Database Info

[GUIDE] How to customize a ROM

I've been getting a lot of messages asking, 'How do you create ROM's?' Well, I got so many I decided to make this. This process is called cooking a ROM.
The first thing you have to do is get a ROM that's already been created and signed that you'd like to change around. Make sure it's a signed update.zip. Then, you unzip the rom, and you should see directories, like data/ and system/. If you want to add/remove applications in the ROM, you would goto data/app/. In there you will find the apk's of files that will be pre-installed on the ROM. You can add or remove the apk's there. Another place for the apk's is in /system/app. You really shouldn't put new apk's in here, but you can remove the system apk's. So, if you wanted to remove Sprint TV, delete Sprint_tv.apk. Also, the apk's can be treated as zip's; you can unzip them and look inside, and if you wanted to, change around the icon's and stuff like that. After you are done changing around the ROM, you might want to edit the build.prop (This part is optional!) You would find it in system/build.prop. Look for a line that says 'ro.build.description='. You can edit that with the name of your ROM. When your all done, you would zip it all back up, and sign the update.zip. On windows, this is pretty easy. Download flipz pre-kitchen, and use a setting in tools called something like sign apk/update.zip. Navigate to where you put your rom, and sign it. Then, your rom should be ready to flash.
This is also a good post to read:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=551711
Notes:
*DO NOT* TRY TO FLASH A GSM ROM TO A CDMA HERO!
If you edited a apk, make sure to sign it before zipping it and signing the update.zip.
If you have any problems, I created a IRC channel for this, so I can give live support:
server: irc.bikcmp.info port 6667 (port 6670 for SSL)
channel #hero-cdma
If you don't have a IRC client, use mibbit:
http://widget.mibbit.com/?server=irc.bikcmp.info&channel=%23hero-cdma

Told ya! But, seriously -- thanks a whole hell of a lot, this is very much needed!!

pseudoremora said:
Told ya! But, seriously -- thanks a whole hell of a lot, this is very much needed!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You're welcome! If you have any problems, get me on IRC.

This should be a Sticky!!! Was thinking about doing it but not best speller.......

Thanks for the guide, what I really like is the irc, I think we should have had one of these up for awhile now, it would help keep the clutter in the forums down.

theoottesen said:
Thanks for the guide, what I really like is the irc, I think we should have had one of these up for awhile now, it would help keep the clutter in the forums down.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What's even better is it's being DDoSed. . Anyone got a spare server? LOL.
But seriously, DDoS'es ARE NOT COOL.

Alright, I've got my ROM made and everything -- signed it as well. I put it on my SD Card, and its flashes successfully -- but now I'm stuck at the HTC Screen?
I took the battery out; went back into recovery and Wiped and formatted my SD Card, and flashed again (successful), but still stuck on HTC screen?
Any ideas?

bikcmp said:
What's even better is it's being DDoSed. . Anyone got a spare server? LOL.
But seriously, DDoS'es ARE NOT COOL.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think this is crazy awesome to give a small how to on 'cooking' ROMS....I've always been interested! However what are DDoS'es....if it's all good to ask?
I don't have linux on my windows laptop...but do I need to get a dual boot/OS on my laptop to get this running. Last I knew, Linux and Windows were not friends...?

pseudoremora said:
Alright, I've got my ROM made and everything -- signed it as well. I put it on my SD Card, and its flashes successfully -- but now I'm stuck at the HTC Screen?
I took the battery out; went back into recovery and Wiped and formatted my SD Card, and flashed again (successful), but still stuck on HTC screen?
Any ideas?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What ROM did you start with...? Did you do all kinds of crazy stuff to it? I found a ROM, downloaded it and opened it....saw a bunch of stuff in there that the OP described. Not quite sure what is game to pull and what is cool to add...?

Konikub said:
What ROM did you start with...? Did you do all kinds of crazy stuff to it? I found a ROM, downloaded it and opened it....saw a bunch of stuff in there that the OP described. Not quite sure what is game to pull and what is cool to add...?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Alright -- this is what I did.
1. I made a new folder called Penguin
2. Took Gumbo1.5c and unzipped it
3. Moved all the stuff from Gumbo to Penguin
4. Began removing apps I didn't want in /system/app
5. Added some apps in /data/app
6. Added a white taskbar to its respective dir
7. Added Espresso -- again to its respective dir
8. Added the 2.1 Icons
9. SIGNED the new zipped folder (Penguin) successfully
10. Copied to SD Card
11. Flashed successfully
12. When I reboot, I stuck at the HTC Screen (I waited about 2 and half minutes)
Steps I've taken to solve:
1. Removed battery
2. Wiped
3. Formatted card
4. Flashed again
5. Stuck again at HTC (again 2 minutes or so, until removing battery again)
5. Stuck again

Konikub said:
I think this is crazy awesome to give a small how to on 'cooking' ROMS....I've always been interested! However what are DDoS'es....if it's all good to ask?
I don't have linux on my windows laptop...but do I need to get a dual boot/OS on my laptop to get this running. Last I knew, Linux and Windows were not friends...?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
DDoS is a denial of service attack. They are attacking my server and also my home network. I've got a lot of it cleared out, but still a lot of IP's doing it. Also, try Wubi for that Linux and windows issue.

Should you have waited longer than 2 and a half mins? I flashed Godzson Dialer and rebooted and it took 5 or 6 mins to boot, and when it did...I was happy.
Not sure if you took too much out or added something you shouldn't have, or just perhaps didn't wait long enough for it to boot.
...OH Wait, you mean that HTC symbol at the very begining..........gotcha now! I at least was on the nexus bootscreen when I waited.
Hope you get an awnser soon, I am looking forward to playing around and perhaps cooking up something good of my own

Konikub said:
Should you have waited longer than 2 and a half mins? I flashed Godzson Dialer and rebooted and it took 5 or 6 mins to boot, and when it did...I was happy.
Not sure if you took too much out or added something you shouldn't have, or just perhaps didn't wait long enough for it to boot.
...OH Wait, you mean that HTC symbol at the very begining..........gotcha now! I at least was on the nexus bootscreen when I waited.
Hope you get an awnser soon, I am looking forward to playing around and perhaps cooking up something good of my own
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Exactly what I was saying, 2 minutes isn't enough for the first boot. It takes 5 or maybe even 10!

bikcmp said:
Exactly what I was saying, 2 minutes isn't enough for the first boot. It takes 5 or maybe even 10!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well -- I've reflashed and am now playing the waiting game -- going to wait 15 minutes. Started at 2:17 (central)... we'll see in a little bit.

Here is a good list of Apps/Apks I found to help out some who don't know what to remove without causing a slew of FC's......if anyone knows of anymore that are safe, please keep this "How To" going strong!
APPS that are SAFE to remove
Question....where would the respective 'dir' be for throwing 2.1 icons into a ROM while cooking...? data/apps?
I'm honestly trying to google all my questions as well as search this forums threads....but sometimes I don't get the answer I need

Konikub said:
Here is a good list of Apps/Apks I found to help out some who don't know what to remove without causing a slew of FC's......if anyone knows of anymore that are safe, please keep this "How To" going strong!
APPS that are SAFE to remove
Question....where would the respective 'dir' be for throwing 2.1 icons into a ROM while cooking...? data/apps?
I'm honestly trying to google all my questions as well as search this forums threads....but sometimes I don't get the answer I need
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The directory that the 2.1 icons should go in is /system/app/
Lets say I want to change the Browser.apk icon. I would pull it, open it as a zip file, look for ic_laucher.png (or something of this sort) -- and replace this file with the newly created icon (has to be the SAME name as the original file), you'll copy this new "icon" into the original dir, overwriting the changes -- and that's it.
If you need some help:
This will help you changing icons:
http://forum.androidcentral.com/htc-hero-roms-hacks/6070-changing-hero-application-icons.html
ROM FAQ/Building
http://forum.androidcentral.com/hacking/6037-general-rom-faq.html
I waited 15 minutes and still nothing -- so I just did a nandroid. I'll work on it some more tomorrow.

pseudoremora said:
The directory that the 2.1 icons should go in is /system/app/
Lets say I want to change the Browser.apk icon. I would pull it, open it as a zip file, look for ic_laucher.png (or something of this sort) -- and replace this file with the newly created icon (has to be the SAME name as the original file), you'll copy this new "icon" into the original dir, overwriting the changes -- and that's it.
If you need some help:
This will help you changing icons:
http://forum.androidcentral.com/htc-hero-roms-hacks/6070-changing-hero-application-icons.html
ROM FAQ/Building
http://forum.androidcentral.com/hacking/6037-general-rom-faq.html
I waited 15 minutes and still nothing -- so I just did a nandroid. I'll work on it some more tomorrow.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Any luck...? Anyone out there having success in trying to get this to work?

pseudoremora said:
The directory that the 2.1 icons should go in is /system/app/
Lets say I want to change the Browser.apk icon. I would pull it, open it as a zip file, look for ic_laucher.png (or something of this sort) -- and replace this file with the newly created icon (has to be the SAME name as the original file), you'll copy this new "icon" into the original dir, overwriting the changes -- and that's it.
If you need some help:
This will help you changing icons:
http://forum.androidcentral.com/htc-hero-roms-hacks/6070-changing-hero-application-icons.html
ROM FAQ/Building
http://forum.androidcentral.com/hacking/6037-general-rom-faq.html
I waited 15 minutes and still nothing -- so I just did a nandroid. I'll work on it some more tomorrow.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Have you tried just opening the zip,editing the name and files inside the zip,then resign it an flash. I ran into problems when I tried to take the files out and make my own.

[email protected] said:
Have you tried just opening the zip,editing the name and files inside the zip,then resign it an flash. I ran into problems when I tried to take the files out and make my own.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What files exactly are you saying I should edit? I'm up for any ideas -- I'm definitely going to get this to work, I want to contribute damn it!!

I just downloaded a ROM and took some apks that were on the "SAFE" list to remove from the link in the above post. Replaced some apk files with the 2.1 icons....using the same name as the ones I replaces (so I'm not 'adding' anything new)
Renaming my ROM and then zipping it up to flash. (doing it now, and if that works....then I will play with it a little more and see how far I can get until it does not boot)
HOPEFULLY this boot with what I've just done....lol. I should, I've done nothing really...

Apk porting (specifically motoblur)

I want to play around with Android and see if I can port apks.
I was always curious about motoblur and I want to try it (I have the droidx motoblur). I tried installing BlurHome.apk on an Evo using adb and logcat and it says I am missing the "xyz library" so I look in the framework and found the xyz.jar fill and pushed it to my phone. Then I did a dalvik wipe and a reboot. When I watch the reboot on logcat I see it says it is loading the "xyz.jar" file but when I try and install the apk again, it tells me it can't find "xyz library"
I used apktool to decrypt it and look at the manifest and found a library use tag telling me the xyz.jar is needed. I also see a bunch of permissions pulled from apks I do no hqve installed. Do I need to worry about those too. I know the program with crash when trying to access them, but right now I just want to get it installed to see if it will work.
Sorry I called the library xyz, I'm trying this on my phone.
Any help pointing mie to an article, guide or tutorial about porting or frameworks would be appreciated. I'll end up putting something nice together if I ever figure it out to make it easier for others to figure this out too, or at least understand what is going on when they install a ported apk.

I think I'm on the right path here. I just opened the com.motorola.blur.library.utilities.jar file from the framework (the one that it said didn't exist), copied all the code to the BlurHome.apk and rebuilt it. It installed, but didnt appear in the phone or the app drawer. Then I pushed it to the system/app folder and it force closes on start up! (yay in the right direction)
I wish I could just use the framework.jar's but not sure how to get those to work. There are a few things referenced in the com.motorola.blur.library.utilities.jar that are in other com.motorola.blur.*.jar's so i need to go digging and try to inject those aswell.

Did you have any luck?

Sounds promising how is it going?

trimeijer said:
I think I'm on the right path here. I just opened the com.motorola.blur.library.utilities.jar file from the framework (the one that it said didn't exist), copied all the code to the BlurHome.apk and rebuilt it. It installed, but didnt appear in the phone or the app drawer. Then I pushed it to the system/app folder and it force closes on start up! (yay in the right direction)
I wish I could just use the framework.jar's but not sure how to get those to work. There are a few things referenced in the com.motorola.blur.library.utilities.jar that are in other com.motorola.blur.*.jar's so i need to go digging and try to inject those aswell.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi, how have you and others been getting on? I'm on that trail myself...either some apps won't appear after installing, or force close.

Gee. I've never seen someone seek out MotoBlur before. If you get this working, I'd like to try it myself, just to see what all the fuss is about.

[Q] APK manager help

Hey i am trying to use apk manager 4.9 but it says adb cannot be found. Im thinking this is because its been moved from tools to platform-tools. Is there anyway to make it look in there instead or is there a different solution?
Ive tried a lot of different ways to sign the apps but I cant get the app to install after i do it.
Thanks.

Copy the contents of platform-tools to tools.

worked up till a point
thanks that works. although once i get the app installed it closes (says it has stopped working).. have you had success modding apps? all i changed was one image slightly and saved it as the exact same name ect.

edit: im a retard. ignore this post

How to hack the Home Screen Tips Widget?

How do we hack the Home Screen Tips Widget?
There seems to be one included with a few roms. I'd like to be able to change it so that I can use it to learn Japanese words. Is it just a question of editing an xml file or something? Does anyone know where it is stored? If it is baked in a rom, is it therefore impossible to edit?
Thanks.

Decompile the apk, and inside the /res/values/ directory look at the arrays.xml file
CM source -> HERE

Thanks a lot!
I'll get to it.

I'm unable to get it to work at the moment. I've been following this video tutorial too. Are there any obvious things I could be doing wrong please?
I can decompile the apk and rebuild it after changing it. The apk will run but fail to install. Or if I install it in a zip file and via Recovery it seems to install but doesn't show up in System/Apps. (I'll try pushing it with adb)
How do we disable verification? (10:40)
(I'm using CM7 7.02)
Thanks for any help.

Grant Barker said:
I'm unable to get it to work at the moment. I've been following this video tutorial too. Are there any obvious things I could be doing wrong please?
I can decompile the apk and rebuild it after changing it. The apk will run but fail to install. Or if I install it in a zip file and via Recovery it seems to install but doesn't show up in System/Apps. (I'll try pushing it with adb)
How do we disable verification? (10:40)
(I'm using CM7 7.02)
Thanks for any help.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You cannot replace a "system" app with an apk which is not signed as a "system app". I had the same issue when I started fixing the DCIM incompatibility in the stock Camera app.
My question for you is: do you have the arrays.xml file already compiled to suit your needs? What phone do you have (HDPI, MDPI, LDPI)? I can make you a custom widget and send it to you.

That's very kind of you hrk.
The phone is an HTC Desire HD.
I should keep trying to learn to do it myself to be honest because I'll be changing it every couple of weeks hopefully, once I learn certain words etc.
Maybe you could talk me through the steps you take or maybe you use different methods or a different program compared to the video?
Anyway thanks for your kind offer.

Grant Barker said:
the steps you take or maybe you use different methods or a different program compared to the video?
Anyway thanks for your kind offer.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I set up a build environment (read "I can cook ROMs"). This way I can modify the original Protips project, and then build the apk with the AOSP signing key. If you are running a Stock ROM or a customROM which has not changed the signing keys (e.g.: CyanogenMod uses the same key AOSP uses), the Protips.apk will work flawlessly.
Setting up a build environment requires a bit of time and around 5 GB of hard disk, but it's something everybody can do. The beauty and winning point of Android Open Source Project.

That's great. Thanks hrk.
I'll follow your advice and set up a build environment..

hrk said:
....
Setting up a build environment requires a bit of time and around 5 GB of hard disk, but it's something everybody can do. The beauty and winning point of Android Open Source Project.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's good fun. I just finished the example project Hello World.
I'm pleased I listened to you.

Grant Barker said:
It's good fun. I just finished the example project Hello World.
I'm pleased I listened to you.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's good to hear, but when I wrote "build environment" I meant the entire platform.
With the Android SDK you can build apps, but you won't be able to properly sign them: you can have your own signature and publish them in the Market, but you can't "re-sign" system apps.
Good work!

Ah. I see what you mean.
Maybe that will be the next step in the near future.
In the meantime I'm inspired to make a similar app/widget from scratch which will do what I need..
Thanks.

Grant Barker said:
Ah. I see what you mean.
Maybe that will be the next step in the near future.
In the meantime I'm inspired to make a similar app/widget from scratch which will do what I need..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've had the same idea for a while now! That widget is pretty nice and could be transformed in something pretty cool

Hi did you manage to edit the homescreen tips widget,
I'm finding all over the internet and can't find a solution

_Sparks said:
Hi did you manage to edit the homescreen tips widget,
I'm finding all over the internet and can't find a solution
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have the same problem... im trying to hack it (changed te arrays.xml) but it still needs that damn system signing could anyone help?
Is there any other way than installing 5gb of stuff just to sign one .apk

jazux said:
I have the same problem... im trying to hack it (changed te arrays.xml) but it still needs that damn system signing could anyone help?
Is there any other way than installing 5gb of stuff just to sign one .apk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
dude could we use apk signer or any other stuff?

_Sparks said:
dude could we use apk signer or any other stuff?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think no because we need the system signing key

Any signer should work. But depending on how you edit and build the apk, you might not be able to "install" it, but have to push it instead
Sent from my HERO200 using XDA App

kyouko said:
Any signer should work. But depending on how you edit and build the apk, you might not be able to "install" it, but have to push it instead
Sent from my HERO200 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I decompiled it, replaced arrays.xml compiled it TRIED to sign but i got error "unable to sign system application" or something like that

Hmm, I'll check it out and see..once the power is back on in my area
ComEd said it could be up to two days because of the storms lol
Sent from my HERO200 using XDA App

jazux said:
I decompiled it, replaced arrays.xml compiled it TRIED to sign but i got error "unable to sign system application" or something like that
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Read my previous posts on this very topic.
You can't sign a system app without using the system key. It can't be easier than that.

Mixzing app won't open

I updated my phone to4.4.1 today and ever since I haven't been able to open my music player 'Mixzing'. When I click on the App icon it goes to a black screen momentarily then back to the home screen without starting the app (this is the only app that it happens on)
I have wiped dalvik ect and deleted any folders that have 'mixzing' on and tried re-installing but nothing has helped.
Any ideas?

anyone?

Same here
I couldn't post my question on the corresponding Dev Thread for CM11 on i9300, but found this post for Nexus 5. Unfortunately without an answer.
I have the same problem (MixZing app doesn't open) on i9300 with CM11 nightly (Android 4.4.2). On CM10.2 (Android 4.3.1) it worked fine.
Have you found an answer somewhere else?

storchp said:
I couldn't post my question on the corresponding Dev Thread for CM11 on i9300, but found this post for Nexus 5. Unfortunately without an answer.
I have the same problem (MixZing app doesn't open) on i9300 with CM11 nightly (Android 4.4.2). On CM10.2 (Android 4.3.1) it worked fine.
Have you found an answer somewhere else?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same here, no solution yet.

I made a modded version of the mixzing app to get it to launch for me:
All I did was replace the following in com.mixzing.android.SdCardHandler.getCardId()
Code:
invoke-static {v10}, Landroid/os/FileUtils;->getFatVolumeId(Ljava/lang/String;)I
move-result v4
with
Code:
const/16 v4, 0xBEEF
You should use your own random number instead of BEEF since this effectively means that you are always returning the same value for getFatVolumeId as far as the app is concerned.

Can you explain this to the developer of MixZing? So they can update the original App.
Would be nice, thanks.

storchp said:
Can you explain this to the developer of MixZing? So they can update the original App.
Would be nice, thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
They have said that they know about it. They were just taking too long for my taste, so I did it myself instead.
If you can't wait I can post my modded version if you want, but I highly recommend doing the mod yourself rather than simply trusting that my posted version does not contain any malware. It's just a good habit to get into IMO.

Never modded an App. But I'm eager to learn. Any resource (document, blogpost, etc.) I should look into?

storchp said:
Never modded an App. But I'm eager to learn. Any resource (document, blogpost, etc.) I should look into?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can technically use a combination of 7zip (or another zip utility), smali, baksmali, and signapk to do this mod, however this is not the most user friendly way to do it. I would suggest using one of the following:
Here is one way, apktool (Linux, Mac OS, Windows): http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2195680
The other is Virtuous Ten Studio (Windows Only): http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1619473
*EDIT*
It is important to note that since this is not a system apk -- I.E. one that comes with the phone -- you will have to re-sign the apk after adding, removing, or changing any of the files inside. If it were a system apk, you could place the classes.dex file directly into the apk (which is secretly a zip file) without re-signing. (VTS does this for you automatically).

Thanks, I'll check it out.

Ok, decompiled it and found the lines you mentioned in a file called SdCardHandler.smali.
Before I change it I want to understand a little bit what I'm doing.
The method getFatVolumeId() returns the Id of a given Mount Point. It's a native method call which I guess causes the trouble here.
If I change it to a static value, does it do any harm? I mean I have an internal and external SD card. Does MixZing check both?
You should use your own random number instead of BEEF
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just some hex value I can think of? e.g. AEEF, CEEF, ABCD, ...

Couldn't wait, wanted to try anyway
Did the changes, compiled a new apk, signed it, but it doesn't install :crying:
When installing via the phone itself it just tells me that the App hasn't been installed.
When installing via ADB it get an INSTALL_FAILED_SHARED_USER_INCOMPATIBLE error. Need to figure out, how to fix this.

storchp said:
Couldn't wait, wanted to try anyway
Did the changes, compiled a new apk, signed it, but it doesn't install :crying:
When installing via the phone itself it just tells me that the App hasn't been installed.
When installing via ADB it get an INSTALL_FAILED_SHARED_USER_INCOMPATIBLE error. Need to figure out, how to fix this.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The problem is that on our devices, that native method does not exist, so we just arbitrarily use a value such that it always returns the same value (I.E. always the same card) As for the error, uninstall any applications signed by the same certificate as Mixzing was or sign your modded copy with debug keys, and it should install just fine.
*edit*
Other fun values:
DEAD, F00D, B00B, BABE, C0DE.

Thanks. A little research brought me to the packages.xml file. In there I found the shared user attribute for the MixZing Upgrader App. I was not sure if I want to edit the file. But after your tip I just uninstalled the Upgrader App and I could install the modded version.
Thanks a lot

Meanwhile they have fixed the App in the store.