For a complete noob, creating a ROM

[Guest izmar]

Hello Modaco forums!

I have a question. Can anyone point me in the direction of a guide on how to create a custom ROM for a complete noob?

Is this even possible? Would I need a large knowledge of programing and other things?

Possible to teach myself?

Thank you :(

[Guest stevenz]

If you have to ask rather than doing the research & experimentation, then it might pay to stick to using existing ROMs - there's probably not a lot of benefit when you've already got the people with the skill of Cyanogen, Lox, Paul, Teknologist etc. already looking after things.

Otherwise, start with an Ubuntu installation on a PC or in a VM and work from there so you get a grasp how a *nix kernel works, then take apart existing ROMs and see how they work and Google anything that doesn't make sense. That'll get you half-way, perseverance will do the rest, but I'd just use MCR or wait for a proper 2.1, because no matter how good you are, there's still bits missing from what we have available for a fully operational 2.1 that functions perfectly - only HTC can do realistically.

[Guest izmar]

If you have to ask rather than doing the research & experimentation, then it might pay to stick to using existing ROMs - there's probably not a lot of benefit when you've already got the people with the skill of Cyanogen, Lox, Paul, Teknologist etc. already looking after things.

Otherwise, start with an Ubuntu installation on a PC or in a VM and work from there so you get a grasp how a *nix kernel works, then take apart existing ROMs and see how they work and Google anything that doesn't make sense. That'll get you half-way, perseverance will do the rest, but I'd just use MCR or wait for a proper 2.1, because no matter how good you are, there's still bits missing from what we have available for a fully operational 2.1 that functions perfectly - only HTC can do realistically.

Mmm, maybe I just have a strong urge to pursue new things? I don't know why you assume that I haven't searched.. I looked around and haven't found anything specific to what I'm looking for.

I'm not looking to create the next best thing, I would just like to get an idea of how things work. You have to start somewhere..

I have a dual boot with ubuntu set up on my laptop, I guess I'll have to start practicing the basics and learning that more.

Are there no guides available?

[Guest r00tk1t]

I have a question. Can anyone point me in the direction of a guide on how to create a custom ROM for a complete noob?

Look here...

[Guest TheAshMan]

dsixda has created an awesome kitchen for beginners, and it lets you learn how to build a custom ROM. I've used it to build my own ROM (which is what my Hero is now using).

You can find it at the XDA forums here. It can automate quite a few things for you. I didn't use the root option, I did that part manually - all of copying 2 files and adding one line to the update-script otherwise it kept breaking my ROM and causing flash errors.

There's a few tutorials in the first post, and loads more informative articles if you have a look around. Have a play and see what you can do, and obviously don't be shy to ask.

I had to flash my Hero over 20 times before I finally got a ROM working the way I wanted it, but that's probably because I was a complete n00b.

Edited March 2, 2010 by TheAshMan