Database Info

Install App From another Android?

I got my self the hero, and my wife the Moment. I am slightly jealous of the hardware she has..but that aside, I am in love with my Hero.
However, she does have one app that i really want and the market place does not have. I assume this is an app installed by sprint.
It is Photo and Video uploader. You set an email address or other location and after a video or photo is taken, it automatically uploads the photo to the predetermined destination. GREAT FOR BACKING UP PICTURES! But, her camera hardware blows. 3.2 MP and it is sooo slow. So picture quality is no where near that of the Hero's 5 MP.
So the real question here - -
Can I ADB into her phone and just take the .APK and ODEX file for this app and push it to my phone? Is it that easy???

Some apps are that easy. Give it a try and find out! The worst thing you'll get is some force closes.
However most stock apps require files from /system/lib that help run that apk. And they don't have the same naming convention therefore you won't know which one(s) it is amongst the 100s there. But I always say try and see what happens.

And if it works upload that .apk for the rest of us!

Thinking out loud here...well..you get the point.
Could I copy all of system/lib and only copy the files that dont already exist?
That could be a giant waste of space though, and it could still rely on a file that I have, not just one that isn't there....
Also since I am not "installing" the app, could Apps2SD hinder me? I am not entirely sure how a2sd works other than tricking the phone into using the SD card as a partition and unioning it with the existing part.
I love how open android is supposed to be, but how the darn manufacturers kill us with the different platform crap.

thedudejdog said:
And if it works upload that .apk for the rest of us!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Am I aloud to do that? I have seen XDA Mods get on to some people about uploading APK's. I guess I should read the EULA for that app before I do?

Kcarpenter said:
Thinking out loud here...well..you get the point.
Could I copy all of system/lib and only copy the files that dont already exist?
That could be a giant waste of space though, and it could still rely on a file that I have, not just one that isn't there....
Also since I am not "installing" the app, could Apps2SD hinder me? I am not entirely sure how a2sd works other than tricking the phone into using the SD card as a partition and unioning it with the existing part.
I love how open android is supposed to be, but how the darn manufacturers kill us with the different platform crap.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Copying the ../lib/ over and not replacing existing files could work. lol. As for apps2sd... you kind of have two ways you can try installing this. Without copying the lib and all that just try putting the apk on to your sdcard and browsing to it using astro or linda (a file manager) and click on the apk and installing it. See if it errors out or fails. If it does, THEN try copying it and the odex to /system/app (if it has an odex I'm pretty confident you won't be able to install it using package manager). If that still fails then you can go crazy and trying copying the lib ha.
Kcarpenter said:
Am I aloud to do that? I have seen XDA Mods get on to some people about uploading APK's. I guess I should read the EULA for that app before I do?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't remember if I read it on here or ppcgeeks but I believe officially the only stock apk's not allowed is quick office. But don't quote me on that.

So I hooked up to the Moment through ADB last night.
Found out really quickly that I can SU with it....
There is a "non permanent" hack out there to become root, but I tried it and still couldn't mount the file system to copy from it.
Any ideas guys?
From what I understand the Moment uses an FS16? file System? Something Odd that non of the other droids seem to be using.

Just an Idea, thought I would throw it out there.
Does the temporary root allow for running applications as root an the device itself?
There is an app in the market called root explorer that allows copy/paste/cut/delete from the system/app folder.
It may be possible to use that app to copy the needed filed to your sdcard and then extract them from there.
This would all be contingent on the app being able to mount the directory as r/w though, so who knows, worth a shot though i guess.

rockcrawler said:
Just an Idea, thought I would throw it out there.
Does the temporary root allow for running applications as root an the device itself?
There is an app in the market called root explorer that allows copy/paste/cut/delete from the system/app folder.
It may be possible to use that app to copy the needed filed to your sdcard and then extract them from there.
This would all be contingent on the app being able to mount the directory as r/w though, so who knows, worth a shot though i guess.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This root doesn't allow you to run Root apps. not sure why, seems like root would be root.
After some reading, the root method that is being used on the Moment is not the safest. Apparently if you skip a step you have a brick. And with no Nandroid backup at the moment(pun?) I would HATE to attempt it. Apparently though Root sticks until you reboot. There is an INit. script that runs and resets the permisions.
I know, "Don't skips steps and you'll be ok"
I may get brave and try it tonight...

as far as I can tell you cannot install this app on the hero. I'm not sure what the app is called and unless it starts in the /data folder it is under the system dumps
http://www.4shared.com/file/149766091/c3a7ee61/momentsystem.html

nelson8403 said:
as far as I can tell you cannot install this app on the hero. I'm not sure what the app is called and unless it starts in the /data folder it is under the system dumps
http://www.4shared.com/file/149766091/c3a7ee61/momentsystem.html
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ROCK ON! Thanks for the link to the dump, I hadn't thought about looking around in one of these.
I will post what I find out.

WOOT IT WORKS!!!!!
So any how the application is in that Dump under apps, its only an APK
xms-android-1.0.42-prod.apk
If you are interested in what it does:
You setup predetermined "places" Flikr, FB, EMAIL, what ever.
Any picture or video you take automatically gets put in an upload queue and it sent to your predetermined places.
I am using it for back up, I have 2 kids and sometimes the cell phone is the quickest way to snap a great picture. Keeping these pictures in mutltiple places, like your 7 gig google account, is a nifty way to backup.
I am waiting for a Mod to get back to me if I can post the APK or not. I don't want to get in trouble.

wonder if their youtube app has better picture quality than ours?

BrianDigital said:
wonder if their youtube app has better picture quality than ours?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I will let you know in a few minutes. As soon as I get done with my WiFi teether I will compare the two. Pretty sure they should be the same.
EDIT: I am not sure if it is hardware or not. Running the same youTube video side by side - Our HERO has better color quality, Deeper blacker. The Moment has slightly sharper edges to the pictures, not quite as blurry. the moment does not go "Full Screen" for videos either which could be contributing to the sharper look to things. My assumption would be that this is a difference in the hardware. Quality of youTube videos seems to have diminished over the years anyways, none of the really look "good" any more. Probably in an effort to save bandwidth.
However, if you want to take a look personally, I will post the APK for you. Just please don't blame me if you forget to back up the original and want to revert....I love disclaimers.

I was trying to use that picture uploader, for me it stalls on picking a new location. Wonder if it is because I am on gutted rom and missing some pointers somewhere

BrianDigital said:
I was trying to use that picture uploader, for me it stalls on picking a new location. Wonder if it is because I am on gutted rom and missing some pointers somewhere
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am using MoDaCo + Optimizations w/ ZipAlign. Not sure if its worth the switch for you or not.
I have never used Gutted so I do not know what it offers/doesn't have.

Gutted is as vanilla as our Rom can get. It's quick too

that's pretty cool and sounds like a great idea for backing up pics so what all would I need to do to get this and install it I have root access already

Kcarpenter said:
WOOT IT WORKS!!!!!
So any how the application is in that Dump under apps, its only an APK
xms-android-1.0.42-prod.apk
If you are interested in what it does:
You setup predetermined "places" Flikr, FB, EMAIL, what ever.
Any picture or video you take automatically gets put in an upload queue and it sent to your predetermined places.
I am using it for back up, I have 2 kids and sometimes the cell phone is the quickest way to snap a great picture. Keeping these pictures in mutltiple places, like your 7 gig google account, is a nifty way to backup.
I am waiting for a Mod to get back to me if I can post the APK or not. I don't want to get in trouble.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wow... that's a really cool program... and just so you know, you can "install" it using adb and it still works fine
Code:
adb install xms-android-1.0.42-prod.apk
Then it will install in /data/apps (or if you have apps2sd, on the sdcard under /system/sd/apps)
Works great on the Sprint Hero and MoDaCo ROM

Kcarpenter said:
I am waiting for a Mod to get back to me if I can post the APK or not. I don't want to get in trouble.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The only rule regarding it would be
6. Do not post warez.
If a piece of software requires you to pay to use it, either pay or find your cracks and serials somewhere else. We do not accept warez nor do we permit any member to promote or describe ways in which Warez, cracks, serial codes or other means of avoiding payment, can be obtained.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
which your app doesn't fit in to. Posting it is not outside of the rules and should be fine.

android app to mount iso files?

hi is there an android app to mount iso files?

I doubt it and i can't even begin to imagine why you'd want one! Care to elaborate?

I have iso training video files from work and want to watch them on my phone during travels.

Best thing to do would be to use Power ISO to get the vids then transfer them to your phone

I would suggest transcoding to another format as .iso will not play on your phone. Try Handbrake which is a great, free program.

Yea ISO isn't supported as a video format, you'll need another application to convert it to something decodable.
Sent from my Nexus One using XDA Premium App

DirkGently1 said:
I doubt it and i can't even begin to imagine why you'd want one! Care to elaborate?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It would be nice to put a downloaded file/film directly on your phone
Or download it from your phone.
.......without having to spend a cupple og hours converting it to an other format.
My computer play iso's directly, why not also my phone?
Around 1/3 of what i download is ISO's........

Dude.
No, your computer does not "play iso" files. It is likely that it mounts them and plays their content, though.
What Android is missing, in your case, is a way to mount these images. It already comes with many players that will be able to play their content.

Well, yes, my computer mounts the iso, then plays the content.........(=my computer plays iso's)
rshemeld point is (and mine) that we would like our phones to do the same........we can always discuss what to call it, in what order stuff is going on, but that's beside the point.

Your computer plays the videofiles contained in these cd/dvd Images, so why don't you just copy those from your pc to your phone? Chances are, you don't even have to transcode them... or, since isos are some kind of zipped files, try any unpacker you can find to open them.
Sent from my Milestone using XDA App

One problem with that method is that the video file is chopped up into smaller pieces, I have tried to download several video players that can play them in the right order automatically..........but they couldn't

DirkGently1 said:
I doubt it and i can't even begin to imagine why you'd want one! Care to elaborate?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Geez... let's name a few others other than the one the originall poster stated...
Using a bootable ISO...
You would be able to boot your computer for oh so many reasons.
1.) Unlocking a locked OS
2.) Running Defrag the way it was meant to be run (w/o the original OS locking files down).
3.) Recovering deleted files/partitions w/o having to pull the drive and use another PC.
Number 4 and prob one of the best reasons...
4.) Try to see an iPhone do that! Just another reason why a Droid no matter what flavor... is still just BETTER!
I would like to use my DroidX with an [email protected] BootDisk ISO (http //www livecd com) so that I don't have to lug around another CD/USB. Plus on some networks USB devices are unauthorized unless they have biometrics. I'd still rather just boot from my phone.

rshemeld said:
hi is there an android app to mount iso files?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Though your reason is different than mine... I would also like to see this happen.
Esp if the PCs can see a bootable ISO as a bootable CD... and i'm sure I'm not the only one as some google searches will show.

rshemeld said:
hi is there an android app to mount iso files?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sure. It is even bundled with Android system.
Code:
mount -o loop -t iso9660 /path/to/file.iso /mnt/somewhere
Does not work? Well, here is the "small" glitch. Unless
Code:
cat /proc/filesystems
returns iso9660 among others, you would better start with recompiling your kernel.

Thx for the info!
Helps narrow down the options.
Time to see of anyone has recompiled
Sent from my DROIDX using the XDA mobile application powered by Tapatalk

I was wondering if there are any updates to this topic?
I would love to be able to somehow view the contents of several cdroms I have on my tablet running 3.2. These cds/dvds are interlinked files for example to do sample exams, the program can then check the answers. Another example is a dvd with multiple htmls interlinked with each other. I have tried converting all the files to a linkable pdf but about a third of the links still dont work and some files cannot be found or one has to scroll through the whole document. Any suggestions how I could get something like this into a format that would work on the transformer tablet?
Are there by now any apps which could read an iso file made of the cd/dvds?

any of you guys have an update on these thread? i love also to see my training videos running on my android phone.

Why don't you convert the videos into *.avi-files for example before transfering them onto your phone?
Sent from my Transformer TF101 using XDA Premium App

I've got tons of DVD-ISO's on my home network (QNAP NAS) and it would be really cool to be able to stream those on my SGS2 but I guess that's a no go. Even my old 166Mhz PC could do it since decoding mpeg2-video doesn't need a lot of CPU power.

I have used DVD Copy Pro to turn DVDs or ISO files into video files. Also have the option to compress them, so not taking up 4gb of space. Can compress significantly and have played just fine on my android phone. I'm sure there are many other programs that will do the same thing.

[Q] How to run multipple apps/windows simultaneously

Need to run two reader apps (two parallel texts for reading the original literature) on one screen. Two copies of the same program like Moon+ would be even more nice.

I'm fairly certain this is impossible as of now. Either their are no apps that can possibly come close to supporting this. Or, this it is merely a limitation of the current android operating system.
But for the record, this would be amazing and drool-worthy.

there's a UI system someone posted a while back that allows android to operate in a 3-viewport mode, where you have 1 big viewport, an 2 smaller viewports, each running a different app. and you can switch between them. there's also ixonos' thing...which is a windowed UI. i personally prefer the former, because it wastes less real-estate.
neither of them are available atm, but they will soon.
although i don't think you can run multiple instances of the same app.
oh yea, the adam ink has a multi-pane launcher as well, which works just like the first one i described, and that's already available...although it doesn't seem like it's very good.
either way though, android, and especially honeycomb is capable of multi-tasking, i think it's just a question of ui issues, and everyone is trying to find the best presentation for such a function.
Sent from my Transformer TF101 using Tapatalk

^I think you're talking about Onskreen's Cornerstone:
http://onskreen.com/
Looks promising but I think they're only shopping it to OEMs at the moment.

Yea, that would be a killer feature. Maemo Os does it beautifully, why can't android ?

+1 to this. Multiple windows in Android would be a very attractive feature.

dawgpound6985
Yes, thats what I found lately, but it's not available as .apk anywhere.
Need something reliable and easy to work with.

how to install UBUNTU in dual boot mode on Asus Eee Pad transformer
Hi,
Thanks a loto for your thread about Ubuntu on Android .
I just unrooted my Asus eee pad transformer and I want to use in dual boot with first O.S Android and second Ubuntu.
I download from internet the following folder zipped:
linux-flash-kit.tar.gz
Ubuntu.img
But I don't Know how to go on, could you help me?
At the moment I download in MicroSD memory ( 16 gb) Ubuntu .img and into " linux-flash-kit.tar.gz" I can see file like "flash-linux-android.sh".
Now I confused because on the web I can see a lot of information but, for example, in this last folder I can see only to start on ubuntu ( desktop) but on other topic I can see using APX mode on Windows but They use others files.
Could YOu help me to understand where I have to paste files and where i Can start installation?
Thanks a lot for your help.

I would be happy if there was just a file manager that had multiple windows for copying and pasting. I'm sure that could be done.

typci said:
I would be happy if there was just a file manager that had multiple windows for copying and pasting. I'm sure that could be done.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Have you had a look at Total Commander for Android ?
It's an official android port of the classic two-pane file manager that and works great on the Transformer.
http://ghisler.ch/board/viewtopic.php?t=30417
(This post is useful as well as it details how to give the program full root access so you can even use it in place of something like Root Explorer
http://www.androidpolice.com/2011/0...ns-remount-rw-in-total-commander-for-android/)

albertus76 said:
Could YOu help me to understand where I have to paste files and where i Can start installation?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I believe you're in the wrong thread, mate.

there is nother one i have been using for sometime now..
Dual file manager XT
http://www.medieval.it/dualfm-android/menu-id-129.html
Sent from my Transformer TF101 using Tapatalk

Linux Installer 3.3 is out

https://market.android.com/details?id=com.galoula.LinuxInstall
New every thing. Redesign of everything every where, rewite of all English parts, many bug fixes.
What for ? install Debian using debootstrap in chroot, and use your Android device like if you had installed Linux on a standard computer.
Bugs shall be reported to [email protected] .
Misc questions about how to use and feature request and general discussions to [email protected]
Market description:
This application will allow you to install a complete Debian distribution in your Android device. Based on chroot, it will perform a standard debootstrap and install a legacy Debian so that you can install, and run any classic Linux command, tool, daemon or service.
The package has few limitations; it is not restricted to Debian; we already offer the choice to use Ubuntu, and will add more distributions in close future. Each distribution is available in several tastes (stable, testing ...). It will not require to reboot; chroot is run inside Android. Installation can be done on any storage device, either on SD card, or inernal memory; no need to repartition any thing, run mkfs or fdisk. We do with what you let use. If you have almost nothing, the package will manage with almost nothing; if you can afford for a large ext4 partition on your SD card, the package will be happy to use it.
It will allow you to install all classic LAMP services like Apache, MySql, PHP, Samba, Netatalk, or just any classic Linux tool like vim, xterm, aterm, Abiword, Firefox, dillo, wget, cron, Perl, Python ... just everything.
Package utilisation will require a rooted device.
Reasons to install this package can not be listed. Just too many: want a cron daemon ? want to have gcc inside your phone ? want to recompile some kernel driver because the legacy Android driver for your Wi-Fi card has is bogus or limited ? want to use vim, or the real full featured desktop ls, ip, nmap, or top commands ? this package will give you all this for free, and much much more.
Requierments:
- an Android device based on some Linux kernel
- a rooted environment
- 300M free space
That's all.
Optionnal registration on our website, http://android.galoula.com/LinuxInstall/Register.php , will allow you to use advanced management features, and install package from within the application interface. You will not need to type any strange command in any terminal. And you will be able to make some services start automaticly at phone boot, and/or application start.
Online documentation: http://android.galoula.com/en/LinuxInstall/
Quick installation guide: http://android.galoula.com/en/LinuxInstall/QuickTutorial.html
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

Free space must be on sd-card or phone memory?

Both accepted You choose where to install.
500M by default on SD card using loop method (on ext2 or fat). Down to 180M using the directory method (does not work on FAT).

thanks for this man.

Sorry if this is a noob question but will this in any way brick/soft brick my device?
Sent from my GT540RR using XDA App

Yes, it can.
But this app is underdevelopment since almost two years, and nobody ever bricked yet. I have written a very long complete tutorial, where I say what you should NOT do. I could easily tell you how to brick in 5 steps.
But we have been working very hard on default settings, to make default settings as much safe as possible.
There are many bugs, many known bugs; but 99.999% bugs will just make the chroot not work. Data loss is very rare. Data loss was highly probable in previous version 3.2 . But default settings are now safer. And if you do not do what we claim to be dangerous ... you are safe.
The most frequent case with 3.2 was complete wipe of /sdcard and /data . This have been fixed.
We never ran into wipe of /system until now. Never bricked.
And since Galoula and me are working on it, we are the most exposed ones. We test every single feature, in all possible situations. And when we find a wipe case, we repro it dozen time until we understand why, and how to fix, so that it won't happen to YOU.
3.3 is way safer than 3.2. And nobody reported wipe on 3.2 ...
But if you blindely clik any where, yes it can. And if I tell you where to click, you can brick in 5 steps for sure And it won't be a soft brick. I promise a good real brick where even HTC will be in trouble to repair it It's explained in the tutorial.

Wow. Thanks for the reply. At least i have an idea now. Is the tut on the app itself? I'll nake sure to read it very carefully coz i wanna learn all about this stuff
Sent from my GT540RR using XDA App

A not so short tuto is inside; but since most mobile devices have only one screen, you may want to read the online tuto on your computer: http://android.galoula.com/en/LinuxInstall/
Default settings are safe. Just follow the guide.

Will go ahead and read this tut. I'll make sure to give feedback. Thanks for paying attention to this noob
Sent from my GT540RR using XDA App

this is just great, are there any videos or screen shots?
edit: nevermind i just checked the market

Feel free to send us screen shots; I am not good at doing that (i can to shots, but I don't know what could be nice to upload).
We would apreciate shots of working (of course ) VNC clients connected to server running localy, or local consoles (like Connectbot) doing funny things.
Send to support. Thanks.

Spent the whole weekend on this...
I'm trying o get an X- GUI on the Samsung Captivate, (hope i said that right) like Ubuntu so i can VNC to a linux desktop environment. I'm on FASTY and wondering why I keep running into refusal of connection. I have the password and localhost as well as the port correct. I've lost sleep on making this work. Can anyone help...?

You question is somehow off topic.
You seem to have a basic VNC connexion issue.
Could not help without deeper description. And I rarely use VNC, i have very low experience.
First point: do you have free space in the distro ? depending on installation method, and what you installed, you may have run out of disk space (especially Ubuntu, uses lot more than Legacy Debian).
The distribution manager is still beta AOT. It may report the VNC service to be up and running, when it could not rally run. First thing to check is: is it up ?
- from local machine, to ps, and check if process is up
- from remote machine, just scan your IP for the device. VNC should be port 5800 or 5900, forgot which one.
Your VNC password is *NOT* your distribution password. VNC password need to be set at a different place (this is VNC specific; VNC is not UNIX, and never claimed to be fully a *UNIX "merged" service*).
Never used VNC in LinuxInstaller. Never yet. Not enough time to test it. We take report, and will test only major and frequent issues. We have many "easy success" reports, so, we don't worry about it. We have much more issues about rooting (getting root on phone), and starting debootstrap; this is what we focus on.
Make sure you have enough free space (at least 50M free left), then join any Debian or Ubuntu forum. They will ask you if you have a CLI; you shall use either adb shell, or connectbot. Fact you are in a chroot is not an issue, chrooting is not frequent for debian users, chrooting is the normal procedure to install Gentoo; and all debootstrap users use chroot daily; forums should not reject you for this reason. As long as you have a CLI.
Good luck.

Lost me fast...
Sorry..but you lost me, and FAST! I really don't have the terminology down...but I do have the Linux 3.3 Installer running properly...it indicates so. I was assuming that this would allow me to somehow load Ubuntu on my Captivate..as I've seen on some screen shots...I guess I'm just lost...a little knowledge is dangerous...I have a little. Just enough to accomplish the basics..but the vernacular is LOST to me. Guess I'll have to wait for the Ubuntu apk...thanks for trying...

I've got this errors...(see attached files).
I have busybox 1.19, connectbot and the superuser (v2.3.6.3 and su binary v2.3.2, the latest from the maket)...
What can I do?

you guys are still lucky.your able to make it work...
im running the ongoing cm7 2.3.5 on moto defy...
kernel is not supporting this yet.

hailmary what's missing in your kernel ? I don't know any Android that won't have ext2 in; if you have an Android without any ext2 filesystem, please contact me in private, I know it could be done, and I would be VERY CURIOUS to see how HTC did it.
If you are missing loop support in kernel, try block or directory method. Blocck will require ext2; directory won't (but will work only over ext FS ... so ... unless you can use NFS )
dugryce , ScumpinatoS, I will come back later (maybe today, maybe not).

ScumpinatoS said:
I've got this errors...(see attached files).
I have busybox 1.19, connectbot and the superuser (v2.3.6.3 and su binary v2.3.2, the latest from the maket)...
What can I do?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Reading the first message, you as, as said, a CPU issue. What's your CPU ? device model ?
run in some console:
uname -a
which tail
Application could not load viable environment to work; it is an issue, but it can be fixed. I can help digging, but I won't give you any solution. Send an email to Galoula; the bug report system via the console should work for you.

doublehp said:
Reading the first message, you as, as said, a CPU issue. What's your CPU ? device model ?
run in some console:
uname -a
which tail
Application could not load viable environment to work; it is an issue, but it can be fixed. I can help digging, but I won't give you any solution. Send an email to Galoula; the bug report system via the console should work for you.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have a Huawei Ideos CPU: MSM7225 without GPU.

I am use it and try install Ubuntu Natty but after download all deb package i get error installation, "issue binary, try other version"
Can someone help me what distro (Ubuntu/Debian) and what version of it that have installed succesfully.. please...
Sent from my GT-S5570 using XDA App

Request for a Tutorial on comparing two ROM's

Is there anyone out there who has the knowledge on how to tweak/make ROM's willing to do a quick (I don't know if that is realistic) tutorial on just how to compare to different ROM's? For instance a video or a step-by-step process on how to take one ROM (let's say the Stock ROM of the Droid Charge Gingerbread version) and compare this to a heavily modded ROM (let's say Infinity ROM or Humble)... I'm curious just how the devs do this; many have advised to start here to see how ROM's work, what's different and where the location of different parts are.... Please help thanks..
My initial thread

Hmm good question. Sure most will point you to several links to read different threads. Each Rom depending on what they change are usually an effort by several people. Thats were credit to certain people are given. Some start with a stock ROM and do some tweaks but alot of theme work. Guess thats why you are asking. Think there is so much going on in the back round with what we dont see it would be hard to compare, such as lines of code etc... Dont know if that is the correct answer but figured I would try.

I know, the reason I'm asking is because I've been given advice to start here and the names of programs needed, but I'm not learned enough to use the programs the correct way yet... Figured I'd ask-whats the harm?
Sent from my SCH-I510 using XDA App

Programs:
Linux if you want to extract files from factoryfs.rfs files
7zip or File-roller (or other archive utility)
apktool (or smali/baksmali)
diff (win-diff or kdiff3 also works, can also use git)
Notepad++ or gEdit
andriod-sdk with platform-tools (for adb)
Any dependencies of the above
After that, it's as "simple" as de-compiling various files (with apktool/baksmali) and comparing them. Then use a text editor to add/remove things that you want/don't want from the de-compiled files, or swap out images. After the changes are made, recompile and test. It is a very time consuming process, especially if you run into issues, as problems aren't always easy to track. Logcat will definitely become your friend.

andrewjt19 said:
I know, the reason I'm asking is because I've been given advice to start here and the names of programs needed, but I'm not learned enough to use the programs the correct way yet... Figured I'd ask-whats the harm?
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Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You came to the game kind of late. There're so many roms/kernels etc..and the history of them. It will take you months to catch up. I suggest that we would provide you the most current one and it's new/just release you can read up on it. When you look at a rom, alway start on the first page, this is where developer will provide details/description about what has changed for the rom. I would recommend the most current, stable, fast and it's a new release. The TweakStock Rom. This rom when you're using with Go Launcher (Go launcher set to smooth and with some animation, will give you the fluid of Iphone 4S. Start from thread one and see what dev has taken a stock rom and upgraded/tweaked up until today. Good luck. If any question you can post here and we will try our best to help out.

Thanks fellas, I appreciate the advice and I will let you know how I do. One problem I kept running into was in this procedure:
1. Opened kdiff
2.file browse rom a (stock gb in this case) both files still in .tar.md5 format
3. File browse rom b (humble or infinity)
4. Open/compare
5.force close
Second attempt removed .md5, left
.tar, same problem.
Third attempt unpacked and zipped, repeated steps 1-5. Force close.
Fourth attempt, tried to open just the .rfs files and repeated steps 1-5. this time I got a bunch of symbols... laid it to rest...........
So based upon the replies so far, I can see that I was trying to oversimplify a whole; each file must be extracted and browsed individually.
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