[GUIDE] Building your own Flashable ROM

[Guest WinJo69]

can you send me a screen shot of what is going on? I cannot believe this is happening on 3 separate PCs. Maybe I left something out of my guide?

If it doesn't work I'll send you a newer kitchen.

See Attached. Thanks for still looking into this.

One is running from the command line.

The other is if I try and just run Build OS directly.

Edited July 10, 2010 by WinJo69

[Guest amdzero]

See Attached. Thanks for still looking into this.

One is running from the command line.

The other is if I try and just run Build OS directly.

can you try this in a command prompt from your kitchen...

Tools\BuildOS.exe

if you run buildos.exe by itself it will fail

it must be run from the root, so I finds the other files.

also can you tell me what files are under "Tools" ?

[Guest WinJo69]

can you try this in a command prompt from your kitchen...

Tools\BuildOS.exe

if you run buildos.exe by itself it will fail

it must be run from the root, so I finds the other files.

also can you tell me what files are under "Tools" ?

The wheels fall off it right away with BuildOS.exe. No idea why it won't run this executable on my PC.

I got 42 files in the Tools Directory. I've reset it a dozen times from the Stock kitchen from first posting.

Edited July 10, 2010 by WinJo69

[Guest amdzero]

The wheels fall off it right away with BuildOS.exe. No idea why it won't run this executable on my PC.

I got 42 files in the Tools Directory. I've reset it a dozen times from the Stock kitchen from first posting.

what is the size on disk that Buildos.exe takes up?

[Guest WinJo69]

what is the size on disk that Buildos.exe takes up?

Its a 71KB File.

I was talking with Ninja on PM, do you think it might be a 64BIt OS issue?

All My Machines are running 64Bit.

I actually got it running on an OLD 32 Bit Windows XP SP1 machine but its so slow I can't really use it.

[Guest amdzero]

Its a 71KB File.

I was talking with Ninja on PM, do you think it might be a 64BIt OS issue?

All My Machines are running 64Bit.

I actually got it running on an OLD 32 Bit Windows XP SP1 machine but its so slow I can't really use it.

I'm using win 7 64-bit

not sure why its not working for you.

[Guest WinJo69]

SOLVED!

MS Visual C++ 2008 Redistributable was needed!!! (I had 2005 installed, but that was not good enough)

Works fine now - (DOH!)

I already followed through all of the guides and was able to compile it and load it. It works great!

Now - Finally On to the Good Stuff!!!!

Lots and lots of questions!!

How do I remove Core pieces that are not covered in your 3 part 'How to Guides'?

For Example Office, Getting Started, City ID?

These items are not in the outlined initflashfiles.dat, or referenced .rgu file

Updating .NET Framework?

Updating Flash?

Remapping buttons? (Like after I remove 'Cube')

I want to strip it down to the smallest possible size, with the latest OS before I start adding stuff back in. I also plan to leave the Widgets and as much of the stock Samsung Menu in place as possible. Then I'll work to put stuff back into it.

Lastly - AMDZero - Jinbox - for default Messaging - I love that you got this set for default, (but its not threaded on your ROM) How did you make it default?

Yes. I know a lot of questions! -

But like I said, I knew that once I got started it was gonna be ugly for me - (very addictive personality here!- :) )

Edited July 15, 2010 by WinJo69

[Guest Ninja4Hire]

How do I remove Core pieces that are not covered in your 3 part 'How to Guides'?

For Example Office, Getting Started, City ID?

These items are not in the outlined initflashfiles.dat, or referenced .rgu file

Updating .NET Framework?

Updating Flash?

Remapping buttons? (Like after I remove 'Cube')

I want to strip it down to the smallest possible size, with the latest OS before I start adding stuff back in. I also plan to leave the Widgets and as much of the stock Samsung Menu in place as possible. Then I'll work to put stuff back into it.

Lastly - AMDZero - Jinbox - for default Messaging - I love that you got this set for default, (but its not threaded on your ROM) How did you make it default?

Yes. I know a lot of questions! -

But like I said, I knew that once I got started it was gonna be ugly for me - (very addictive personality here!- :) )

Glad your up and running!

1. If you want to remove Office which is a system file, you will need to delete all the Office folders in the SYS folder.

2. City Id: start by deleting any & everything in your OEMApps folder with the word "cityid" in it :D

3. Depending on what build you have. If you do need to update .Net, the easiest way is to download a new build and just steal the NetCF folder out of it. delete yours and use that one.

4. Adobe Flash will also be in your SYS folder. If you have a new package ( I have no idea if there is even a newer build out there), then you will remove this and user yours.

5. Cube button can be found in the OEM > OEM_Land_0409 >rgu file.

6. If you are gonna strip it down and rebuild it like the 6 million dollar man, you are gonna have to do a lot of trial and error.

Now that you know how to build, try porting a new build. Next scan thru the OEMApps folder and remove obvious stuff & stuff from initflashfiles.dat, then remove (and save) stuff you are not sure about that looks useless.

[Guest unchoney]

Hey master chefs i am still having problem with getting the flash nbo showing the size it should, it seems like hit and miss..usually i have to redownload the oem file and extract(with 7zip not rar) i could not seem to get the flash to show the size after initail extraction and buildrom.cmd. My first attempt of pulling opera out i could not get notepad++ to pull up in rgu files at all?? I went in and removed vztones per the instructions and used the create bat file to remove stuf. ran the buildrom.cmd ok with no problems or errors but again the flashrom showed 0 for size. It seemed once the cmd screen got to creating imgf file it ran the next step like it skipped the process instead of taking time like it did when i first ran it and got the usual size. help! btw thanks amd for getting to this point!

[Guest WinJo69]

Hey Gang,

when someone gets a chance could you give me some tips on removing the excess entry options; ( Block Recognizer, Letter recognizer, keyboard), I just want to leave swype. I'm getting more confident in this cooking thing. In that I mean I'll flash any ROM that compiles :angry: . I'm still working on shrinking it down to the smallest possible functional size before I start working on adding anything back into it. I'll say this much.... you guys make it look EASY - ( and it's def. not)

Thanks in advance

Edited July 14, 2010 by WinJo69

[Guest amdzero]

Hey Gang,

when someone gets a chance could you give me some tips on removing the excess entry options; ( Block Recognizer, Letter recognizer, keyboard), I just want to leave swype. I'm getting more confident in this cooking thing. In that I mean I'll flash any ROM that compiles :angry: . I'm still working on shrinking it down to the smallest possible functional size before I start working on adding anything back into it. I'll say this much.... you guys make it look EASY - ( and it's def. not)

Thanks in advance

Well as far as the Samsung keyboard, remove all traces of xt9. There are a lot of files in oemapps for it.

[Guest xlightwaverx]

Ok, I hear ya with the questions, and I agree with the stripping down part first. Once I flashed a ROM and figured out how to do it, I haven't done it since. I am just looking for ways to MAXIMIZE the minimization process of this stock Rom. I read somewhere that you can run winmo applications through visual studio. I spent some time, ended up getting visual studio 2010, realized after numerous attempts to open winmo applications, that 2010 is only made for windows 7, nothing else lower than that.

So now I am on a mission to purchase, ahum, visual studio 2008, since it supports our OS's. With VS2008, you should be able to run the applications (IE, the EXEs, and the DLLs that are in our ROMS right on our PCs, SO...

In theory, you will be able to run every EXE and DLL, and therefore KNOW exactly what every EXE and DLL do, so you can responsibly decide whether you want to keep these "features/applications/libraries" in your ROM. And if you don't know whether or not something depends on it or not, check out my dependency report in this forum :D

Combining these two resources, I cannot come up with any other way to successfully reduce ROM size more than that while not sacrificing functionality.

Phew,

X

SOLVED!

MS Visual C++ 2008 Redistributable was needed!!! (I had 2005 installed, but that was not good enough)

Works fine now - (DOH!)

I already followed through all of the guides and was able to compile it and load it. It works great!

Now - Finally On to the Good Stuff!!!!

Lots and lots of questions!!

How do I remove Core pieces that are not covered in your 3 part 'How to Guides'?

For Example Office, Getting Started, City ID?

These items are not in the outlined initflashfiles.dat, or referenced .rgu file

Updating .NET Framework?

Updating Flash?

Remapping buttons? (Like after I remove 'Cube')

I want to strip it down to the smallest possible size, with the latest OS before I start adding stuff back in. I also plan to leave the Widgets and as much of the stock Samsung Menu in place as possible. Then I'll work to put stuff back into it.

Lastly - AMDZero - Jinbox - for default Messaging - I love that you got this set for default, (but its not threaded on your ROM) How did you make it default?

Yes. I know a lot of questions! -

But like I said, I knew that once I got started it was gonna be ugly for me - (very addictive personality here!- :angry: )

[Guest waremike32]

Combining these two resources, I cannot come up with any other way to successfully reduce ROM size more than that while not sacrificing functionality.

There is one other thing, the compression algorithm. Right now, the i920 kitchen uses XPR. I'm working on implementing LZX, which will yield more free mem than XPR. The kitchen will take longer to build the rom and first boot will likely be longer, but after that, you shouldn't see any decline in performance. Since I don't have a device to test on, I'm waiting to hear back from a tester to see if my latest attempt was successful. I'll post here if/when it's ready. I think the only snag I hit was freeing up some space in the xip.bin to fit the modified cecompr.dll. I removed the storage card encryption dll to make room, and I think the xip.bin rebuilt properly. If someone needs that dll, then you'll just have to move another (maybe 2) dll out of XIP and into the OEM, like the lso dlls for example. Anyway, I'll post back here as it progresses.

[Guest WinJo69]

How do you pick which OS Update to use?

It seems like 23569 is the highest number the chefs here are using, but I also still see a lot of activity with 21909?

Usually I would think that the higher the build number the more current the code within it. (28232)

But that does not seem to hold true. Also what about the different COM's (1 2 3 4 5 6)

I already walked through the OS upgrade exercise, but I want to understand WHY I would choose one over the other?

If you go by last modified then the numbers really don't make any sense!

Just a little more education Please.

Thanks!

[Guest amdzero]

How do you pick which OS Update to use?

It seems like 23569 is the highest number the chefs here are using, but I also still see a lot of activity with 21909?

Usually I would think that the higher the build number the more current the code within it. (28232)

But that does not seem to hold true. Also what about the different COM's (1 2 3 4 5 6)

I already walked through the OS upgrade exercise, but I want to understand WHY I would choose one over the other?

If you go by last modified then the numbers really don't make any sense!

Just a little more education Please.

Thanks!

okay so basically these are builds that are sent to the companies to test out. They are NOT releases from MS, but rather "leaks" from places that remain anonymous for obvious reasons.

that said, here is a simple breakdown:

217xx - 219xx is COM1 - based on the older system. this is WinMo 6.5 This is based on the older 6.5 but new features are added.

218xx is COM2 - was a continuation of an older COM1 and is no longer updated

230xx is COM3 - not updated anymore as COM5 has taken over

234xx is COM4 - not many updates, and appears to be abandoned

235xx is COM5 - this is the newer 6.5.5 windows and is considered the newest WinMo out there.

280xx is WMD - this has not been updated in quite a while and WAS the newest releases usually working on IE mostly. This build branched off of COM3 a while ago.

it was thought that COM5 and WMD would be combined and the best features of each would be used and called the official 6.5.5

There is NO official release of 6.5.5

6.5 is not dead, as you can see there are regular releases as some ppl prefer to use 6.5 vs. 6.5.5

the biggest most noticeable difference between them is the placement of the start menu flag, and the graphic "touch friendly" buttons on the bottom bar.

6.5.5 has some disadvantages especially for programs not designed to handle the smaller taskbar and larger startbar.

as of this writing, the latest COM1 is 21911, and the latest COM5 is 23569. There hasn't been a new release of 6.5.5 in quite some time.

There are other build numbers out there and they are usually device dependent...

236xx is for LG devices

24xxx is for HTC devices

213xx is for Motorola devices

215xx is for Samsung devices

[Guest WinJo69]

That helped a lot!

Thank you!

[Guest Mr.DunnDunn]

okay so basically these are builds that are sent to the companies to test out. They are NOT releases from MS, but rather "leaks" from places that remain anonymous for obvious reasons.

that said, here is a simple breakdown:

217xx - 219xx is COM1 - based on the older system. this is WinMo 6.5 This is based on the older 6.5 but new features are added.

218xx is COM2 - was a continuation of an older COM1 and is no longer updated

230xx is COM3 - not updated anymore as COM5 has taken over

234xx is COM4 - not many updates, and appears to be abandoned

235xx is COM5 - this is the newer 6.5.5 windows and is considered the newest WinMo out there.

280xx is WMD - this has not been updated in quite a while and WAS the newest releases usually working on IE mostly. This build branched off of COM3 a while ago.

it was thought that COM5 and WMD would be combined and the best features of each would be used and called the official 6.5.5

There is NO official release of 6.5.5

6.5 is not dead, as you can see there are regular releases as some ppl prefer to use 6.5 vs. 6.5.5

Where can I look for the latest COM5 files? I want top start a rom with 6.5.5 while using your guide

the biggest most noticeable difference between them is the placement of the start menu flag, and the graphic "touch friendly" buttons on the bottom bar.

6.5.5 has some disadvantages especially for programs not designed to handle the smaller taskbar and larger startbar.

as of this writing, the latest COM1 is 21911, and the latest COM5 is 23569. There hasn't been a new release of 6.5.5 in quite some time.

There are other build numbers out there and they are usually device dependent...

236xx is for LG devices

24xxx is for HTC devices

213xx is for Motorola devices

215xx is for Samsung devices

[Guest Mr.DunnDunn]

okay so basically these are builds that are sent to the companies to test out. They are NOT releases from MS, but rather "leaks" from places that remain anonymous for obvious reasons.

that said, here is a simple breakdown:

217xx - 219xx is COM1 - based on the older system. this is WinMo 6.5 This is based on the older 6.5 but new features are added.

218xx is COM2 - was a continuation of an older COM1 and is no longer updated

230xx is COM3 - not updated anymore as COM5 has taken over

234xx is COM4 - not many updates, and appears to be abandoned

235xx is COM5 - this is the newer 6.5.5 windows and is considered the newest WinMo out there.

280xx is WMD - this has not been updated in quite a while and WAS the newest releases usually working on IE mostly. This build branched off of COM3 a while ago.

it was thought that COM5 and WMD would be combined and the best features of each would be used and called the official 6.5.5

There is NO official release of 6.5.5

6.5 is not dead, as you can see there are regular releases as some ppl prefer to use 6.5 vs. 6.5.5

the biggest most noticeable difference between them is the placement of the start menu flag, and the graphic "touch friendly" buttons on the bottom bar.

6.5.5 has some disadvantages especially for programs not designed to handle the smaller taskbar and larger startbar.

as of this writing, the latest COM1 is 21911, and the latest COM5 is 23569. There hasn't been a new release of 6.5.5 in quite some time.

There are other build numbers out there and they are usually device dependent...

236xx is for LG devices

24xxx is for HTC devices

213xx is for Motorola devices

215xx is for Samsung devices

Where can I look for the latest COM5 files? I want top start a rom with 6.5.5 while using your guide

sorry about the double post. FF was acting up

Edited July 17, 2010 by Mr.DunnDunn

[Guest amdzero]

Where can I look for the latest COM5 files? I want top start a rom with 6.5.5 while using your guide

sorry about the double post. FF was acting up

http://joojoobee666.ppckitchen.org/Kitchens/23569/

[Guest Mr.DunnDunn]

http://joojoobee666.ppckitchen.org/Kitchens/23569/

Thanks for the link and the guide.

[Guest WinJo69]

Whenever a chef gets a chance - please

Question on an error.

Upgrading the OS is working OK - Even getting the xip update to go thru ok, but I get an error message and the widget bar crashes. This has happened to me before when just messing around with the stock OS. I was changing the file permissions to make it easier to open\read find (removing the read only, system, hidden file attributes). It always worked fine whenever I did not change file permissions. In this case I am updating the OS to 21911 directly to the stock ROM, so I expected everything to be there and functional. I get this error message and the start menu is blank.

Error message on startup

\windows\onlinewidget\jsplugins\jcustom-armv4i.dll

error on start up - then widget bar crashes

Start menu is blank

Again. I am trying to leave as much of the Stock look and feel in place.

Thanks in advance!

[Guest Mr.DunnDunn]

when you get an error that says a file already exists in the temp directory, how do you fix that?

it says

temp/dump/gpsid.dll/imageinfo.bin already exists

[Guest amdzero]

when you get an error that says a file already exists in the temp directory, how do you fix that?

it says

temp/dump/gpsid.dll/imageinfo.bin already exists

delete the gpsid folder from sys folder.

it is a duplicate, as gpsid is already somewhere in the OEM folder.

if you have a duplicate file then you have to search and delete one or the other.

if it says something like xxx is a folder not a file, then you usually have a dll, exe, or mui folder that has not been recmodded.

basically you have to remove the dll folder, or the dll file (but not the one in the dll folder)

example:

in oem\oemapps I have a file called whatever.dll

in my sys\shell folder I have a folder called whatever.dll

in this folder I have a few files like imageinfo.bin, s0000, s0001, and whatever.dll

I cannot cook this rom because there is a duplicate.

I have to either get rid of oem\oemapps\whatever.dll file

or get rid of sys\shell\whatever.dll folder

make sense?

[Guest xlightwaverx]

And is someone goin to release or at least PM me the location of the latest OS's. I need the latest 6.5, 6.5.3, and 6.5.5 :angry:

X

in your kitchen root folder, do a search for that .dsm (too long to type) and see if there are duplicates. if not, post the folder that it resides in.

EDIT:

you know I just did a quick search and found that this file "3346da5d-3675-4a67-925e-75f623184bda.dsm" is located in the XIP. If you find a dulicate, then the one in the ROM\XIP folder should be left.

[Guest amdzero]

And is someone goin to release or at least PM me the location of the latest OS's. I need the latest 6.5, 6.5.3, and 6.5.5 :angry:

X

if you look in the guide you'll find the link, but for short reference...

http://joojoobee666.ppckitchen.org/Kitchens/?C=M;O=D

(see earlier post for version meanings)