. Distributing the workload of what we want or need between multiple people - many hands make light work and if everyone contributes something small collectively it turns into a whole lot of progress and success.
So here's something that would help us all out immensely even though it seems like a small issue on the surface:
.nb0 and .nbh files - how to break them down and an explanation of how exactly they work.
What they are is a proprietary format used to wrap up some of the installer files within OTA and software updates we get from HTC for this device. (Other HTC devices too)
We also need to have or have links to the software we need to break them down with.
This information and how to use it will make a tremendous difference in how quickly and effectively we can assimilate and process our official software updates and continue to deliver both S-OFF and Root solutions when they are stripped from us on OTA pushes.
I'm making too much progress on other fronts and with other issues to stop and take care of this, and the very limited searching I've been willing to spare on this front has lead to dead ends and dead (mostly megaupload) links to what we would need.
Honestly, I've got a lot of dev work I've gotten myself involved in with this device and the progress I make doing other stuff is greater then putting more time into this, based on the project files I have in process. If I was just starting with helping out on doubleshot development this would be what I would be spending time on - just where I'm at I lose momentum focusing on this.
I get PM's from people asking for advice or direction on how to help out in addition to a scattering of threads around here started by people with lot's of enthusiasm but no direction, and I definitely understand! I've been and (believe it or not) continue to be in that very same position!
Sometimes all people need is a nudge in a direction, a path pointed out to them that they can explore and learn about - this is just such a signpost on the way to becoming the developer some of you out there want to be.
Development basically = knowledge + implementation, and the more you know the more creatively you can leverage it to your advantage. We certainly have some creative people who have passed through or are here now surprising us every day.
From the impressively out of nowhere CM7 port kornyone gifted us with in the past to the jaw-dropping brute-force ICS work tbalden blazed a trail into ( and sucked a few people into along the way ) all the way down to the work XMC has been steadily chipping away at building tools for us to use and wrap it all together with - we really have some talent, passion and a lot of success in our small but effective corner of the XDA forums.
...and those are only a few of the people who have made a lot happen around here, there are and certainly have been others who have either left a mark on development for this device or continue to do so.
Excited? I am! There's so much cool stuff to do and who cares if we never get an 'official' ICS update? We (collectively) are producing software the manufacturers/carriers wish they could produce in a fraction of the time it would take them to do so.
What some may not realize, though, is that it isn't this person or that person making it happen, but the collective efforts of us all together that enhance and compliment the individual strengths we all bring to the table separately.
...and it's all built on us sharing what we know and helping each other out. Maybe some out there, especially the more casual viewers or unregistered lurkers don't realize just how much we work together - where the larger sub-forums are more scattered and individualized just because of their population.
As an aspiring dev, this should make our little corner even more appealing because that leaves a lot more new ground to cover and gives everyone who jumps in that much more of an impact on what we have available.
Maybe in other places you're the fiftieth person to make some lockring or point something out, but over here just about anything you get into is new ground for us - so we are definitely excited about everything anyone has to offer, no matter how trivial it may seem to you.
As many of you have gathered by now I'm a bit long winded at times, but it's all so exciting!
So back to the original point, which was that if someone or a handful of someone's wanted to do something to help out, and push development for the device forward but wasn't sure what to do, figuring out how those .nb0 and .nbh files work and finding some software to crack them open with would be a big help in gaining and maintaining S-OFF and Root for this device.
.nb0 files especially, because they are something within the OTA that is a single file that impacts multiple partitions, and we really haven't gotten a look inside of them at what exactly they are doing to our device and how.
The death of megaupload and sites like it cost the open source community a lot of tools that are in some cases still missing and in others maybe never to be replaced...at least not without someone taking the time to sit down and do so.
...could that be you?
gtmaster303 said:
Sorry blue, I got lost in your post. What exactly are you looking for?
A software that can do what with these files?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Cliff notes:
Blue6IX said:
The strength of XDA is the community itself and the knowledge it contains. If we want to truly leverage it here in the doubleshot forums, this is how it can be utilized the best.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Any and all info on the .nb0 or .nbh file format, anything people can gather.
How do we break them apart?
What is inside of them when we do?
What partitions does it flash it's pieces to, are the individual pieces signed or just the file itself?
Can we make these files?
...How?
.nb0 is inside the OTA packages, .nbh is a type of package like the PG59IMG.zip files, so the tools to work with them are different?
Here is an .nbh thread that could help get someone started...
NBHextract: Extract contents from NBH files with a tool but we don't have any of these files yet?
Here is the wiki page it links to which will help more:
NBH wiki page that it links to on that tool page which might help some more.
I bring up .nbh because that is one of the methods of insertion the auto-install tries to use when booting to hboot:
Blue6IX said:
When loading hboot, the files it automatically looks for on the sdcard are:
- PG59DIAG.zip
- PG59DIAG.nbh
- PG59IMG.zip
- PG59IMG.nbh
- PG59IMG.tar
- PG59IMG.aes
- PG59IMG.enc
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
...and the more people we have familiar with these files and spend time helping us to figure them out, the better equipped we will be to deal with new OTA packages and everything that goes with them.
What do we know? Collectively, here, not very much - if so, someone speak up and if not here's something people can help with.
How do we make .nbh files, or any of the other packages quoted there we don't have?
We've pretty thoroughly examined PG59IMG.zip files but the .nb0 files in them are still somewhat of a mystery - here are the ones from the 3 PG59IMG.zip files you can find links to here:
Restore to Stock
Files:
doubleshot_1-28-531-9_nb0.zip
Download Link
MD5: d5e8721090dbc048c711d7f42404286b
Size: 1.75 MB
doubleshot_1-55-531-3_nb0.zip
Download Link
MD5: dba1925982b4c5e0a41f3291942e09e0
Size: 1.75 MB
doubleshot_1-63-531-2_nb0.zip
Download Link
MD5: aaa9edc7b2c5ec91559ab01caebab8ac
Size: 1.75 MB
These zip files are in uncompressed form, simply zipped in store - small files but 2 each. Here you go, hope someone has fun with them!
Sent from a digital distance.
http://www.ubiquitense.com/technology/how-to-install-android-roms-with-nb0-file-extension/2800/
dont know if this is what you are looking for but maybe........
i think this is better?
http://android-dls.com/wiki/index.php?title=How_to_unpack_and_repack_NB0_file
tl;dr:
Blue is a noob with poor time management skills.
jk, I would love to see more people get involved with development. You can't really ***** about a lack of development and then not be willing to support it.
Sorry blue, I got lost in your post. What exactly are you looking for?
A software that can do what with these files?
Usually, all unknown file types I come across I run through winrar and see how it handles it.
Found this with a quick google:
http://filext.com/file-extension/NB0
I edited the first post, adding the second half to it starting with the quote below:
gtmaster303 said:
Sorry blue, I got lost in your post. What exactly are you looking for?
A software that can do what with these files?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As evidenced by my original posting, being concise is not my strong suit.
I posted that from the doubleshot while I was sitting somewhere waiting for people, and so it was a little all over the place even for me. Hope this post and the edits above clarify the intentions of this thread better?
Can someone explain how to break down the nb0 files and find tools to do it properly? See if you can sit down and crack one open and see what's inside.
See how many of the questions can be answered from above, and what other ones we don't know enough to ask are/their answer(s) are?
The doubleshot community benefits from it's developers having how-to references on the things we need to do, and pretty much everything we need to know is scattered all over XDA.
It takes time to funnel, qualify, and share that information here so we can use it.
Many more people will be able to dev for this device if they can come here and learn how to do it, and not have to resort to the XDA scavenger hunt that every other dev who started here had to go through.
If other people can see the value of and want to help out in searching out how to do things and get it here for us to use, the honest truth is that's a resource built by the developers here or not at all.
Learning how to do things and going through that experience and what the pitfalls are and finding where to get what you need to do it is basically development.
Sharing those experiences with XDA is what makes this community a resource.
Bringing it here gives people who want to dev and don't know where to start a learning project that can benefit everyone working here.
Something like this is a good trial for posing this question - there are a lot of things that we would benefit from having here and not just on XDA at large. If someone or people want to get together and solve this mystery because they were looking for a problem to solve, then here is the best way to turn that learning experience into a guide for the rest of us.
...and we can check that off our list of things we need to learn how to do.
I can make a post at some point with a concise listing of things we need to know about, with a link to a summary of what we know about each, and then we could use it as a checklist to start systematically solving our problems and making the device do what we need to do.
The strength of XDA is the community itself and the knowledge it contains. If we want to truly leverage it here in the doubleshot forums, this is how it can be utilized the best.
--------
So, when someone gets so energized by this as many of us have felt at some point - that overwhelming desire to help but complete confusion on where to start?
Go learn something we don't know and share how to do it or what it is here. We all benefit and people already here working on other things can just add how to do whatever that is to their methods.
Please don't think this is a case of me sitting here saying "i'm too lazy to learn how to do this, someone teach me" ...
...this is a case of "does anyone out there want to help explain what this is and how to use it? Here's a project if anyone wants it" ...
...i've written quite a few guides here as i've learned how to do things, and wouldn't pose this kind of question without having contributed first. So just offering a starting point to anyone else willing to do that too.
If there is interest in people taking the project on, I can make a checklist of what we need to know and we can have a point of reference on how to spend our time when looking for projects to do.
If no one's interested in learning this and sharing it here then I won't waste the time it would take to put such a list together and source everything. Eventually i'll figure this out and share it here if no one does, but we would grow as a community for others to do it. Just looking for ways to make everything work more smoothly here.
This place is whatever we make it to be, so do we want this?
You think it would help if we asked HTC dev what they're for?
I would love to help! But I don't know anything about being a Dev.
Hi Blue6IX,
I've read most of your post, but I don't quite understand to what purpose we need the contents of these files.
I mean, I got my Doubleshot, rooted/S-OFF'ed it with revolutionary/unrevoked and SIM unlocked it following this guide and installed an ICS ROM. Is there anything that prevents others from doing the same?
Also, I come from the Moto Milestone, which has a locked bootloader and no way to unlock, and still people managed to get ICS up and running (with 2.2 being the latest version Motorola wanted us to have on the device).
For the Doubleshot, you can just fire up a repo sync with CM9, get the preliminary msm8660 device tree(s) and create a doubleshot device tree. I know it will require some adaptations and coding, but IMHO this is nowhere near the problems other devices face.
Since I didn't really find any information on other hindrances, I would be glad to hear of them. Otherwise, I don't think analyzing HTC's/T-Mobile's original update files will be useful for anything?
Curiously yours,
Stefan
seidler2547 said:
...
I mean, I got my Doubleshot, rooted/S-OFF'ed it with revolutionary/unrevoked and SIM unlocked it following this guide and installed an ICS ROM. Is there anything that prevents others from doing the same?
...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yea - for a while S-OFF was impossible for any device on the 1.55.531.3 software version ( or later ) with hboot 1.45.0013
There was also a time where they couldn't unlock the device and were basically stuck barely able to root.
For most people, S-ON and unlocked is the best it can get at the moment - making it pain to flash roms with custom kernels and completely unable to go back to the stock radio or hboot.
seidler2547 said:
Hi Blue6IX,
I've read most of your post, but I don't quite understand to what purpose we need the contents of these files.
...
Otherwise, I don't think analyzing HTC's/T-Mobile's original update files will be useful for anything?
Curiously yours,
Stefan
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I cut out most of the post you made ... ( quoting a whole post unnecessarily is rather annoying ) ... But you really answered your own question here.
Do you know for certain they won't help now or in the future?
Have you checked to see?
How can you check if you can't break it open?
If you can, could you share directions how and working links to tools to do it with?
...the OTA and PG59IMG.zip packages are how the manufacturer updates the device and makes changes to things we can't - knowing how they do it can help lead to a way for us to do it.
Especially since we don't have a proper RUU and basically are left begging for scraps at the "official" software table for the device - knowing how the few legitimate software packages work we get becomes even more important.
Every time an OTA update comes out, the possibility exists to lose root, S-OFF or even a working device ( the next broken update will NOT be the first ).
As you mentioned being curious, well, you hit the nail on the head as to the entire purpose of the thread.
I'm curious, anyone serious about helping us keep root at the very least is too ( and if not, now know they should be and a bit about why ).
It's one of many, many pieces to the puzzle, but the more thoroughly we understand each puzzle piece itself, the better of a chance we have at actually putting it together.
Bottom line is we don't know, we should know, and the project of finding out and sharing it here is a great opportunity for someone who wants to learn how to be a dev and has no clue where to start.
This project is on my list, but I figured i'd post it here and create an opportunity for anyone interested in it...otherwise I'll get to it at some point.
For all the time I've put in the thread, I probably could have made progress on the answers to at least some of the questions I've posed. I'd rather see if investing that time in soliciting more participation is worthwhile. It's not something I need, but rather something WE need...
Anyone like a good mystery?
Sent from a digital distance.