Database Info

benefit of built-in software in ROM

If there is anyone guru enough to answer me that, is it better to include the softwares while making a ROM or using those software after flashing the ROM. including the software in the ROM, wont it make the OS little slow.
I would be grateful if anyone answers in a bit.

as i understand it, the cooks are maximizing the apps in their rom because you will not be able to use the part wherein there is no apps included, unless you make it into more pagepool, but this will come with a price, a faster rom with more battery drain and less program mem

From a chef's point of view, it means less time configuring and installing cab files after flashing. Or suppose you have to do a hard reset on your device? you dont want to have to install/find all those cabs or apps that you use on your phone all the time.
Sometimes the included applications are used to enhance performance

plus you can compress those files and save alot of extra room to install more programs!

Apps built-in your ROM , not to use the memory space

is it better to include the softwares while making a ROM or using those software after flashing the ROM.
including the software in the ROM, wont it make the OS little slow.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
my point of view..slightly OT, maybe.
+.i am not talking about 4mb-trendy-touch-apps here...1 touch cube app ROM space = 1-30 other(useful) apps.
+. software installed from card takes storage space..(until installed..on card),
+. not all software can be installed on card(info for those with storage mem shortages..)
+. usually yes, it is better to include software(unless you can live a day/week without hardreset) in rom, but,
+. depending on what you include, OS will(touch soft, gigantic unoptimised today plugins, ****ty resident apps), or won't(tcpmp, gsplay, ebook reader, pdf reader, another browser, synchrotime...etc..) be slower.
+. software that is not running won't make OS slower / won't eat your mem,
+. imo, it is good to have softkey applet in rom, gsgetfile, tgetfile, fmodce libs in rOM....
+. you may have added 34580 programms inside rom without almost any RAM usage, until you launch one of them(nonresident apps of course..).
+. you can include cabs in OS, not just extrom - fast method for making reversable customisations, g4 friendly ROM building,
+. you can add things like cleartemp, pimbackup and other useful utilities,
+. applications added to ROM may use your configurations, customized settings, resources.
+. manual installation proces may take some time(these 23 programs, then configuration, 5 softresets...you know..), customized/automated rom may speed things up.
+. upx may be useful,
+. XIP modules may be useful(commgr can be xipped...todayagenda CAN be xipped(400 kb used mem LESS)...etc).
+.you can edit some resources to make things faster(smaller files, optimised resources - commgr, dialer gfx etc)
-.new versions of may be nightmare for some cooked in software(update problems, etc) - cab inside rom instead of oempack may help here - you can uninstall such thing, but when your card die you will know that your java/communicator/browser cab is there, ready to be installed on new card.
-.not all things can be upxed(to save space in ROM), not every program can be built into rom(i.e. gsplayer - cab only), not many can be XIPped,
-.it takes some time to build oempacks, especially with preconfigs...
of course, it's ok to keep soft on card, especially that not needs installation - emulators, unpacked apps, etc..but when card dies..
sorry for poor english..just my 3 cents.
it is not important, if you will just add tcpmp, or whole swarm of apps, will be there always ready to run.

Would agree
Think, I would also go with the idea of including all the necessary softwares in the ROM package...will help while doing Hard Reset...
A Question: Are we going to see your ROM here???

mikaarce said:
as i understand it, the cooks are maximizing the apps in their rom because you will not be able to use the part wherein there is no apps included, unless you make it into more pagepool, but this will come with a price, a faster rom with more battery drain and less program mem
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Any evidence that larger pagepool means more battery drain ? Thanks...

Miraco said:
Any evidence that larger pagepool means more battery drain ? Thanks...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
the problem with the batterydraining is with this programs that stay resident
and take some processing time.
also a common problem is a corrupt extended rom due to wrong settings or
changed pagepool and such. Hardreset sometimes help but it wont set things
right if they werent so in the first place.
having bad reception also drains a lot battery as it needs to search over and
over thus keeping the antenna activated. (for example look at the
batterydrain when making a call.)
Leaving the backlight on.
the bluetoothstack when its on takes also a lot of batterypower.
in combination with wifi it will have a huge drain.

PDA Set up for Newbies

There are a lot of great things on this web site, but not much for the real newbie. This submission is to help newbies get up to speed. The concepts and some details here can help almost any newbie with any PDA.
I’ve worked with computers for 30 years since they were driven by “audio cassette” tapes. BUT I’m a PDA newbie! When I got my PDA, a Cingular 8525 (HTC Hermes), I compared it to my last cell phone and was amazed that it had a color screen. I had no clue how I was supposed to get it to do what I wanted it to do. Since I‘m retired, I spent long hours on many days researching, finding free software, and learning and doing things to make it what I wanted. These are the results. I’m not going to go into all the research, just give you the findings and actions. Read your manual or download one from the Internet to learn the very basics of your phone. Try every possible button, menu and program to see what they do. Don‘t be afraid to crash your PDA at this point so long as you know how to do a Hard Reset (HR). I’m not going to give keystrokes on how to find the following data. Just don’t transfer important information to the PDA until later.
First, decide what you need to do versus what you would like it to do. Here’s what I wanted. I travel a lot and wanted a mini computer I could do MS Office work on, access the Internet to take care of business, call home on, find my way in strange locations, and enjoy a little. IOW, do what my desktop does except I wanted to carry it in my pocket.
One thing that will happen while you are doing all the following is that many of the PDA programs will show up as installations in your “Add/Remove Program” program in your Control Panel on your desktop. Since this includes entries going into your registry, it can lead to different problems. I use Norton Ghost back up to totally back up my system drive, let things happen as they will, then restore it back to normal when I’m all done. Then I install only ActiveSync, MyMobiler and Remote Keyboard plus a few others than I want to sync with when I connect occasionally. You should strongly consider doing this yourself.
First, I found out what I had - A full install of WM6 with several programs I really didn’t want and a real problem when I began loading program I wanted - not enough memory. The device says I have 64 Mb of RAM and 128 Mb of Flash memory (this is the “hard disk” storage available). When I looked at memory allocation it said:
Storage Program
Total 44.77 48.77
In Use 10.96 23.55
Free 33.81 25.20
This means out of the 128 Mb of storage 44.77 + 48.77 = 93.54 Mb were available and being used. Where’s the rest? Being taken up by the Extended ROM which holds the installation and system programs you are safer NOT playing with unless you know how to - like RegEdit, Task Manager (not Task), etc. These are system “hidden” files you can play with and really screw up your PDA. With “AdvancedConfiguration” you can set Extended ROM to be read and used. Also, almost ½ of the total available area set aside for Program installation on the hard disk was already used. I tried and found I could NOT delete or move any of the originally loaded files in “Windows” folder. We’re stuck with the bloat.
I haven’t found out for sure but (someone correct me here, please) the Storage seems to be used for a dedicated operating Page File or programs loaded into active operating memory type of work based on how many running programs you have running right now and the Program refers to the actual Flash (hard disk) space set aside for installations. Think of your desktop as having only a 50 Mb hard disk and having to have the operating system, Page File and programs plus storage on it. Doesn’t leave much.
A neat little trick I learned is that when you do a HR and are reinstalling the OS it pauses for 3 seconds with an explanation screen at one point before going on to install other proprietary programs (some of which were junk to me). If you want to know what was different, back up all your personal data and do a HR and let it run fully. Check all the Settings and Programs screens to write down what you have. Do it again but push the Soft Reset (SR) pin in the hole when it gets to that 3 second pause and let it reboot. It will stop the extended installation. When you do this you will find the numbers are now:
Storage Program
Total 44.77 48.77
In Use 5.77 22.85
Free 39.00 25.92
IOW, you cut your Page File use (running programs loaded into memory) by ½ but you didn’t really change what was taking up your Flash memory. That’s because during the install every program is loaded into the “Windows” directory and then installed or not. If not installed, they just sit there and can’t be deleted or moved.
In order to change this memory bloat I had to find a different way. The only way I could find was to “cook” my phone and hope it didn’t turn into a “brick” to throw away or send back to the factory for a fix. I began looking at what was available. Keep in mind that I had written down ALL the programs installed by WM6 full and WM6 Lite (fast SR at 3 second screen). I had decided what I would like to have and what I didn’t need or want. This is important to do before this next step.
I am very experienced at installing lots of OSs over the years from CP/M (really, really old), DOS, Windows XT up to Windows XP (very different from XT) and tweaking the hell out of them. Doing it on the PDA had me a little concerned because it’s so tiny and different (so what, right?). I learned that it really is about the same as my desktop in setup and running. The first time I did it, I was worried and then surprised at how easy and straight forward it was. If you are concerned about this step and have this particular PDA, go to http://www.america.htc.com/support/8525/software-downloads.html , download the most current OS and do an install from your desktop to PDA with it. If your phone bricks send it to the factory, it’s their system. Once you’ve done it, it’s much less worrying. If you have a different phone do a little Google research and/or read more on this forum for your particular phone.
I researched different ROM cooks to see what they had compared to what I wanted. I came up with Shamanix and K-Flex as most likely for me. Their installs went just as easily and safely as the WM6 did. Don’t look at just the pretty colors, look at what programs they have and how they function doing what you want. Do some “WM6 FREE SOFTWARE” Google searches to find out what is available out there and what you can get it to do. Here are the test results with both Full install and Lite install:
Shamanix K-Flex
Full Lite Full Lite
Total 66.18 50.77 66.18 50.77 66.80 44.77 66.80 44.77
In Use 2.66 21.00 2.63 18.77 9.11 28.52 2.78 23.19
Free 63.52 29.77 63.55 31.99 57.69 20.25 64.01 25.70
FIRST - Now 66.18 + 50.77 = 110.95 for Shamanix and 66.80 + 44.77 = 111.57 for K-Flex versus only 93.54 Mb for WM6. Suddenly the OS installation files squeezed out an extra 18 Mb of Flash storage for other things. That’s a LOT when many programs average as little as 200 Kb (fit 90 in that free space). Next, K-Flex used almost as much Flash (hard disk) storage as WM6 but Shamanix only used 18.77 in the Lite install which freed up almost 6 Mb for more programs.
Sounds good, right? Remember, check what each OS provides, how you like the looks and what you want on you PDA. Since camera, media and online gaming usage are not important to me, Shamanix Lite is best for me. It still requires a few additional installs to replace what it doesn’t provide but that’s better than the bloat.
(PLEASE CONTINUE ON NEXT REPLY)

2nd half of first post
(Continued from beginning of thread)
Next, I bought a 2 Gb microSD card. That’s great for storage, but I want to install programs to that location, especially the ones I don’t use very often and can run slow safely (cards are much slower than RAM). Save the Flash storage for anything that needs processing speed like music, video, gaming, etc. Once you have a card installed, every time you want to install a program, it asks where to install. If you have access to ER enabled you can select from Device, Extended ROM or Storage Card. Use Storage Card as 1st, and Device 2nd. I tweak installation folders on my desktop but on the PDA you can’t. If it’s going to the Storage Card it will create the proper folder automatically like most Windows installations do in Program Files. Also, if you already have it loaded, it will tell you it must uninstall the prior one before it can install the new one. Actually, they’ve made PDA pretty idiot proof which is a good thing.
Before I go any further, here are two almost mandatory FREE programs you MUST HAVE!!!! MyMobiler and Remote Keyboard can be found many places. Both will allow you to connect your PDA to your desktop with a USB cable and set your PDA aside while you do everything on your desktop. It gives you a copy of the PDA screen on your monitor you can zoom plus use the normal mouse and keyboard on so long as the mouse is hovering over the PDA screen. Sooooo muchchch eeesieeer!!!!!!! In fact, it should be your first two installs before anything else!
Here’s a helpful hit on installing programs. Many times an installation program will come as a .exe file you run from your desktop. What it usually does is extract and create a folder that will hold a couple of files ending in .CAB. Then it will copy the appropriate .CAB to your mobile device. Then it will run the .CAB for installation. The .CAB is the important part. All the rest essentially sets up your desktop to run the .CAB on your PDA. Many times the installation program will be a .ZIP, .RAR, or other compressed file or even a .CAB file. If it’s a compressed file, uncompress it and look for the .CAB. When looking at .CAB files you will often find several with identical names except for the few letters just before the “.CAB”. These are the same but designed for different types of operating systems. I’m sorry I can’t rediscover the link for the details (maybe someone reading this will give us the link later) but I did learn that those with .ARM, .ARM4, Xscale, or rarely PXA, OMAP, or Samsung S3C24xx are for the newer PDAs running WM5 or WM6. Every PPC2000-2003 and every smartphone on the market (at least that I know of) is an ARM device. The others are for older system. If in doubt, try to run each one. The ones that are incorrect will NOT install. Only the one that IS correct will. From then on you will know which type to copy to your PDA. Once copied to a named folder (I use “Install CABs”) on the Storage Card, they can be simply clicked on at any time and installed. To regain memory or stop using it, use “Remove Programs” in Settings/System to get rid of them. You can reinstall anytime later.
One thing I did was move almost all of the CAB files for the programs I wanted to a designated folder on the Storage Card. One suggestion from others is to rename each CAB with a “#-“ in front of the name with the number corresponding to importance of that CAB to you. That way, when you do a reinstall, or HR, out in the field, your CABs are with you and you can see which ones should be loaded first. This works well if there is some conflict with installs one after another. Personally, I haven’t run into that so I rename them to a shorter name that identifies what it is (e.g. in35prtv33.24.arm4.cab becomes PocketPool.cab). The next thing I do is use the settings or preferences in each program to make a folder on the Storage Card the default folder - like My Documents, Favorites, Downloads, etc. Now they won’t be lost if I have to HR the PDA.
Along with the information in the above paragraphs, I do something else because I’m gone when I’m most using my PDA. On the Storage Card (a copy on each card I have) is the installed programs in the normal “Program” folder which are my operating files and a copy of the “Install CABs” folder which also includes a backup of my Contacts. One additional item is a “Serials” folder in the “Install CABs” folder. This has a .txt file of all the registration codes I need plus copies of all the altered (cracked) files I need if I have to reinstall anything on the road. So long as I can Hard Reset my phone, I can reinstall everything back to normal and continue as I need. Since I have several Storage Cards this is on each card. The balance of the Storage cards will have different eBooks, music, DVDs, etc. that don’t all fit on one card. That way, I have several backups of critical files plus entertainment as needed. I use a small dot of different colored paint on the bottom edge of each card so I can tell which card is in the phone at any time.
With all the above, if my PDA freezes or stops working properly, the universal fix-it is to do a Hard Reset. If that doesn’t work, I’m SOL. If it does I’m in business. All I do is a HR (Lite) and soft reset at the 3 second warning. Then I go back into my Storage Card and reinstall those programs I need to get back to where I can work.
Once you have things loaded and working properly, you can consider tweaking the system. During this process you may have found multiple editions of software you want to use like three different registry editors, five different tweak programs, etc. Go ahead and compare and see which ones you want and delete the rest. On a PDA it’s fairly easy. When everything is said and done, you can do a clean HR and only load those specific versions you want and have a fresh, clean, trim system to backup as your first installation process.
Finally, so you can see the results I came up with in this process, here’s a list of the programs I installed. All are on and working. None of them have to be cleared before I can have room to open another one. These are the final versions of similar programs such that there is minimal overlap but expanded utility when more than one is installed.
Sound Pocket Dictate
Mortgage CALC
WkTASK
Touch Caller
Tao Java
GSFinder+
Pocket Mechanic
Adobe Reader
ActiveX Flash 7
Sompy Media Player
enAlarmPPC
True Term Translator
TT Swedish-English
TT Spanish-English
TT Portugese-English
TT Italian-English
TT German-English
TT French-English
Town Compass US Travel Directory
Town Compass DataViewer
Tagalog for Travelers
SKTools
Paris Guide
Metro
mCity Tours
Google Maps
Flashlight Colors
UniSync
Spb Pocket Plus
tGetFile.dll
MIcrosoft .NET CF 2.0
Maufait Instafind
DinaSoft Tap Text
DinaSoft MemMaid
DinaSoft HandyMenu
CallFirewall
Tab Web Viewer (IE)
Dictionary Manager
Schap's Advanced Config 2.0
Yahtz
Warefare Incorporated
Vision Quest
Trivial Pursuit
Super Wild Wild Words
Space Adventure in Infinite Space
Smart Mahjongg
Dames are Trouble Game
Word Mojo
Ultimate Bowling Fighter
Mazera
Mars Need Cows
Hellfire
Bzzz
Realms
1001 Crossword Puzzle
Xplodus
Xonix
Pocket Spades
Patience
JumpyBall
Hot Death Uno
Advanced Lines
Here are my original results on memory usage.
Storage Program
Total 44.77 48.77
In Use 5.77 22.85
Free 39.00 25.92
Here are the final results
Storage Program
Total 66.18 50.77
In Use 36.55 25.77
Free 29.63 25.00
In other words, by opening and freeing the Extended ROM, Putting as much on the Storage Card as possible and applying a few tweaks for caching and folder locations, I still have almost as much of both Storage and Program Memory as I started with to run almost anything without having to remove and reinstall programs on the fly.
It’s a lot easier than you think and idiot proof in most cases. Don’t fear playing with your PDA and making it what you want. Have fun and ENJOY!
Dr. Ken Rich

OS Maintenance

I have noticed that over certain period the performance of my Kaiser degrades. Considering that it works great even after I install additional software and configure it to sync with exchange 2007, over time it start to act flaky. Could somebody tell me what causes this and how to resolve it?
My guess is it has to do with temporary and cache file used by different applications and os. If so, what should I be getting rid of?
Thanks in advance

rgelfand said:
I have noticed that over certain period the performance of my Kaiser degrades. Considering that it works great even after I install additional software and configure it to sync with exchange 2007, over time it start to act flaky. Could somebody tell me what causes this and how to resolve it?
My guess is it has to do with temporary and cache file used by different applications and os. If so, what should I be getting rid of?
Thanks in advance
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
u need to use some "cleaning tools" like sktools or memmaid. There are options to clear some files(temp. internet, ...) and to free up your ram. Thats the main problem, your ram memory is decreasing over time and the phone is acting slover. To make it quicker is to make softreset after some time or use this tools and free up your ram.

You also can use some tools (apps) which will automatically and periodically do the soft-reset for you,
e.g. during the night your device is unused etc...

You can use tools, I like Sk Tools as it is the most comprehensive tool period. But there are many things you can do manually as well.
Delete the files in: \Application Data\Volatile, also in: \Windows\Profiles\Guest\Cookies; History; & Temporary Internet Files; as well as files in \temp.

GSLEON3 said:
You can use tools, I like Sk Tools as it is the most comprehensive tool period. But there are many things you can do manually as well.
Delete the files in: \Application Data\Volatile, also in: \Windows\Profiles\Guest\Cookies; History; & Temporary Internet Files; as well as files in \temp.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have to agree with GSLEON3. SKtools was by far the best piece of software I have purchased for my kaiser. It allows easy cleaning, sip changes, today changes, registry editor, and nearly any tool or tweak you can think of.
I suggest you check out their trial and see what you think.

WCELOAD.exe during customization

Hi,
I am using in my ROM the normal process to start the customization after burning the ROM.
File \OEM\OperatorPKG\mxipupdate_zzPIED_101.provxml:
<wap-provisioningdoc>
<characteristic type="Registry">
<characteristic type="HKLM\Comm" >
<parm name="AutoRunCFG" value="\windows\config_operator.txt" datatype="string" />
<parm name="AutoRun" value="\windows\AutoRun.exe" datatype="string" />
</characteristic>
</characteristic>
</wap-provisioningdoc>
In my config_operator.txt I am installing some CABs - which works fine.
My idea was to delete all CABs after installation automatically. For that reason I have changed a *.rgu under \SYS\Shell:
from
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\cabfile\Shell\Open\Command]
@="wceload.exe \"%1\" /delete 1"
to
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\cabfile\Shell\Open\Command]
@="wceload.exe \"%1\" /nodelete"
In normal cases @="wceload.exe \"%1\" /delete 1" makes sure the a CAB will be deleted after installation.
If I install a CAB after customization the CAB is gone - so far so good - means the entry in the registry is fine.
Unfortunately, during the customization (which works fine) the CABs are still under \windows. It seems that the above change does not work with customization.
Question:
Does the autorun process (during the customization) after burning a ROM also using the wceload.exe to install a CAB ?
Regards
kuzco1

I was going to ask a very similar question, but I think I'll just bump yours instead

'Burn' the ROM
Yes, really like it rather than 'flash'.
If u want the cab deleted after autorun, just remove the read-only attributes & vice-versa. (if cabs in SD)
/nodelete switch wont work as it still delete the cab if the cab is not with read-only attr.
i think autorun doesnt use wceload but let the experts confirm it first. Just my guess.

So you want to delete a file from the ROM during customization (wont work) or off the MicroSD (would work), however I don't think I would include something from the SD in the customization XML I would use an auto installer first.
Thanks

Wait, I'm sorry, but it looks like you've changed the registry to NOT delete the .cab

mbarvian said:
Wait, I'm sorry, but it looks like you've changed the registry to NOT delete the .cab
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Heh...yeah I think he got those switched.
But, the point is.. when you cook a ROM, everything in that ROM gets flashed to the read-only part of your device's memory. It can't be deleted...through any (normal) means.
This is one of the reasons some people like lite-ROMS...because ROMs that have alot of stuff in them just can't have their contents manually deleted.
With the Kasier memory map at least there is no way to do this.
As suggested, you could have those CABs on the storage card, but that wouldn't be advised as those might not be present.

bengalih said:
Heh...yeah I think he got those switched.
But, the point is.. when you cook a ROM, everything in that ROM gets flashed to the read-only part of your device's memory. It can't be deleted...through any (normal) means.
This is one of the reasons some people like lite-ROMS...because ROMs that have alot of stuff in them just can't have their contents manually deleted.
With the Kasier memory map at least there is no way to do this.
As suggested, you could have those CABs on the storage card, but that wouldn't be advised as those might not be present.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OK thanks for that useful info bengalih
hmm, so I guess the best thing to do would be either cook it in, or go for a light approach. However, if going with the light approach, wouldn't the device perform worse than if the .cabs were cooked in an OEM package?

mbarvian said:
OK thanks for that useful info bengalih
hmm, so I guess the best thing to do would be either cook it in, or go for a light approach. However, if going with the light approach, wouldn't the device perform worse than if the .cabs were cooked in an OEM package?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As far as I know... the memory in the Kaiser is the same type, and is just separated into the read-only portion (where the ROM is flashed to), and the writable portion (where you can install content into).
This has been mentioned many times, and I don't think anyone has gotten any more conclusive than I had in some earlier threads about memory types on the kasier.
So, no... if you install App1.exe by cooking into your ROM, vs. installing it afterwards, there shouldn't be a difference in the speed. Obviously, if you install it to your storage card it will be slower.
I have always been a proponent of lighter ROMS, the reason being is not that I don't want a lot of stuff...I generally do load a lot.. But, the problem is it can't be removed.
So, if you cook in an app into your ROM, and that app is then updated you have to install the updated versoin without removing the original (which is cooked in and read-only). To make it worse, quite a few apps install things in the \Windows directory and won't even allow you to upgrade because it can't overwrite itself (or be installed to an alternate location).
My advice, especially if cooking for yourself is to cook in any core apps that are unlikely to get updated (like Office, basic games, etc.). Just cook in the files (e.g OEM packages) and not the CABs themselves.
Any other apps that you see as needing updates I would install separately, unless you want to be recooking the ROM every time you want to update them.

bengalih said:
As far as I know... the memory in the Kaiser is the same type, and is just separated into the read-only portion (where the ROM is flashed to), and the writable portion (where you can install content into).
This has been mentioned many times, and I don't think anyone has gotten any more conclusive than I had in some earlier threads about memory types on the kasier.
So, no... if you install App1.exe by cooking into your ROM, vs. installing it afterwards, there shouldn't be a difference in the speed. Obviously, if you install it to your storage card it will be slower.
I have always been a proponent of lighter ROMS, the reason being is not that I don't want a lot of stuff...I generally do load a lot.. But, the problem is it can't be removed.
So, if you cook in an app into your ROM, and that app is then updated you have to install the updated versoin without removing the original (which is cooked in and read-only). To make it worse, quite a few apps install things in the \Windows directory and won't even allow you to upgrade because it can't overwrite itself (or be installed to an alternate location).
My advice, especially if cooking for yourself is to cook in any core apps that are unlikely to get updated (like Office, basic games, etc.). Just cook in the files (e.g OEM packages) and not the CABs themselves.
Any other apps that you see as needing updates I would install separately, unless you want to be recooking the ROM every time you want to update them.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
wow, another good post
that is basically what I am trying to accomplish. I have my registry tweaks, files that don't get updated (Office, etc.) cooked in, but for some reason I cannot change the look of the dialer (I wanted to use poorlyduck's diamond dialer) by converting it to an OEM package with Ervius' Package Creator. Same with the comm manager skin. Therfore, I have resorted to installing these two through their default cabinet files during initial customization.
also, here's some very nice posts by duttythroy in the diamond rom development concerning this topic:
duttythroy said:
Just a tip, A clean rom is very good if you going to stick with what you got in the rom and possible a few otther apps by cabs, If your going to installed the same apps which are in a full rom then the clean rom with those apps in will make you lose valuable storage space rather than them cooked in and sometimes device will start to feel sluggish but it all depends on how many cabs youre going to re-install.
TIps , there are certain apps which are cooked in doesnt take up any storage space but if install by cab you will then use up valuable space.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
duttythroy said:
bascally there some programs which ar cooked in for e.g Remote desktop, If cook this in its 1.45mb I think, I will only use up only about .45mb and save 1mb of storage space, If i install this by cab I would use up all of the 1.45mb storage space
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

mbarvian said:
wow, another good post
....
also, here's some very nice posts by duttythroy in the diamond rom development concerning this topic:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well dutty is by far a better cook than I... I'll stick to the scripting. I understand the basics of cooking...I just don't have the temperment for it.
However, I don't fully agree with all those points. I think his conclusions are correct, but I don't think the reasoning behind them are.
First off with space. Windows machines (be they PCs or WM devices) are basically made up of two things. File system and Registry (the registry just being a special file on the system). If I remove 2MB worth of an app from a ROM before I cook it, and then create a .CAB that contains those 2MB of files, the same amount of space is going to be taken up.
I have ripped quite a few apps to compile CABS from ROMs, and I know this to be the case.
So, in theory there is no reason why an app that is cooked into the phone would take up any less space than a .CAB. The only additional thing that the .CAB would create is a registry entry that the .CAB is installed.
In practice however, dutty may be correct. Because it is very difficult to figure out where everything is and strip it properly from a ROM. So, you might think you ripped out App1, but in reality you left a couple of extra files in the Windows directory, or a few registry keys, etc. Generally if there is a space discepancy beyond a very small amount (a couple reg entries perhaps) then the cook doing the cleaning or the person packaging the CAB probably weren't as thorough as they could be.
Another possibility is that some apps that may reside in the windows directory on a loaded ROM share some common files. If you attempt to install this via CAB to a separate directory, you may need to duplicate some files. But again, this is how you go about the work, so if done right and clean the space difference should be negligible.
The other point regarding speed of cooked in vs. installed. I don't think things are going to get sluggish one way or the other. Again, this is in theory. In practice, cooks often mess things up when they are in there tinkering with a ROM. If I rip out AppA and make a CAB out of it and then say the CAB performs sluggishly whereas it was fine when it was cooked in...well then the CAB probably was ripped wrong!
This is very much not an science but an art (sometimes to my dismay!). And there definitely isn't alot of controlled scientific basis for alot of what floats around out here.
Again, in practice many of these issues happen, so I think dutty's points are valid...but I think they can be avoided with precision work.
EDIT: I suppose some greater space savings could be had if the cooked in apps had some sort of memory compression. Although as far as I know this doesn't exist on the Kaiser. And, even if they were saving space due to compression in the memory, that would only serve to decrease performance (higher compression = slower performance).

bengalih said:
So, in theory there is no reason why an app that is cooked into the phone would take up any less space than a .CAB. The only additional thing that the .CAB would create is a registry entry that the .CAB is installed.
In practice however, dutty may be correct. Because it is very difficult to figure out where everything is and strip it properly from a ROM. So, you might think you ripped out App1, but in reality you left a couple of extra files in the Windows directory, or a few registry keys, etc. Generally if there is a space discepancy beyond a very small amount (a couple reg entries perhaps) then the cook doing the cleaning or the person packaging the CAB probably weren't as thorough as they could be.
Another possibility is that some apps that may reside in the windows directory on a loaded ROM share some common files. If you attempt to install this via CAB to a separate directory, you may need to duplicate some files. But again, this is how you go about the work, so if done right and clean the space difference should be negligible.
The other poing regarding speed of cooked in vs. installed. I don't think things are going to get sluggish one way or the other. Again, this is in theory. In practice, cooks often mess things up when they are in there tinkering with a ROM. If I rip out AppA and make a CAB out of it and then say the CAB performs sluggishly whereas it was fine when it was cooked in...well then the CAB probably was ripped wrong!
This is very much not an science but an art (sometimes to my dismay!). And there definitely isn't alot of controlled scientific basis for alot of what floats around out here.
Again, in practice many of these issues happen, so I think dutty's points are valid...but I think they can be avoided with precision work.
EDIT: I suppose some greater space savings could be had if the cooked in apps had some sort of memory compression. Although as far as I know this doesn't exist on the Kaiser. And, even if they were saving space due to compression in the memory, that would only serve to decrease performance (higher compression = slower performance).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
can't argue with this post

mbarvian said:
Wait, I'm sorry, but it looks like you've changed the registry to NOT delete the .cab
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
hi,
yes you are right .. I have done the other wy. My fault in my first post. I have changed /nodelete to /delete.
But anyway, I understood that it is not possible to delete cabs during customization.
Many thanks to all
kuzco1

"Core.xxx" files in /data/btips

I understand this directory has something to do with Bluetooth.
There are ten ~6.7 MB files in that directory with names like core.872 and core.19735.
I did a nandroid backup and then removed them. Everything seems to be OK, but I don't use BT for anything.
Any idea what these are? Could this be related to the BT ROM leak?

jonnythan said:
I understand this directory has something to do with Bluetooth.
There are ten ~6.7 MB files in that directory with names like core.872 and core.19735.
I did a nandroid backup and then removed them. Everything seems to be OK, but I don't use BT for anything.
Any idea what these are? Could this be related to the BT ROM leak?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I wish people wouldn't call it a "ROM leak"... it just sounds so silly. ROMs don't leak and the ROM in the Hero isn't leaking. *SOMETHING* is just occupying data space.
Having said that... those are core dumps. Weird, I'd have expected Android to disable core dumps. The phone doesn't have file(1), so it's a little difficult to tell what dumped, but the number in the extension is the PID of the faulting process.
Mine doesn't have any, or I'd yank one over to my desktop and investigate it.
They *are* taking up space in /data, which is going to make the phone look like it has less storage space available (the number in the Settings app will go down). Erase them, they're useless to you.
It might be interesting to search the whole phone with find(1)... that at least is there (or maybe it's in the busybox MoDaCo installs ^_^) and see if there are any other dump files hanging around.

posguy99 said:
I wish people wouldn't call it a "ROM leak"... it just sounds so silly. ROMs don't leak and the ROM in the Hero isn't leaking. *SOMETHING* is just occupying data space.
Having said that... those are core dumps. Weird, I'd have expected Android to disable core dumps. The phone doesn't have file(1), so it's a little difficult to tell what dumped, but the number in the extension is the PID of the faulting process.
Mine doesn't have any, or I'd yank one over to my desktop and investigate it.
They *are* taking up space in /data, which is going to make the phone look like it has less storage space available (the number in the Settings app will go down). Erase them, they're useless to you.
It might be interesting to search the whole phone with find(1)... that at least is there (or maybe it's in the busybox MoDaCo installs ^_^) and see if there are any other dump files hanging around.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Great info, thanks. I wonder if they're related to bluetooth crashes since they're in the btips directory?
I searched for other files named core* but nothing looks like a core dump. There's a core.xml and a bunch of "coredump_filter" in proc directories and that's about it.
I think leak is an appropriate term though. Applications that have memory leaks consume memory that they can't release. This is similar, just with the onboard flash.

I probably know the answer already but hoping...is there anyway to delete these core dump files in the btips folder without having to root the phone? Could an app or script on non-rooted device be able to just delete those files? I'm surprised there's no way through the phone to clear system dumps/cache, etc.
Looking for a way since a lot of people have this problem but not many will be comfortable rooting.