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Hi all,
for starters, I know where the search-button is and I know how to read, I've read the stickies and most of the links, so no obvious remarks please
I'm having a hard time finding good threads to read about creating/editing/cooking roms, understanding what XIP/SYS files are, knowing how to strip/add programs,...
I've used keywords like: rom cooking, xip, how to, port, tut(orial), etc...
It only gives a gazillion answers and most of the time useless threads...
Once in a while it's worth reading, but most of the time it's junk or way to specific/difficult...
So the question is, could anyone link some usefull good threads/discussions/how-to's that they've read?
Maybe you could give it a rating yourself going from beginner/intermediate/pro...
Maybe such a condensed topic is already on the forums, then please do show me, since I didn't found it yet...
If you're first thought is "god, not again", then please, don't respond at all
Thanks for your time!
quinstar said:
If you're first thought is "god, not again", then please, don't respond at all
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Man, this thread is just below you as of this moment ....
Really nice cooking class for Blackstone, but very usable for Kovsky too!!
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=480714
jackleung said:
Man, this thread is just below you as of this moment ....
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Click to collapse
Jack,it's not because of my low post count, that I'm just around here...
I've seen and read that post several times, I've dumped my own rom and downloaded others, I extracted them and started fiddling around, but that's all what I did, fiddling, since I don't really know what I'm doing...
For instance, I'm reading and seeing XIP everywhere, but I don't even understand what it stands for, I can't find (or don't use the right keywords) to find any decent info on it...
I found this great post of Ameet about porting XIP, but that's already about hardcore coding without the basic info I hoped to find... I'm just a beginner, that'll be stuff to read when I'm several months further...
It all starts with the saying, "give a man a fish and he can eat for a whole day. Learn him how to fish and he can eat a life-time.."
The post you refered to is great to learn how the kitchen works, great for learning how to use tools, but the action eventually only shows how to remove standard OEM stuff out of a rom. Nothing more...
Understanding the ins and outs of a rom, how it's build and why, how it's linked and what it does... That's where I think it starts, but that's what I can't find... If no-one ever wrote anything about it, then I will, but then I'll have to try and find bits of pieces of info everywhere... And that's why I posted the question. So people could at least point to some information they know where to find...
I've even seen and tried your work... It's great, but it's a full working, locked rom (at least, it doesn't break down using htainlin's info to the same files and folders as a stockrom does, or I'm using the wrong tools)... I can't see what you've done to make it that way... I can't open it to compare with something stock to see what has changed and conclude what your changes really do... I don't mind reverse engineering, I do have a brain I can use to figure things out..
Well, sorry for the rant, and if I somehow offended you, I didn't intend to, I just hope you now understand what I'm trying to accomplish
Thanks for all who even tried to read this
@Lokatho
Thanks! I've only read the index, but I already know I'll be busy reading that for a couple of hours...
quinstar said:
Jack,it's not because of my low post count, that I'm just around here...
I've seen and read that post several times, I've dumped my own rom and downloaded others, I extracted them and started fiddling around, but that's all what I did, fiddling, since I don't really know what I'm doing...
For instance, I'm reading and seeing XIP everywhere, but I don't even understand what it stands for, I can't find (or don't use the right keywords) to find any decent info on it...
I found this great post of Ameet about porting XIP, but that's already about hardcore coding without the basic info I hoped to find... I'm just a beginner, that'll be stuff to read when I'm several months further...
It all starts with the saying, "give a man a fish and he can eat for a whole day. Learn him how to fish and he can eat a life-time.."
The post you refered to is great to learn how the kitchen works, great for learning how to use tools, but the action eventually only shows how to remove standard OEM stuff out of a rom. Nothing more...
Understanding the ins and outs of a rom, how it's build and why, how it's linked and what it does... That's where I think it starts, but that's what I can't find... If no-one ever wrote anything about it, then I will, but then I'll have to try and find bits of pieces of info everywhere... And that's why I posted the question. So people could at least point to some information they know where to find...
I've even seen and tried your work... It's great, but it's a full working, locked rom (at least, it doesn't break down using htainlin's info to the same files and folders as a stockrom does, or I'm using the wrong tools)... I can't see what you've done to make it that way... I can't open it to compare with something stock to see what has changed and conclude what your changes really do... I don't mind reverse engineering, I do have a brain I can use to figure things out..
Well, sorry for the rant, and if I somehow offended you, I didn't intend to, I just hope you now understand what I'm trying to accomplish
Thanks for all who even tried to read this
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Click to collapse
Well, I never judge xda member on their post count since I know some experts in this field maybe new to XDA-developers and some people w/ very high post count are keep on posting **** (e.g. someone in X1 general inventing 4D glasses and UI. )
Most kitchen (at least the one I pointed to) is just a Dos batch script to automated all the tedious command and parameters w/ all the needed tools. You can learn a lot of in and out if just you open it w/ a editor, follow the steps manually and research those tools individually.
If you really want to learning cooking in the hard way, I had a writeup long time back for Asus P525 which most of the steps still apply to any HTC rom nowaday.
All the documents for how to fish is here and we are still seeing people creating new threads for questions that been address millions time. This is a developers forum afterall and no one is responsible to feed you while your hands are free.
Regarding my rom, I never intend to lock it. Both V1 and V2 are extractable but rgu are removed due to space and speed considerateion. Afterall, the main purpose of a rom is for daily "use" instead of "teaching material". Why am I bother to slow my rom down just because I have to let others to extract it?
Jack,
quinstar said:
..., and if somehow I offended you, I didn't intend to,...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This part was for the locking section you refer to
I already figured out a number of reasons why it would be "locked", and space-limiting was one of them... I definately understand your reasons and by no means am I complaining about it... It's just a pity I can't use such good material as a reference to study...
As for examining the tools, I was already wondering what they're all doing and what they're needed for... However I'm a bit cautious since I don't know how they work... This'll be a matter of trial-and-error...
I will definately have a look at what you've written, not that I'm keen on really wanting to learn it the hard way, but it might make it easier to understand the working of some of the tools...
About the fishing, you are right, no-one is obligated to give me anything. I was merely asking if some-one might remember a post they once read and found very usefull in understanding or learning the process of cooking...
As I already stated, I used the search-button and already found bits of information that I thought were a little usefull, but I'm having a hard time finding any good posts... The topic Lokatho refered to was a great link and gave me some good information and I've got some nice material to work and practice with... It would've taken me ages to find me or just dumb luck...
I'm keeping together all the links I used to read and learn and might paste them in a write-up once I think I've learned a fair bit
To finalise this reply, I understand your frustration, there will always be people who ask the most simple things on any forum, may it be ppc, car, house or anything related... Questions in here like, how do I have to flash your rom, what is hard-spl, why can't you make a 'insert langueage'-rom, reporting a "bug" that's been declared not a bug for several pages already... Those are the most annoying questions I've seen until now(just to name a few) and are really an indication those are posted by lazy people...
Cheers
Q
i just dont get this. i have been a member for 2 months and im just as lost as i was when i started. if i ask 1 of the people who know what to do they say search or gtfo. i search and end up more confused. the threads arent very friendly to a person just starting out like me. all of the language is written for people who already no what their doing. its not dumbed down at all. i think i will just use this site to download roms and themes since thats all i can seem to do
I am not trying to attack you or anything, but what is the purpose of this thread?
There are a lot of helpful people around here, maybe you aren't putting your questions in the Q&A thread? Or they aren't worded properly so people know how to assist you.... IDK.
Seeing as this is the only thread you have ever started here, I can't really say that it looks like you have posted much requesting help. I see one post where you were having problems flashing a new recovery image, but it looks like you probably just entered either the file name or path wrong. Or you didn't save the file in the root of your sdcard.
But, also, seeing as this is the XDA-Developers forum.... a certain level of knowledge seems to be expected by a lot of the members. I really don't see where anyone has told you to search or GTFO, in fact, I didn't really notice any responses to your posts.
If you want people to help you, post in the proper section and form coherent, explanatory questions.
jerzy448 said:
i just dont get this. i have been a member for 2 months and im just as lost as i was when i started. if i ask 1 of the people who know what to do they say search or gtfo. i search and end up more confused. the threads arent very friendly to a person just starting out like me. all of the language is written for people who already no what their doing. its not dumbed down at all. i think i will just use this site to download roms and themes since thats all i can seem to do
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm home sick today. What do you need help with. I'll help you out..
bhilgeman said:
I'm home sick today. What do you need help with. I'll help you out..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
See, another helpful person offering assistance..
This place isn't all that bad, now is it?
The issue is this I think...
Generally, you need to know something of what you are doing. The reasons are simple;
1) If things start to go wrong, you need to understand enough about the process to at least be able to follow instructions without them having to be written in a specific button-by-button manner,
2) People who blindly follow instructions are bound to miss a step or screw one up simply because they don't understand the instructions (this goes back to #1).
If you are a regular user of an android device, I suggest sticking with a stock build -- they are meant for people who know nothing about the platform. If you are an advanced user, you should be able to get the "gist" of things and fill in the blanks where necessary.
I'm not telling you to gtfo, what I'm telling you is that you really need to think about YOUR level of understanding of how things happen. If you aren't advanced enough to be able to fill in a few blanks here and there, then you might want to think about what you are doing, which is essentially putting a fairly expensive piece of technology into the hands of people you don't know and have no reason to trust. You also have to realize that the instructions that you get from here don't go through months of QA to verify that they are perfectly correct with no chance of, for example, bricking your phone. It is very possible that you could see a bunch of instructions that tell you what to do, but that the author maybe accidentally forgot to include a critical step, and it is absolutely UP TO YOU to be able to see that there is a missing step.
I concur. I have had numerous people ask me for help rooting their g1's. Some I help because they are computer literate and have hacked or altered software on other platforms and hardware. Those that have asked that still need help when basic things go wrong in a windows platform, I say no and tell them to enjoy their Android phone. If they are willing to dive in and learn, my offer may change down the road
What do you need help with?
is there a rom cooking for dummies. or some sort of guide. i would like to get into cooking roms for fun and actually contriibute
b0ricuaguerrero said:
is there a rom cooking for dummies. or some sort of guide. i would like to get into cooking roms for fun and actually contriibute
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Click to collapse
Mlign put one up today youtube.com/mlign
He doesn't want to know how to sign files and setup the SDK, he wants somebody to hold his hand and teach him the inner workings of ROM cooking and development.
As a side note, that was the worst video tutorial I have ever seen. The guy's ROMs might be good, but the guy seems like a complete tool. Not to mention, there is a right clicking signing tool available in the dream theme forum. I don't know why he was using such a complicated signing tool.
DirectMatrix said:
He doesn't want to know how to sign files and setup the SDK, he wants somebody to hold his hand and teach him the inner workings of ROM cooking and development.
As a side note, that was the worst video tutorial I have ever seen. The guy's ROMs might be good, but the guy seems like a complete tool. Not to mention, there is a right clicking signing tool available in the dream theme forum. I don't know why he was using such a complicated signing tool.
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Click to collapse
Oh, I see how that could warrant a new thread.
DirectMatrix said:
He doesn't want to know how to sign files and setup the SDK, he wants somebody to hold his hand and teach him the inner workings of ROM cooking and development.
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Click to collapse
i dont need anyone to hold my hand. i just want to know if theres is a definitive guide to rom cooking or rom cooking for dummies. or anything that can send me to the yellow brick road for rom cooking.
b0ricuaguerrero said:
i dont need anyone to hold my hand. i just want to know if theres is a definitive guide to rom cooking or rom cooking for dummies. or anything that can send me to the yellow brick road for rom cooking.
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i too would like to know it be really nice to make my own rom for my own phone haha
you'll be lucky!
ive been learning to cook my own rom for a while now, and im cooking eclair.
ive had a thread asking how the devs fixed sync and wifi on eclair... and no bugger seems to wanna share!
this comunity is about sharing yes... then why is it so hard to get any help!?
philicibine said:
this comunity is about sharing yes... then why is it so hard to get any help!?
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i dont know but, i still want to know. how to cook a god dam rom
you don't learn the cooking, the cooking learns you!
heh, but really, the reason there's no "definitive cooking guide" is because there's no such thing. Usually there's two approaches to creating roms: Porting and compiling from source. Porting is easy because it involves just knowing which files are necessary for the phone to run (kernel and it's modules, using/modifying/building a correct ramdisk, and pulling the necessary hardware/proprietary files to make the rom be able to communicate with the hardware). For those, a basic knowledge of file systems and using a few tools; your file archivers (7z, file roller, winrar, etc), porting tools (unyaffs, extract-kernel.pl, extract-ramdisk.pl, mkbootimg, mkbootfs) and distribution tools (testsing.jar, a working knowledge of update-script layouts) and you should be porting quickly, it's just mix and match to make your frankenbuild.
Building from source is not hard, or mystical, or anything of the sort. it requires learning how to use git/repo and working with makefiles.
If you want to make a truly custom build from source that works with google apps and has your own customizations, then you do need to learn a slight of java, c, c++, and most importantly, android app development.
You can't just say there's a guide. I guess the easiest one could do is put up a video of how to make a build from source, if I have time/drive I could do one, whole process takes about 2-3 hours (if you've never built before but have a build environment already setup), but I guess I could skim it down to a few minutes, since a lot of the time spent is waiting for compilation.
I too have been looking how to cook my own rom, so I could do my own tinkering so I could flash right away and use my own to my personal liking. If anyone could post a video or tutorial on how to do so I would be so grateful. I learn pretty fast just need a little help here and there.
In response to the OP, there are two tools that I am aware of:
One
Two
akapoor said:
In response to the OP, there are two tools that I am aware of:
One
Two
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in my response to you. EAT A **** ASSHOLE
and jubeh thank you for the info.
b0ricuaguerrero said:
in my response to you. EAT A **** ASSHOLE
and jubeh thank you for the info.
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Click to collapse
Go ahead and entertain yourself by reading post two:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/announcement.php?f=438
Specifically points 1 and 2
I honestly hate when people do that ****...
The guy has 70+ posts....has been a member since 2007 you really think that he didnt search here and on google..
Considering I have been searching both places myself for over a month and all I come up with is premade custom roms... No reading on how to make a custom rom myself... What really gets me is that I read and I seem to be more confused..
With android running RUU's and signed.nbh's. Why do we have to update via a zip file... In the article that explains how to make a custom rom I found just today he says that RUU's dont allow any customization. Which is funny to me because Ive been cooking WM roms for years now which cooks the rom then signs and packs the nbh file into the RUU. I honestly have been looking for a kitchen but I dont think one exists as of yet...
Im not ready to load up YDL on my ps3 to figure out how to trim down an android rom.
Hopefully there will be a kitchen released on the same lines as say Ervius's Visual Kitchen. Just takes time. Took years for some real brains most being from this site and ppcgeeks to compile all the tools to make a rom like that.
Now that is helpful, posting up some bs like that is just rude and you deserved the reply. This site is to help not making it more difficult for people to learn how to do stuff. Just remember the short 11 months back when you joined did you know everything. Have you made any real attempt to contribute to this site or are all your posts from that sort of thing giving ****ty responses to serious questions.
Heres that link
http://lukasz.szmit.eu/2009/12/04/making-your-own-rooted-android-rom/
On a side note your both from NY settle it like men.
reeg420 said:
I honestly hate when people do that ****...
The guy has 70+ posts....has been a member since 2007 you really think that he didnt search here and on google..
Considering I have been searching both places myself for over a month and all I come up with is premade custom roms... No reading on how to make a custom rom myself... What really gets me is that I read and I seem to be more confused..
With android running RUU's and signed.nbh's. Why do we have to update via a zip file... In the article that explains how to make a custom rom I found just today he says that RUU's dont allow any customization. Which is funny to me because Ive been cooking WM roms for years now which cooks the rom then signs and packs the nbh file into the RUU. I honestly have been looking for a kitchen but I dont think one exists as of yet...
Im not ready to load up YDL on my ps3 to figure out how to trim down an android rom.
Hopefully there will be a kitchen released on the same lines as say Ervius's Visual Kitchen. Just takes time. Took years for some real brains most being from this site and ppcgeeks to compile all the tools to make a rom like that.
Now that is helpful, posting up some bs like that is just rude and you deserved the reply. This site is to help not making it more difficult for people to learn how to do stuff. Just remember the short 11 months back when you joined did you know everything. Have you made any real attempt to contribute to this site or are all your posts from that sort of thing giving ****ty responses to serious questions.
Heres that link
http://lukasz.szmit.eu/2009/12/04/making-your-own-rooted-android-rom/
On a side note your both from NY settle it like men.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just as jubeh has said, there isn't really a definitive way to cook roms. You either no, or you don't. I would first try to grab the stuff from aosp, and just piece together what comes after that
There isn't a kitchen for the dream/magic as far as I know, but the folks over at MoDaCo have kitchen's for other android phones (such as the Hero and Nexus).
JAguirre1231 said:
Just as jubeh has said, there isn't really a definitive way to cook roms. You either no, or you don't. I would first try to grab the stuff from aosp, and just piece together what comes after that
There isn't a kitchen for the dream/magic as far as I know, but the folks over at MoDaCo have kitchen's for other android phones (such as the Hero and Nexus).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well thats good to know that there is a kitchen for some android phones at least. I never even think about looking at MoDaCo..huh
Ill just wait for a kitchen because I dont have to time to learn all the manual commands to be honest with you. Its just my girls phone anyway..lol
I wish I had more time like I did when I learned how to do my own wm roms.
Wow just checked out the hero kitchen....Looks exciting. Online though?? Whatever's clever I guess. Im excited though cant wait for other releases. He says in the post it will be available for other roms when the kitchen is fully developed for the hero. woot
reeg420 said:
I honestly hate when people do that ****...
The guy has 70+ posts....has been a member since 2007 you really think that he didnt search here and on google..
Considering I have been searching both places myself for over a month and all I come up with is premade custom roms... No reading on how to make a custom rom myself... What really gets me is that I read and I seem to be more confused..
With android running RUU's and signed.nbh's. Why do we have to update via a zip file... In the article that explains how to make a custom rom I found just today he says that RUU's dont allow any customization. Which is funny to me because Ive been cooking WM roms for years now which cooks the rom then signs and packs the nbh file into the RUU. I honestly have been looking for a kitchen but I dont think one exists as of yet...
Im not ready to load up YDL on my ps3 to figure out how to trim down an android rom.
Hopefully there will be a kitchen released on the same lines as say Ervius's Visual Kitchen. Just takes time. Took years for some real brains most being from this site and ppcgeeks to compile all the tools to make a rom like that.
Now that is helpful, posting up some bs like that is just rude and you deserved the reply. This site is to help not making it more difficult for people to learn how to do stuff. Just remember the short 11 months back when you joined did you know everything. Have you made any real attempt to contribute to this site or are all your posts from that sort of thing giving ****ty responses to serious questions.
Heres that link
http://lukasz.szmit.eu/2009/12/04/making-your-own-rooted-android-rom/
On a side note your both from NY settle it like men.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It is really not that hard to search. You mentioned him having 70+ posts... It makes him look more idiotic for not being able to find something, rather than making a new thread here.
I took 1 minute to find this post:
http://code.google.com/p/cyanogenmod/wiki/Building
Ofcourse from Google...
And to answer your question (as JA said earlier) there isn't a definitive way of cooking the rom. You either know it or you don't.
If you don't have the time to learn it, was it necessary to "rant" about how much you know and why people should just be frank about the answers on forums?
But you see what I'm talking about. YOU found another link for "cooking ROMs." If the OP actually dedicated some time, instead of thinking that he'll easily learn the language and become the next Cyanogen, he'll get some where. Developing ROMs is not an easy task, ask any of the devs, especially when you start out.
If you do not have the patience to learn and discover, you will get no where (I'm not referring directly to you). And honestly, setting up your computer to develop ROMs is, imo, the easiest part. If you can't get that, then developing will be a tedious task.
This is probably as close as you're gonna get to a guide.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=566235
(found with an xda search)
Where do I get started?
Just been wondering that as of late, how do I get around to get starting on my own build?
Any advice is helpful thanks!
They don't like to give straight answers to this question. I think it's kind of like when you first start in a trade, like when I started dong electric work, you have to pay your dues. In the case of a trade it's dong the **** work, in this case I think it's searching thousands of threads, trial and error, risking bricking your phone, etc. Nobody likes a noob taking a shortcut. Lol.
kniteshift said:
Where do I get started?
Just been wondering that as of late, how do I get around to get starting on my own build?
Any advice is helpful thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
sirstanley said:
They don't like to give straight answers to this question. I think it's kind of like when you first start in a trade, like when I started dong electric work, you have to pay your dues. In the case of a trade it's dong the **** work, in this case I think it's searching thousands of threads, trial and error, risking bricking your phone, etc. Nobody likes a noob taking a shortcut. Lol.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
While this is *sometimes* true, we here at XDA try not to make it so. However, I will say that it's quite a task and a pain in the ass to find the information one tries to look for; there really isn't a "Tutorial" section (Wiki, yes -- but with limited info). Usually, the search function will find you the information you're looking for -- if not, ALWAYS check other websites. (e.g. Android Central, Modaco's website, etc)
Case and Point:
To get started with ROM development, Icon making, and setting up a Ubuntu for the Android SDK, use these links below.
**All credit goes to Gbhil - who can be found here and at Android Central for the information found in these links!
** For ROM development
1. http://forum.androidcentral.com/hacking/6037-general-rom-faq.html
** For Customer Icons
2. http://forum.androidcentral.com/htc-hero-roms-hacks/6070-changing-hero-application-icons.html
** Setting up Ubuntu
3. http://forum.androidcentral.com/hac...ramming-envrionment-using-ubuntu-windows.html]
These should get you started, after this -- like I said earlier -- USE the search function, there is information here; otherwise search elsewhere also. Good luck.
a bit drastic, but not untrue...
actually just asking "how to" is a bit unspecific. just start by looking how others have done it. and to actually brick your phone by toying with roms is hard to do. a pretty safe way to achieve a brick would be flashing a wrong radio or spl, which is not part of rom cooking. as long as your custom recovery image boots your phone is fully working. now go and rip apart your favorite rom, and a last hint: there is actually a thread called "[how to] rom cooking" somewhere in the hero section... maybe worth a search?
kendong2 said:
a bit drastic, but not untrue...
actually just asking "how to" is a bit unspecific. just start by looking how others have done it. and to actually brick your phone by toying with roms is hard to do. a pretty safe way to achieve a brick would be flashing a wrong radio or spl, which is not part of rom cooking. as long as your custom recovery image boots your phone is fully working. now go and rip apart your favorite rom, and a last hint: there is actually a thread called "[how to] rom cooking" somewhere in the hero section... maybe worth a search?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, its by Lox_Dev -- but for a beginner, this might be overwhelming.
Just because I want to be nice: Here's the link he's talking about.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=551711
Checkout this, it's on ROM cooking:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=551711
forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=639726
For the record guys, I was just joking about the not being helpful thing. I wasn't trying to offend anyone. And I completely understand the idea behind the mindset, regardless. When someone at work comes up to me and asks me something about an android phone, I say "I have written three tutorials on troubleshooting, syncing, and basic use of the device. Go read it." After I take the time to write the **** down, it's offensive when someone just wants to ask and have their hand held instead of doing a little reading and legwork. But once again, wasn't trying to insult or piss anyone off.
sirstanley said:
For the record guys, I was just joking about the not being helpful thing. I wasn't trying to offend anyone. And I completely understand the idea behind the mindset, regardless. When someone at work comes up to me and asks me something about an android phone, I say "I have written three tutorials on troubleshooting, syncing, and basic use of the device. Go read it." After I take the time to write the **** down, it's offensive when someone just wants to ask and have their hand held instead of doing a little reading and legwork. But once again, wasn't trying to insult or piss anyone off.
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Click to collapse
I agree. I've took the time to read,search and try things.
I flashed the zip file and tried to flash it but I got a "can't find update script" Does anyone know what Im doing wrong?
tjohnsonjr said:
I flashed the zip file and tried to flash it but I got a "can't find update script" Does anyone know what Im doing wrong?
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Click to collapse
lol you probably have no update script
unzip an existing (working!) rom and check the contents of the META-INF folder, the three files in it are the signatures and can be deleted (will be recreated when signing the the file in the end). now check the subfolders, eventually you will find the update script.
LOL. The ROM I trying to flash is the early 2.0.1 release from flipz. I was just clearing out stuff I didn't want. Ill take a look at that, thanks.
I'm posting this in the Development section because that is what I am trying to learn about. Please move me if I am mis-posting this.
I'm greatly interested in the the Roms people are making and everything that is being done on these forums. If someone wanted to start to learn about these things, developing and such, where should they start? Do I need to learn Java? Are there certain books I should be reading?
I can flash my phone like its my day job now, and I haven't come across any major problems I couldn't solve by reading, but I have no idea where to start to be able to develop things myself. If any developers here could maybe throw out a few tips on how to get started, what someone should focus on learning, etc., it would be greatly appreciated! I have plenty of time and a great desire to learn so I'm not intimidated by having to do the work, I just have to have some things to focus on. Thank you in advance for any help/advice you can give me!
I always wanted to know how make roms also I was looking around the internet but couldn't find anything that will describe it step by step word for word.
Maccie
It will be a huge writeup.But im sure someone will do it. I am still learning myself. There are some good topics around but different from what we have now
topshelf95 said:
I'm posting this in the Development section because that is what I am trying to learn about. Please move me if I am mis-posting this.
I'm greatly interested in the the Roms people are making and everything that is being done on these forums. If someone wanted to start to learn about these things, developing and such, where should they start? Do I need to learn Java? Are there certain books I should be reading?
I can flash my phone like its my day job now, and I haven't come across any major problems I couldn't solve by reading, but I have no idea where to start to be able to develop things myself. If any developers here could maybe throw out a few tips on how to get started, what someone should focus on learning, etc., it would be greatly appreciated! I have plenty of time and a great desire to learn so I'm not intimidated by having to do the work, I just have to have some things to focus on. Thank you in advance for any help/advice you can give me!
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Click to collapse
There are a number of aspects to android development you have to learn to know how to build a full ROM from scratch. C is of course required for kernel building, and apps are built from java in the dalvik-vm, but can be built against sun java.
of course, to get started, you would need the android sdk available here: http://developer.android.com/sdk/index.html
then there's the cloning of the android git:
http://android.git.kernel.org/
and, specifically for the captivate, there's the captivate source code:
http://opensource.samsung.com/
then there's pulling off the vendor proprietary libs from your phone (which is a ***** and I believe you can grab them from wes's github, though I can't speak for their accuracy) here:
http://github.com/wesgarner/proprietary_vendor_samsung
building the entire android OS from source is a challenge, especially compensating for some changes Samsung has introduced. this is what a real ROM is. now if you're talking about "ROM"s like Cognition and Shep's and even Eugene's Hybrid/Frankin-Twiz... they aren't comparable. Not to belittle any of their efforts, but this is simple "drag and drop" from stuff built by Samsung. While they're very useful tools, there is little actual development going on in them. There are improvements and tweaks, for sure... but it isn't a *true* ROM. All these releases by DesignGears, Eugene, and Shep are good and effective, but it'd be a shame if they weren't because they are just files thrown together from Samsung's already compiled ROM(s). Even the AOSP Beta 3 (which I have a qualm with the name, because it isn't actually AOSP, it's files pulled from an already built AOSP tossed onto Samsung's ROM again) is just modifying binaries (decompile, edit, recompile).
for those, it's as simple as extracting the zip, replacing the files you want, and rezip it. modifying the update-script inside meta-inf if there's something you want to add.
Awesome post Kaik, thanks, I was wondering some of those too.
Thx that explained a bunch
Maccie
Thank you for taking the time to post that Kaik! It's nice to have a place to start! Anyone else have any tips or things they think might be good to check out?
last, but certainly not least and I can't believe I forgot this, is Unhelpful's toolchain to compile against:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=761923
he did a lot of testing with various combinations, and this was the best he found to reduce wakeup lag and other issues
Wow. Kaik. That was the most awesome response to that question I have ever seen. Most people just point to developer.android.com and say go learn to program and come back in 5 years.
Thank you for this very useful information. Your the man now dog.
johnyhoffman said:
Most people just point to developer.android.com and say go learn to program and come back in 5 years.
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Devs are not being mean or pissy, they are being honest and realistic. If development was just "point and click" XDA would not even be here. Give the devs/veterans a break and take it upon yourself to learn the basics and do some searches, if you are that interested.
I would love to just start making my own Android OS just the way I like too but to do that will require much more reading and learning, trying and failing.
You will probably not find "the answer" you are looking for but if you search, read and most importantly, respect the time, energy and anguish people have put into this site you will find the means to get where you want.
Otherwise you can expect... "Let me just glance and peek to see how to do this. Damn what the hell does that mean? Oh well here is a modded ROM. I'll try that. Jeez, that sucks. How do I make my own? Let me just glance and peek to see how to do this. Damn what the hell does that mean? Oh well ..." It is an endless cycle.
I'm not saying this to belittle anyone. Most have been there, including myself. I say this as a vote of confidence to all.
Hang in there, do the work, break some phones, read some books. Really! You have to!
koe1974 said:
Devs are not being mean or pissy, they are being honest and realistic. If development was just "point and click" XDA would not even be here. Give the devs/veterans a break and take it upon yourself to learn the basics and do some searches, if you are that interested.
I would love to just start making my own Android OS just the way I like too but to do that will require much more reading and learning, trying and failing.
You will probably not find "the answer" you are looking for but if you search, read and most importantly, respect the time, energy and anguish people have put into this site you will find the means to get where you want.
Otherwise you can expect... "Let me just glance and peek to see how to do this. Damn what the hell does that mean? Oh well here is a modded ROM. I'll try that. Jeez, that sucks. How do I make my own? Let me just glance and peek to see how to do this. Damn what the hell does that mean? Oh well ..." It is an endless cycle.
I'm not saying this to belittle anyone. Most have been there, including myself. I say this as a vote of confidence to all.
Hang in there, do the work, break some phones, read some books. Really! You have to!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
this times one thousand. I linked you guys to some very useful sites when it comes to actually putting android together... but understanding how it all works, actually getting a successful build, fixing bugs, etc... I can't even begin to pretend to be able to help with that. if you have little to no experience in C and Java, these things will basically be useless to you. dev's aren't being mean when they brush you off like that, but usually if you can't figure out how to google what to do with the code, they don't have high hopes for what you'll be able to do with it once you find the code.
the idea isn't to be like "f*** off" when they say that, it's more of a "we'll help you when you learn, but you're the one who needs to take the first steps and you need to take the responsibility of learning on yourself."
I was actually referring to the fact that someone like me, a hobbyist programmer for about 10 years now, can make sense of his reply and use it to go forth and actually do something. Most of the guides you find on here that are supposedly pointed at noobs, do not layout things as easily as his post did.
Wasn't criticizing anyone, but I have seen less patience nowadays for any posts such as these.
Was just saying it was a gem of a post for me personally. Maybe it doesn't help the ultra noobs and the more experienced people see it as useless, but for someone with little time right now, it was a perfect post for me.