So is it easy as just editing XML files to Mod? For example media_profiles.xml has a bunch of camera related variables. If I just change those and reboot, is that going to change anything? I know it could screw up my phone, but I am going for tips and tricks on how to mess with Android.
I know how to code, and would like someone to maybe point me to a guide.
Thanks
When I say know how to code. I mean I know xml and SQL....some Java. Was going to see what I could do with Android and maybe help community if I can learn.
Thanks
Depends on what you're trying to do. You can modify the ROM's apk's by deodexing and extracting. Depending on what you want to do, you can either modify whatever xml files or jpegs or whatnot that are inside, or if the task requires it, decompile, mod and recompile the code with smali/baksmali. A program called apk manager is also pretty handy for modifying apks. You can modify certain aspects of the rom with simple shell scripts, like you would on any regular linux installation. And then there's system development that will require you to learn C. If you want to get into that sort of thing, there's a guide on http://developer.android.com that goes over how to grab the android source and compile it. You could try poking around the CM9 code for an example too, even better if you have a device to flash it to.
Actually, there's a pretty decent how-to-get-started guide written by an awesome chap in the Captivate forum:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=928955
Related
Basically what i want to do is what M2DC does.
i want the program to list all the .zip files that are in a certain theme folder and then when you apply the theme, it unzips the file and copies whatever is in that file and copy it to the windows folder.
Please help me.
i know NOTHING about programming.
you dont even need to show me, even if you give me a link that give me the necessary information to help me do so.
btw, i have Visual Studio 2008.
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/windowsmobile/default.aspx
that is microsofts windows mobile developer center you may find some stuff there, but if you have no programing experience you may just want to get the developer of m2dc to help you out getting started
best of luck
forgot to mention i already looked there.
good tutorials. just none of which help me in this situation.
kidnamedAlbert said:
Basically what i want to do is what M2DC does.
i want the program to list all the .zip files that are in a certain theme folder and then when you apply the theme, it unzips the file and copies whatever is in that file and copy it to the windows folder.
Please help me.
i know NOTHING about programming.
you dont even need to show me, even if you give me a link that give me the necessary information to help me do so.
btw, i have Visual Studio 2008.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did you download the free copy of visual studio?
bedaweed said:
Did you download the free copy of visual studio?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i have the full version
the only reason he would have asked is that you have to have the full version for windows mobile development....
okay well i do.
but im not a programmer so i need some help.
i started trying to jump in just recently, mostly i've just been skinning before so i am in the same boat
this is the c++ library reference, it may provide some help.
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cscc687y.aspx
the code should be the same on a pc performing the same operation
so such code exmpls should be fine too
i tried to do some searching but it appears that there is not very many beginners tutorials for windows mobile so I will just put a couple of suggestions out there.
If you have never written code before I would recommend starting with C#
I personally use C++ but that is because I started writing C++ while still in high school before C# even existed. From what I can tell C# would be a much less painful experience that learning c++.
If you are not all that interested in learning the ins and outs of programming I would take a took at mortscript because that basically gives you just about everything that you would need and I just checked the documentation they have everything you need, the ability to unzip files and make a simple gui
Whenever looking about learning a new programming language you will do best to look for a "Hello World" example, whenever I learna new language / platform (like i am currently doing with android) I always look for a hello world example so that I can get something simple up and running
I end up getting a lot of information from http://www.codeproject.com/ and http://www.pocketpcdn.com/ sometimes the information is outdated, but it is usually pretty good.
The latest and greatest programming website is stackoverflow.com You can ask a question and Usually you will get an answer to your question in a day or so.
If you are ever interested in looking at some C++ things you can look at the full M2DC source code by downloading the zip file from the google code page (latest source code). In the zip file there is a sln file somewhere, that is the entire solution for the program. You should be able to open that file with you copy of visual studio and build a fully working copy of M2DC
good luck
How to teach programming in one post...
Well I don't know where to start, Developing C# apps for PPC is similar to developing desktop apps. The best way to learn is to see what others have done and copy across the code you need (Lookup Popfly Development ).
I'd try and find the code for this in a Normal WinForms app to do this and then port it across to the PPC App.
I'd do it in C#. The un-zipping maybe complicated, I'm not sure what ZIP code is in the .Net Compact Framework.
Let me know if you need any help, I might even knock some code together for ya.
Ta
Dave
mpenguin14 said:
i tried to do some searching but it appears that there is not very many beginners tutorials for windows mobile so I will just put a couple of suggestions out there.
If you have never written code before I would recommend starting with C#
I personally use C++ but that is because I started writing C++ while still in high school before C# even existed. From what I can tell C# would be a much less painful experience that learning c++.
If you are not all that interested in learning the ins and outs of programming I would take a took at mortscript because that basically gives you just about everything that you would need and I just checked the documentation they have everything you need, the ability to unzip files and make a simple gui
Whenever looking about learning a new programming language you will do best to look for a "Hello World" example, whenever I learna new language / platform (like i am currently doing with android) I always look for a hello world example so that I can get something simple up and running
I end up getting a lot of information from http://www.codeproject.com/ and http://www.pocketpcdn.com/ sometimes the information is outdated, but it is usually pretty good.
The latest and greatest programming website is stackoverflow.com You can ask a question and Usually you will get an answer to your question in a day or so.
If you are ever interested in looking at some C++ things you can look at the full M2DC source code by downloading the zip file from the google code page (latest source code). In the zip file there is a sln file somewhere, that is the entire solution for the program. You should be able to open that file with you copy of visual studio and build a fully working copy of M2DC
good luck
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
actually thats the first thing i tried(using m2dc as a template)
but i was super confused.
i tried taking out unessicary things like softkeys, background, internet, etc. but it didnt want to build. and plus, i probably did it all wrong.
if i cant get a good mortscript to do it, ill look into those websites you recommended me.
im in high school right now and im trying to find classing that will teach me some basic programming.
my school is filled with idiots though.
but im moving to a different city, so maybe they can teach me better than i would here.
thanks again.
Sorry for posting a whole new thread for this. I poked around with the search, however I figure the developers that are doing stuff for the Infuse have a lot on their plates to be able to write out a tutorial for this individual phone forum.
But, I have absolutely 0 experience in making a rom for anything. I have flashed Infused on my Infuse. This is my first Android device and I really love the customizability over the iOS software (previous phone). I know Gingerbread is just around the corner but I would love to take my first few steps towards developing with a rom thats been out already. This way by the time I get a better grip of things I can maybe transfer these skills to the new version.
If anyone can be so kind, Ide appreciate it if the helpful devs could maybe point me to some links with the necessary files and programs/files that are needed to build a custom rom. As well as maybe some tutorial threads or videos.
Anybody feel free to shoot me some useful links if possible. Thanks so much in advance! Cant wait to contribute.
Mikeymike had something you're looking for in the Captivate forum. Can't find the thread on my phone but it was basically a how to thread. Good stuff if ur interested
This should be in Q&A. But yeah, MikeyMike has a tutorial somewhere.
In my opinion - start off small. Get familiar with making customizations to a ROM (theming, app replacement, etc) and then grow from there. Don't bite off more than you can chew.
tazbo28 said:
Sorry for posting a whole new thread for this. I poked around with the search, however I figure the developers that are doing stuff for the Infuse have a lot on their plates to be able to write out a tutorial for this individual phone forum.
But, I have absolutely 0 experience in making a rom for anything. I have flashed Infused on my Infuse. This is my first Android device and I really love the customizability over the iOS software (previous phone). I know Gingerbread is just around the corner but I would love to take my first few steps towards developing with a rom thats been out already. This way by the time I get a better grip of things I can maybe transfer these skills to the new version.
If anyone can be so kind, Ide appreciate it if the helpful devs could maybe point me to some links with the necessary files and programs/files that are needed to build a custom rom. As well as maybe some tutorial threads or videos.
Anybody feel free to shoot me some useful links if possible. Thanks so much in advance! Cant wait to contribute.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=928955
remember to post in the right section next time bud.
Thanks so much guys. Sorry I was totally debating on whether to post this there but I thought that maybe the devs dont frequent that section.
Please do move this thread if possible.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I997 using XDA App
Ok so I have one last question.
Is it better/easier to build the rom using an ubuntu virtual machine, dual boot ubuntu, or a Mac OSX Lion virtual machine in Windows 7?
I have the option to run any one of these types of systems. Unfortunately I do not have a Mac available, so Im wondering if it is even possible to build the source using a Mac VM seeing as how there are certain types of partitions necessary.
Thanks in advance.
tazbo28 said:
Ok so I have one last question.
Is it better/easier to build the rom using an ubuntu virtual machine, dual boot ubuntu, or a Mac OSX Lion virtual machine in Windows 7?
I have the option to run any one of these types of systems. Unfortunately I do not have a Mac available, so Im wondering if it is even possible to build the source using a Mac VM seeing as how there are certain types of partitions necessary.
Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'd dual boot windows and Linux
Samsung infuse running gingerbread!
Dual-booting Linux is your best bet. VMs mean that if you eventually get as far as doing kernel or AOSP/Cyanogenmod compiles, you'll have less RAM available, and also sometimes accessing USB devices (such as to use ADB or Heimdall) is a bit of a pain with VMs.
Awesome thanks a bunch guys i just got my ubuntu dual boot set up but i don't seem to have a working Linus driver for my trendnet wifi adapter.
But i have downloaded the infuse 4g source and im about to start setting up the build components from the android website.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I997 using XDA App
tazbo28 said:
Awesome thanks a bunch guys i just got my ubuntu dual boot set up but i don't seem to have a working Linus driver for my trendnet wifi adapter.
But i have downloaded the infuse 4g source and im about to start setting up the build components from the android website.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I997 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, there are two routes to building ROMs right now:
1) Start from a Samsung ROM - there is source to the kernel and a few small parts of the userland stack available, but most of it is lacking source. Most custom ROMs available here are created by taking the stock Samsung ROM and tweaking them - removing apps, adding others, or attempting to bring apps from other devices to ours.
2) Cyanogenmod 7 - this is a source build, HOWEVER - it is not complete, open-source reimplementations of some Samsung stuff is not complete, so some features (like Bluetooth) are broken
A lot of ROM devs (those that work on Samsung-derived ROMs) don't even have a copy of Samsung's source code release as it's not useful to them. (Exception are those of us who do kernel work.)
It's not something you can just jump into. To do it properly, you need patience and a willingness to spend a lot of time researching a lot of different things.
1) Some things are easier to do in Linux and other things are best done in Windows due to some tools only being available for Windows. It's best to have both.
2) Learn how to dump the system partition (using the dd command) and mount/extract the resulting factoryfs.rfs on your computer.
3) Learn the /system folder structure. Explorer the files in each folder and try to figure out what those files are.
4) Find and learn how to use a script or program that can deodex the apps and framework from the extracted system image.
5) Learn the structure of flashable zips and what all of the commands in updater-scripts do. Easiest way to do this is to download a bunch of roms and look at their folder structure and updater-scripts. Google commands in them that you do not understand.
6) Learn which apps can be removed and replaced without consequence. If you can't figure out exactly what a particular apk does, best to leave it alone.
7) Experiment with changing build prop entries to see what some of them do.
8) Learn how to manually decompile and compile the dex portion of apk and jar files. Use smali and baksmali for this. This lets you modify app and framework code, but the decompiled smali can be a bit confusing. Try to learn how to read it. Try this AOSP lockscreen mod tutorial.
9) Learn how to use a program that can decompile and compile entire apps, including resources. Apktool is a good program and APK Manager is a good front end for it. Look through all of the folders in the resources (res) directory of a decompiled app. Learn which images and types of files are in each folder. There are a ton of xml files that do various things in the resource folders. Open a bunch of them up and learn some basic xml structure so you can see what all that xml is doing. Most visual app mods are done via xml. Here's a slightly more advanced mod tutorial than the AOSP lockscreen was: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=811532
10) Learn proper apk compression techniques. Though it works, just dropping images into apks via 7zip and calling it a day isn't really the right way to theme. The default Android Asset Packaging Tool (used by the Android SDK to package apps) does not compress certain file types, including images. This is because images, especially pngs, typically do not compress a great deal anyways and the added cpu time it takes to decompress those images at app launch makes the total app loading time longer than if the images were uncompressed, even if they are slightly larger. Also, compressing some file types, like oggs and system objects, too much can even cause the app to not be able to load them. See here for a handy script to repack apks with proper compression: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1123463
I could go on forever, but that should point you in the right direction. At least you know some of the basics you need to learn now even if I didn't tell you exactly how to do each thing. Remember, Google will be your best friend. Use it. A lot.
Man I really appreciate this so much gtg. Its exactly the kind of encouragement i was hoping for. I just get a general sense of excitement when thinking of all the different possibilities in both Rom and app development. And seeing as how im and artist first, its awesome to know that ill down be able to be a double threat in both designing the look of, and building the Rom myself.
I can't thank you enough for pointing me in the right direction. Maybe one day someone will put together a kitchen for the Infuse. Until then ill be happy to dive into all the nitty gritty.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I997 using XDA App
Ok, So I have tried APKTool and APK Manager and I searched on here but I couldn't find any more updated information. So I have to ask, are there any apps out there to help decompile applications.
I have the updated Android SDK, frameworks, Java SDK, Eclipse and all the goodies installed, but I am trying to find a way to decompile an APK to view its code, graphics, and the rest of its guts. I have no interest in re-writing an application by "stealing" someone else's work. I just want to get a understanding how some basic applications run and the brains behind it.
Any help would be much appreciated
-Nick
As far as I understand, upon compilation, chances are you can decompile quite a fair bit of the content. But not all, because some has turned into language that only the processor should recognise.
But again, maybe I'm not updated enough.
In the process of writing the Nexus Dual-Boot Builder app, it became necessary to modify the ramdisk of a kernel. The problem with that statement is that this was being designed as an app, not something for the computer.
Using a combination of the original AnyKernel package, some modifications found from various sources, and a homemade busybox it is possible to unpack, modify, and repack a kernel on the device.
This was done as a basic hardcoded modification for uBoot. Find the part that needed changing, change it, pack it back up. I got thinking about the possibilities for other uses and here is what I came up with...
An application that can unpack a ROM's kernel or just an image and provides a list of items that can be edited, a file manager capability to swap, add, remove parts, and a text editor to modify script files. Finish it off with the ability to pack the image back up and even reassemble a ROM.
Now to the part that involves the general public. Would this be something worth developing? What could it be used for? I have the idea and a general layout for the code structure, just no motivation to develop something that will end up unused. That is why I was hoping to obtain some feedback on if this would be worth publishing.
Nexus Dual-Boot Builder and SKU Kernel Remote are both open-source under licenses that allow using the code provided the origin is publicly listed on the final product. This allows it to be used in any other app as long as the about section or something similar has the required verbiage. I would have no issues publishing this source under the same license if it had another use altogether.
Eventually this thread will be where binaries, code, tests, etc are posted but I want to weigh the merit of taking on ANOTHER project first
Hey, I wanted to know how to extract the driver files for an HTC Titan (WP7). When I use OSBuilder to dump all the packages, I get the drivers in this really weird format that I don't know how to open. There will be a folder named xxxxx.dll and inside the folder there will be files 0000, 0001, 0002, and 0003. None of these files have file extensions. Given the name of the folder, it stands to reason that somehow, the files inside can be compiled into the driver the folder is named after.
Can someone please help me figure out how to open the driver files? I need to write custom drivers for a project I am working on and I need to be able to use these and preferably decompile them.
A .dll is really the same as an executable. You could try renaming the dll to exe and it should run, but basically that file is a library of assets used by Windows, so your drivers are probably embedded somewhere within the dll itself. You can always try opening the files contained within inside notepad, or hex editor if you need a more precise instrument.
Thanks For Your Reply
syung said:
A .dll is really the same as an executable. You could try renaming the dll to exe and it should run, but basically that file is a library of assets used by Windows, so your drivers are probably embedded somewhere within the dll itself. You can always try opening the files contained within inside notepad, or hex editor if you need a more precise instrument.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not quite what I had in mind but I did end up learning a little bit about the structure of the drivers, so thank you very much.
It was mostly unintelligible, but I was able to find some important file names and function calls, although I have no idea where these are located or how I can use them myself. At least it gives me something else to Google, and believe me, I appreciate that.
Ideally, I would like to be able to find/recreate the source code for the drivers so that I can edit them and I would like to know how to compile them/add them to a ROM so that they will actually run on a real phone.
Can anywhere tell me a place that I can find a guide or book or website, anything really? I've been at it for about three weeks now and I'm starting to think that either the information simply isn't there or that I've passed over it not realizing what it was.
Windows phones have never been extremely popular, so it is not surprising that material for it is limited. Your best bet would be to go into a brick and mortar bookstore and look for some windows phone development books, as I'm sure there is bound to be at least one book regarding development. Although it might not have exactly what you are looking for, it can give you a good starting point.
Paper Books on Custom ROMs???
syung said:
Windows phones have never been extremely popular, so it is not surprising that material for it is limited. Your best bet would be to go into a brick and mortar bookstore and look for some windows phone development books, as I'm sure there is bound to be at least one book regarding development. Although it might not have exactly what you are looking for, it can give you a good starting point.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Are there really any books published on working with rooted phones? I've seen a lot of development books, but never one in which the phone had been hacked for administrative rights. They are always written for the developer who will be using the stock ROM with no modifications, or so I thought...
They will probably not have the exact information you are looking for, but it can give you insight into how the OS was developed in the first place, thus giving possible clues as to where the files you require reside.
Thanks for all your help!
syung said:
They will probably not have the exact information you are looking for, but it can give you insight into how the OS was developed in the first place, thus giving possible clues as to where the files you require reside.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Perhaps. Thanks a lot for the idea. I'm going to go look into the fundamentals of the OS then.