Hello Everybody!
I'm sure this has been covered but I haven't found a tutorial or guide for the samsung captivate. I had ACL surgery today and I've decided i have the time to invest in creating a rom based on the things I like from other roms. Where do I start this process? Can i just mix files from within the .zips from other roms? or is there a file that tells the rom which files to install/access?
I've really enjoyed a lot of the ROM's that I have been flashing on my phone but I keep running into the same problem on all of them except one. Text messages occasionally go to the wrong person...and this is scary and unacceptable for me.
Some links to other threads or websites would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you for your time.
sdp07d said:
Hello Everybody!
I'm sure this has been covered but I haven't found a tutorial or guide for the samsung captivate. I had ACL surgery today and I've decided i have the time to invest in creating a rom based on the things I like from other roms. Where do I start this process? Can i just mix files from within the .zips from other roms? or is there a file that tells the rom which files to install/access?
I've really enjoyed a lot of the ROM's that I have been flashing on my phone but I keep running into the same problem on all of them except one. Text messages occasionally go to the wrong person...and this is scary and unacceptable for me.
Some links to other threads or websites would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you for your time.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, rom cooking is pretty easy.
As long as you know that component x is compatible with rom y, all you need to do is open the ROM in winrar/7z and drop the new file in, replacing the old one. No reason to unpack / repack. The only thing that can be a problem is the update-script, which resides in META-INF/com/google/android. It's a script that tells the phone "this is what you're doing with all of the stuff in this zip", if you modify a ROM like Axura or Perception, the update-script shouldn't need to be changed.
If you DO want to unpack and repack it, that's fine. Make sure you don't compress them into a sub directory (Update.zip > update > updates/system/meta-inf). Compress the updates/system/meta-inf/data whatever into it's own folder named whatever.zip, then sign the .zip via SignApk;
Code:
java -jar Signapk.jar certification.pem key.pk8 update.zip updatesigned.zip
Then flash it with CWM. Be aware however that in order for kernels(zImage) and modems(Modem.bin) and SBL(secondary boot loader) to be installed via CWM, the redband_ua exploit must be present in the updates folder; and the necessary commands for red_band must be present in the update-script.
Related
Hey folks,
Setup:
Windows XP with 1.6 with a full 1.6 SDK / development env. up and running.
Issue: Every time I attempt to edit a file in Maxisma's G1/MAGIC/32B rom I get "This zip file is corrupted". I am currently trying to take my first steps with ROM / theme editing and I'm having some difficulties. I've got signing down... I just need to understand why I can't go into a rom zip file > replace a file with one that is the exact same size and resign it. Every time I try and replace a file with one I've created I get a zip file corruption error.
What I am trying to do: Replace the HTC boot screen without replacing my SPL. I rather flash a new rom I build instead of risk bricking my MyTouch I just bought. I understand I can flash the SPL via Amon_RAs recommendations, and then use fastboot to push a new splash screen, but I rather just modify an existing rom, resign it and then flash my device after making a backup.
So.
Question: How do I edit a existing rom like the one I have listed above that I know already works on my device, resign it, and flash it? All I want to do is edit the splash screen currently in the rom without risking blowing up my device.
Can anyone give me a insightful answer?
Note: I have a perfect SPL device... making everything a bigger pain in the ass.
Hello:
I'm interested in creating and maintaining a custom rom for the Samsung Galaxy S. I've read a ton of tutorials and guides - on site and off - but I'm unable to get started due to one small problem.
After downloading the base firmware I'd like to use (specifically UGJK3 - firmware for Bell Canada) and opening it, I see a .tar file, and within that I see the following files:
param.lfs, zImage, modem.bin, cache.rfs, factoryfs.rfs.
I've mounted the .rfs files, but I'm still unable to cook the rom due to the absence of the system.img and boot.img files. I'm using the HTC Android kitchen to cook the rom, and it requires these files (or an update.zip file, etc) in order to start cooking.
I've searched far and wide, but I'm unable to find an answer on how to create these two .img files from the stock firmware provided by Samsung.
Any help is appreciated.
Thanks.
So, I've done a bit more research and apparently the way Samsung handles their firmware is different than other manufacturers. This leads me to believe that I must convert their rom into a usuable format before attempting to import it in the HTC Kitchen.
However, I'm unsure how to exactly do this.
I'm going to try flashing the stock firmware then performing a nandroid backup, then using that to create my custom rom. It'd be much, much easier if I knew how to just create the .IMG files from the Samsung firmware.
Anyone have an idea on how to do this?
Last bump before I give up.
Hi Guys,
I'm coming from Windows Mobile 6.5 where theming was a bit different:
When I started with 6.5 I used to think the only way to change the look of my phone interface was to flash a custom rom, but then I realized I could theme individual components (6.5 theme, Taskbar, Icons, Start Menu, ect) and it turned out to be pretty easy.
With Android I'm begining to think the opposite exists, is it basically true that in order for me to change the colors of the taskbar, or menus, taskbar icons - I have to use a custom rom?
I have been reading over these threads for the past three days and I have learned a lot, but I'm still confused...
I used to do M2D themes and change the xml and such, but when I read the Android theming guides ALL of it seems foreign to me...does't seem like I can just swap out pngs for pngs I made in Photoshop Am I making this seem more difficult than it is?
Are there individual themes for my taskbar, dialer, ect (not roms)? And if so can a former Windows Phone user explain them in comparison to installing a cab?
I know I have a ton of questions so any help at all would be appreciated
Thanks
MEGA MAN
There are MANY apps out there that will allow you to make these changes. Do some searches on the market and you'll find them. Do some research into rooting your phone (at your own risk) which will allow even more options.
You do not have to use a custom ROM to theme your phone, but it makes it a lot easier overall. AFAIK, you still have to have your phone rooted to theme more than icons.
To theme images, it really is just swapping out your images for the images already there as long as they contain the same dimensions, format (pretty much always .png), and name.
The .xml files are easiest to edit if you have decompiled the apk with a tool call apktool, because then they are in readable format.
Apktool is also really great for getting .9.png's in decompiled format with the stock guidelines intact.
You can theme various different components with an app called Metamorph or Ninjamorph, otherwise, you're going to have all your different parts together.
I've been theming android for getting close to two years now, so if you would like more help, you can PM/email (david1667jones gmail) me for more specific answers.
megaman - ain't it a trip coming from WM to android? yeah...WM seems such a simpler way. especially CHT2...that is really the best modding system ever.
been experimenting for the past 2-3 weeks and have been successful. (even have a usable CM7 theme that i may post...)
so let's hash this out. maybe teach eacho other a thing or two. if i am being too basic, let me know.
apk - like a cab. tricky thing is that (i believe) if you edit an apk, you replace the entire apk. unlike a cab where you can replace 1 single file. there are theme programs (metamorph - haven't used it, ADW and others that allow replacement with a single file...but they take a little work. nothing easy like cabs for WM.)
to begin you need 7zip (or winrar i hear works.) this will allow you to open apks, replace files and restore them in seconds:
http://www.7-zip.org/
i assume your rom is rooted (i really don't understand the term, but it allows freedom to mod your phone. i am using an HD2 - WM phone - running nand android so by default my phone is rooted.)
let's explore - take any apk and open it with 7zip. you will see 3 files (this is off of memory as i am at work right now.) open them and look around. ((want to find your installed apks and back them up? search market for Astro. (settings> backup and save your apks to your sd card)))
under res you will see drawable folders - this is the jackpot. in there you will see your images. there is a lot of redundancy in apks. the trick is finding the right image. try changing some, etc. this is the most basic of theming.
before moving on to xmls, etc (which there are quite good guides for this) just try the above. when you replace the files move up the folder hierarchy and it will ask you something about saving/restoring - cilck yes. the apk is now modded.
install the apk and see the changes.
however, if you are editing the core apks - system and framework-res, we will need to talk about how to do that (i use clockworkmod flashing...easy to do.)
let me know if this helps.
Thank you guys so much for your knowledge!
I do have my phone rooted and I have bootloader installed
The one reason I thought that I had to download a "ROM" is because I keep reading about having to be deodexed in order to modify...and I was underthe impression that most custom roms provide this deodexing?
on to APK's...I do have 7Zip and I have opened some up and found where the graphics are...now I am actually extracting the apk so I can manually go through each folder and see whats there including graphics...there does seem to be another way of opening the APK with 7Zip and not actually extracting it, but I don't thing I can actually see the image previews this way. >>>so I extract, change my desired images, re-zip and change the file extention back to .apk - BUT then I read about signing APK's? ...and signing zips?
After some researching I found a thread in which someone posted something like they make a copy of there current ROM "theme?" and then copy it in zip form on to their PC where they goe through all of the desired APKs and then Zip it back together and install it from the screen that you get to after holding the power button and home (recovery screen maybe?) <<< Anyway is this possible? This seem most like what we did in windows phone...but again I think where I'm getting caught up is the signing aspect...I've seen auto signers, but I feel like the ones I've seen were only for XP and I have Windows 7.
Woo... ok wrote a lot there - if you have anytime to elaborate on anything, I'd be happy to hear.
...and jsmccabe - that HD2 is one awesome device...I remember everybody asking if Windows 7 would everbe available and now you guys are dual booting with WP7 and Android - AWESOME!!! (if I didnt have Verizon
megaman...sorry it took a bit. "real life" and all that...
megaman 2 said:
The one reason I thought that I had to download a "ROM" is because I keep reading about having to be deodexed in order to modify...and I was underthe impression that most custom roms provide this deodexing?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
- not sure what deodexed means. is your rom cm7? if so, tmobile themes is an "easy" way to make a theme.
- are you theming to share or for yourself? if the latter just replace the the files in your rom and flashe the rom. if the former, what type of rom?
megaman 2 said:
on to APK's...I do have 7Zip and I have opened some up and found where the graphics are...now I am actually extracting the apk so I can manually go through each folder and see whats there including graphics...there does seem to be another way of opening the APK with 7Zip and not actually extracting it, but I don't thing I can actually see the image previews this way. >>>so I extract, change my desired images, re-zip and change the file extention back to .apk - BUT then I read about signing APK's? ...and signing zips?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
- you can extract to make life easier. but when you are ready to make the changes just drag the new icons into the original apk. it will update it for you and you can install it and done.
megaman 2 said:
After some researching I found a thread in which someone posted something like they make a copy of there current ROM "theme?" and then copy it in zip form on to their PC where they goe through all of the desired APKs and then Zip it back together and install it from the screen that you get to after holding the power button and home (recovery screen maybe?) <<< Anyway is this possible? This seem most like what we did in windows phone...but again I think where I'm getting caught up is the signing aspect...I've seen auto signers, but I feel like the ones I've seen were only for XP and I have Windows 7.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
CWM themes are pretty easy to do. i started with this, the problem is it replaces the entire apk to replace 1 image. which if you are modifying systemui or frameworks, may overwrite other things (colors that you didn't want to.) easiest thing to do....find an already established CWM theme and keeping the same structure, replace the images and flash via CWM.
let me know if you want more details...cheers and good luck!
Hi All,
Can anyone advise whether the following should work with Doc's JS8 and CWM recovery?
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=8674580#post8674580
Rather than follow all the instructions, I just used the powermenu_final.zip at the end of the post and tried to flash the zip but it just sits there when flashing.
I'm not sure if it's me or the zip. If I knew it would work, I have no problems if I'll have to do it manually, but if the zip file provided in the post doesn't work it doesn't instill a lot of confidence.
Essentially, I want to learn how to do it so I can create my own update.zip containing other things as well.
Ultimately, I'd like to use the UOT Kitchen to get myself a battery mod, then add the changes to make an extended menu, and then finally add a few wallpapers, apk's etc. Then package it all up as an update.zip and flash it all.
If anyone can recommend a good guide, or advise whether the above post *should* work on my Galaxy S it would be appreciated.
Thanks
gleff1 said:
Hi All,
Can anyone advise whether the following should work with Doc's JS8 and CWM recovery?
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=8674580#post8674580
Rather than follow all the instructions, I just used the powermenu_final.zip at the end of the post and tried to flash the zip but it just sits there when flashing.
I'm not sure if it's me or the zip. If I knew it would work, I have no problems if I'll have to do it manually, but if the zip file provided in the post doesn't work it doesn't instill a lot of confidence.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, if you follow the instructions this guide still works.
But for JS8 you have to change the ressource ids to some unused values.
The update file you tried doesn't work because JS8 uses other resource ids than the one the update was built for. I'm sure you'll understand this after decompiling the files.
gleff1, I have successfully made the menu for JS* for this statement, but with minor amendments.
To create update.zip use it.
Try my update.zip, should work on all JS*:
MCOGW said:
Yes, if you follow the instructions this guide still works.
But for JS8 you have to change the ressource ids to some unused values.
The update file you tried doesn't work because JS8 uses other resource ids than the one the update was built for. I'm sure you'll understand this after decompiling the files.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok thanks.. I don't understand where to get the resource id's yet but i'll play around tomorrow night after work and decompile the files and see if it makes more sense then.
Incidently, do I just grab the files that need decompiling from the phone, or some other theme? Eg. Are they all in the system folder on the phone itself?
Lar3s said:
gleff1, I have successfully made the menu for JS* for this statement, but with minor amendments.
To create update.zip use it.
Try my update.zip, should work on all JS*:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Awesome... thanks for that.. i'll have a look.
Edit: That worked great.. So that I can learn how to do it myself i'll decompile your working one and compare it to the guide. This should be a fun weekend learning this stuff.
Thanks heaps guys. Makes a lot of sense now. I'll have a play later on.
gleff1, use for jar apktool. To avoid typing commands manually, you can use ready-made set of scripts (author sk0t from 4pda.ru; inside the archive is a readme, though in Russian):
Hi all,
My question is aimed to head deep into the Android OS and the flashing process itself. I know that if I flash my phone with a new ROM that system files are replaced and also some other files too. My question is how is this done? Is there an exact order in which the files have to be replaced, and are they "just" overwritten or are they deleted first and then the new ones put in place?
Forgive me if this question has already been answered. I really tried my best to find answers on Google and in here.
Thanks in advance for any enlightening comment.
Open up an update-script and your dilemma will be solved
Sent from my GT-I9000 using Tapatalk
Essentially, like the previous reply mentioned the android OS is heavily partitioned, but has a lot of sneaky mount points to hide this fact.
Really all a CWM flashable zip does is follow a script, easily readable in the zip, to copy files throughout the OS partition.
If you look in the zip you'll see a few things, the biggest thing here is the /System folder. It contains the entirety of the system partition that makes your ROM /Your ROM/. Also you'll see boot.img which is the kernel (and CWM). A modem.bin file is also present, but to my understanding is only flashed if one is not currently present.
When looking at CM9's zip, you'll see an updater.sh. This is the shell script that's run on using CWMs install function.
It's process checks a few environment things and installs (copys over /system) based on this.
Check out the script, it's really interesting.
Thanks to all of you
I will have a look inside a script then.