With so many different roms in the development section, I figured it was time to get my jump in on it. Though this is a basic, I have done a little bit of digging through many threads here, I am still wondering where the best place to start Rom Development is? I have look up a few guides, though pretty much all of them just involve the "Kitchen" which seems a bit basic. I am experience with many distros and concepts of Linux, as well as am developing on the Android Market. So I am not clueless to the entire concept.
I am just wondering where the best place to learn and start is.
Any suggestions are awesome. Thanks guys.
Related
Hopefully some of the more experienced ROM devs can comment here to bring together information for myself and others like me. After all, this is XDA-Developers.
I'm new to Android but not to Java or ROM development (played with WM for years). I'd like to help but I'm not sure from where I should start here. I've got plenty of dev experience (Linux included) and am good at debugging, so I wouldn't mind donating some time to the cause. Are there any references / articles / tutorials you would recommend for getting started with Android ROMs? Perhaps some personal recommendations as far as the best way to have your primary device double as a development device or any other related tips? I don't mind flashing the phone repeatedly to test ROMs as long as I can get back to a good backup relatively quickly without having to spend hours setting up my phone all over again. I'd love to have a stable version of Froyo for our phones and hate simply waiting / depending on others to do all the work... I'd just like to help the process along, however large or small that help may be. Thank you to anyone who can provide some useful resources, my searches seem to only uncover Android application development guides.
Update:
Decad3nce has been kind enough to compile a list of resources regarding Android ROM development which can be found here: forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=696001
(sorry, can't post direct links yet)
I'm not sure how helpful this is just yet, but there is also a thread by djunio titled "Everything You Need to Cook an EVO ROM" which contains a zip file. Inside the 300 or so MB zip file you can find all of the stock Evo img files. This thread can be found here: forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=686351
I am getting a blog set up for guides just like the one you are requesting. I will post about it when it's ready.
I am trying to figure stuff out myself...but no luck.
I mean I've gotten things to flash now, but they don't work yet
chuckhriczko said:
I am getting a blog set up for guides just like the one you are requesting. I will post about it when it's ready.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
/subscribe
Really looking forward to this. Sorry this post adds no value.
I threw together a quick little resource for anyone interested in ROM development(or just on how to mod stuff).
You can find it HERE
That's a great resource, thank you so much! This is exactly the kind of information I was looking for to help me get started on Android. I played with Windows Mobile for years, then went to the Palm Pre, and now am back to my favorite forum with Android. I can quite honestly say this is by far my favorite phone yet, and I can already tell I'm going to enjoy "playing" with the Android OS much more. Thanks again for the resources, Decad3nce.
chuckhriczko, thank you in advance for the blog as well, I'm sure it will also be a great resource and look forward to it!
GodAres said:
That's a great resource, thank you so much! This is exactly the kind of information I was looking for to help me get started on Android. I played with Windows Mobile for years, then went to the Palm Pre, and now am back to my favorite forum with Android. I can quite honestly say this is by far my favorite phone yet, and I can already tell I'm going to enjoy "playing" with the Android OS much more. Thanks again for the resources, Decad3nce.
chuckhriczko, thank you in advance for the blog as well, I'm sure it will also be a great resource and look forward to it!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not a problem, feel free to add stuff once you learn something that could be useful for other people. Everyone benefits that way.
Thank you very much. I'm new to Android and I would love to learn how make custom ROMS and remove all the crap from the Stock RUU. I dearly prefer Stock Androids directly from Google though.
Hey guys,
I realize this might not be a correct section but there's not a Q&A section on android as a whole. I've had a G1 since it's release date, and since then am now on a vibrant, so i've experienced Android for a considerable amount of time. Over this time, I've flashed a lot of roms, and used a lot of mods that come through these forums. I'd say I have well above average knowledge on android and how to utilize the devices to their fullest potential over anyone who simply buys a phone and uses it.
That said, I've become interested in taking this passion to a new level and joining app, and maybe even ROM developers in the future. Now I know there's a lot to read on these forums about particular problems and solutions, but I'm looking for direction on where I can find sources to kind of introduce me to app development and explain the Android OS on a much deeper level, whether it be a huge guide, website, whatever. I want to take this head on and not half ass so simply searching through the forums for thousands of things just doesn't seem like the most efficient way to truly understand how everything comes together as a whole on app development. Truthfully, I really don't know any details on the process of signing up etc etc. It's also not like I can look up a class to take (which I would actually prefer) so I can really get a grasp and not have to come crying to these forums every time something tedious gets in my way, ya know?
So any app devs, I'd greatly appreciate any guidance to how you got started. I'm not a total geek by nature so it's not like I really understand things that some people might call common sense about linux/android. Whether you copy and paste a link, or give me some advice, I'd greatly appreciate it. Thanks guys.
Hello Everybody
First Off... Yes im new, But im not here to just take information and leave, i really want to get into the whole "Developer" scene
YES, I've searched the forums already, but not gotten a pin point answer.
Anyway, I'm COMPLETELY new to programming, I've read around a bit, and i know i need some java knowledge to begin with? So I'm guessing that's my
So i really don't want to lean Too Much Java than needed to android development, or too less in fact.
So im looking for some links to begin with that.
Maybe i could get a step by step list of links that i should go through to begin developing applications for the android platform.
I came across this
[Sorry im not allowed to post links, but its the "Learn Java for Android Development" Series of tutorials on "Mobile tuts+"]
But it seems like its not for the beginner, but im willing to overlook that if you think its a good starting point
Thanks For taking the time to help me
Ridwan Sameer said:
Hello Everybody
First Off... Yes im new, But im not here to just take information and leave, i really want to get into the whole "Developer" scene
YES, I've searched the forums already, but not gotten a pin point answer.
Anyway, I'm COMPLETELY new to programming, I've read around a bit, and i know i need some java knowledge to begin with? So I'm guessing that's my
So i really don't want to lean Too Much Java than needed to android development, or too less in fact.
So im looking for some links to begin with that.
Maybe i could get a step by step list of links that i should go through to begin developing applications for the android platform.
I came across this
[Sorry im not allowed to post links, but its the "Learn Java for Android Development" Series of tutorials on "Mobile tuts+"]
But it seems like its not for the beginner, but im willing to overlook that if you think its a good starting point
Thanks For taking the time to help me
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Personally, I would start as simple as possible to get a feel for the whole thing. Maybe something like this: http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/android-application-development-for-dummies-cheat-.html This way you get familiar with the whole process, not just how to code.
Just my opinion. Good luck!
I did come here for the same as to be developer and here are some links to begin with the development in Android. These links will provide you insight and good basic examples and also some in-depth knowledge needed for you to develop apps for android.
http://developer.android.com/guide/basics/what-is-android.html
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=854462
http://android-java.blogspot.com/
http://www.javacodegeeks.com/2010/10/android-full-application-tutorial.html
VIDEO COURSE:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gCDoBWyJ_C4
Hope it will help you and if you feel helped then please press thanks button to me.
i want to get involved in the community and help bring great things to this device and any other that i can. i have a degree in computer information systems, do systems imaging, and know enough to get by, tweak, and customize, but linux was never taught to me . it is pretty straight forward. i understand the concept, language, and most of the commands, but i am not a programmer by trade. i do know that you don't even have to actually know a lot of languages because, in many cases, there is another program that you can tell what you want to happen and it will write the base language for you. if somebody can point me in the right direction and/or give me a task to help them with, i would love to do so.
thank you
don't mean to sound ignorant. just wanna help.
That's a fantastic attitude, and welcome to the doubleshot forums.
The MT4G Slide Compendium is a sticky at the top of general here, and is a great starting point to familiarize yourself with the doubleshot forums. It has links to a lot of the relevant threads scattered around here, as well as some explanations of terminology and so forth. It's designed to help orient you with everything we have going on here.
Here is a link to my Guide Index, which is a collection of tutorials and such i've put here and is also in my sig. The bottom of the post has links to a lot of information about the device off-site, manufacturer and so forth.
One of the best things you can do if you aren't contributing code is to contribute documentation. How to do basically anything you want to do is spread out all over XDA as a whole. If information can be referenced and concentrated here into the MT4GS sub-forums, it would make it easier for people to develop for the device.
Not having to scour XDA at large to figure out how to do something, and someone taking the time to explain how to do it here and provide links to track down more information is always helpful.
I know in searching XDA to learn how to do these things, it's been helpful for others to have been making summaries and guides on how to do them - sharing it here paves the way for others who come behind you and want to learn how to do what you're learning.
And if you aren't interested in posting guides on how to do the things you've learned, then just taking the time to answer questions people ask on the board about the device if you know the answer is a way to be helpful. The longer you hang out here, the more you learn, and the people coming behind you are curious too.
The longer you hang out here, too, you come to learn where information is and in what threads - you can direct newer people by answering questions with links to the relevant threads or posts since you already know what they are. It only takes a few minutes to track down the information if you have a good idea of where it is.
Because XDA is pretty much where we figure out a lot of the new stuff, the board grows randomly, and information gets scattered with pieces here and there in threads to solve problems and such. When people ask questions you can link to the scattered pieces and by doing so it helps index everything we are learning.
Basically, the desire to help is all that you need and these are some ways people can do so without in-depth technical knowledge. You're probably combing the boards learning things anyway, so when people have similar questions explaining what you know helps us all.
We all have different ways of learning, so sharing how you did can teach others new methods and ways of doing beyond just how to do the specific thing itself.
It sounds like you are as excited about all this as some of us are here, and with a device like the doubleshot in your hands I don't blame you.
Any questions just ask, as long as you aren't posting random questions in the dev sections it's all good.
Once again, welcome to the MT4GS forums, you'll have a blast with us here.
Edit:
Kernel stuff is in C flavor language, Android stuff itself is mostly Java, and if you don't have the program Notepad-plus-plus you should pick that up for making mostly all of your general coding edits on the computer with.
Thank you. I am excited. My first device that I toyed with was an htc leo 1024 (us), so I had an edasy entry into the world just because there are so many resources available for it. I will start by posting a couple of guides about things that I know were difficult to grasp/follow when I first started. Thank you very much for the directions and taking the time to post them and reply to me. Time to study...
Sent from my myTouch_4G_Slide using XDA App
That's fantastic.
This is my second Android device, first phone - the other one is a Nook Color.
Much like how you say having a lot of dev interest in the device you came from helped you (and man, does it ever) the advantage the Nook Color had was it's unbrickable. It boots from the MicroSD first, before internal memory, and you can run a self-contained copy of Android from the MicroSD card.
I got a chance to break it in so many different ways, (who needs a build.prop ... let's just delete that) and all I had to do was pop out the memory card and flash a fresh copy of CM7 onto it.
The internal memory is still the stock Barnes & Noble skinned operating system, hasn't been rooted or anything, yet I was still able to get the full-on Android experience in a safe play zone.
Coming to this phone, it's taught me ahead of time what I can and can't mess with before bad things start to happen, and it's a lot easier to play with this stuff if you know where the lines are. The ones you get in trouble if you cross.
It really wasn't until I got my hands on this device that I started to get into a lot of dev work on Android - but now i'm having an absolute blast with it and this device is pretty impressive.
I can't wait to read about what tricks you've picked up along the way, i'm always looking for an opportunity to be educated. Take some time and see what we've got laid out here, in some cases you may be able to add to existing threads instead of making new ones for duplicate topics.
The MT4GS is what, 6 months old now? We'll keep getting more people in here as they come to their upgrades or get warrantied up to this device. I'm eagerly awaiting more devs to end up in our corner of the forums, i'm curious to see what kind of cool things people can make the device do.
The more information we have organized and mapped out about the device and how to do things with it, the easier it gets for people who come behind because they don't have to re-invent the wheel just to get something done.
It's mind boggling to me how much i've learned in the past year here at XDA, especially in the last few months. It's all because people take the time to sit down and explain how they've done the things they've done and are excited to share their discoveries.
Having this device since before root was viable, i've watched this section of XDA grow from literally just a handful of threads into what it is now - pretty soon we'll have a majority of the resources right here for people to just show up and get work done with minimal fuss.
I know my dev time is hit or miss, sometimes I have days on end, other times not - one way i've been trying to help when i'm not around is leaving how-to's and guides behind me that people can reference while i'm gone.
There's still a whole lot that I haven't even gotten into yet, and i'm very appreciative of people taking the time to share some cool discovery or trick that's made their life a lot easier.
(sometimes I ramble a bit, especially when on boring conference calls)
I came to XDA to learn how to do some fun stuff with my Nook Color, and maybe learn how to write apps for the market. Here I am writing ROMs and nowhere close to putting any apps in the market. With the library of knowledge that XDA is everytime I sit down at the keyboard I learn something new, I wish i'd found this place a long long time before I did - it feels like home.
that's pretty cool about the nook color. i may have to pick one up to play with. i'm sure there are all kinds of neat things to be figured out (and easily implemented) with a device that boots from an external source before the internal.
i got pretty lucky with my hd2. as soon as i saw that there was a way to do it, i had to figure it out (of course). however, instead of reading all of the instructions and bulletins on correct procedure, like an intelligent person... you can probably guess where i'm going with that... and VIOLA! an expensive paperweight.
i was very lucky that phone is setup the way it is and for resources like you and some of the other devs and especially the others that learned by trial and error and took the time to post their experiences.
I'm a software engineering major and I would like to start contributing work to this forum as I have learned basic programming techniques and have learned about the basic android structure over the past ~1.5 years of modding android. I have all the android SDK tools and APK manager. I'm just looking for someone to help me get started into actual ROM Development. I'm a fairly quick learner so it shouldn't take too long. Any help you guys could give me would be wonderful.
Thanks a lot,
Justin
PS I think this was the right forum? If its wrong delete it/move it.
your best reference for learning like i have is to go to the chef central part of xda, they have plenty of refernce information available for beginners
mjwhirly said:
your best reference for learning like i have is to go to the chef central part of xda, they have plenty of refernce information available for beginners
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Alright thanks I'd never heard of that. I'll go check it out.