Custom roms *no kitchen or anything like that*
 

Hi i am looking at working on my own custom rom but have no idea where to start and what tools to use. i see on the ftp there is some documentation about command line stuff but i have not dug in deep to anything yet.

I have no expertise when it comes to ROM development, however, I'd recommend the threads that are sticky'ed to the top of the forum... they have lots of info that may help.

(Yes I know sticky'ed is not a word and it should be stuck, but sticky'ed sounds more like forum jargon ;))

I am in the same boat. I am doing it becuase I like to learn and have never tried anything like this before, basically my goal right now is to build just one application (Phone Alarm is what I chose) into a rom so I can say I know how to so it from almost scratch, then I may think about doing something more in depth.

Here is what I have figured out and can share, please I am a noob, so anyone feel free to correct me or point out an easier way, I am not giving complete instructions there are instructions on how to use the tools in the threads that supply them.

I first downloaded the updated rom from my carrier (TELUS), then I opened the file in winrar to extract the RUU_signed.nbh file, then I used nbhextract on the RUU_signed.nbh to seperate that into the a bunch of .nb files. I am only interested in the OS.nb and I used ImgFS Tools Version 2 convert that to a bin and to create the dump(basically seems like a listing of all the files, folders etc... in the rom. Then I used bepe's package tools which seems to put it all into OEM and SYS folders. That is basically as far as I have completed. From my understanding the next steps seem better documented IMO but also seem to be the most complex and time consuming (took me 3 noob man hours of reading and fiddling just to get phonealarm ready put in) and I haven't completed the rest of the steps but they are listed in the wiki http://wiki.ppcgeeks.com/index.php?title=Kitchen under the heading Creating an OEM Package.

Like I said I am a noob, but I think I'm on the right track. I wouldn't have even answered this for fear of giving wrong info but I have had a lot of difficulty getting help myself trying to tackle the bare bones of this is definately not cake and after going through the work of getting phonealarm cooked in....I'm not sure if I will continue to try and make my own roms or not.

i was thinking i could use wide awake's custom rom tools from 6700 but i guess not... ain't most the programming a custom rom the same as the apache or no?

and by the way guys... this stuff is a steep learning curve you gotta sit down with it for a couple hours or days... took me about 5 hours to learn and reflashing to figure out how to do most stuff... you can do it too!

From what have I read the 6800 is very different to the 6700.

the flash layout of the 6800 is very differnt form the 6700 - but that's a good thing in this case - more similar to other devices than the 6700. Their's a kitchen in the works, so unless you really like doing it the hard way, I'd hang loose.

I have only just gotten into creating roms, have had some success, this is what I do to create them... Figured this might start some conversations back/forth.

First, make sure you put the OliPro HardSPL on your titan so you don't wreck it.

Most of the tools below can be found searching with google and using the site tag "site:xda-developers" in the search box. The main tools I use are tadzio's imgfs tools, bepe's pkgtool, and bepe's BuildOS (I have had to get BuildOS from one of the kitchens on xda-developers - have not found one separately)

Here is the approx order:

nbhtool or nbhextract - extract RUU_Signed.nbh into its component parts
nbsplit - convert the .nb of the OS above into .payload & .extra parts
imgfsfromnb - convert the .nb.payload into imgfs.bin
imgfstodump - convert the imgfs.bin into dump directory
pkgtool - convert dump directory into "packages"

This is where you modify and add stuff
pay close attention to initflashfiles.dat
Other useful tools for modifying the rom are G'Relloc (relocate modules from other hardware so it runs on the titan) and BuildDSM (creates DSM files for you).

BuildOS - "un-pkgtools" the dump directory into a new "temp" directory - needs to be run from the dump directory and needs to have a "tools" directory where some of the programs it uses lives. Also needs a copy of the boot.rgu from the XIP in dump/ROM/XIP (can be obtained using RomMaster and xipport tools).


imgfsfromdump - convert new "temp" directory into imgfs.bin
imgfstonb - convert new imgfs.bin into os.nb.payload
nbmerge - convert os.nb.payload into os.nb
nbhgen/nbhtool - convert os.nb back into RUU_signed.nb

I have sucessfully dumped the alltel rom, removed components, modified registry used packages from Pandora's Kitchen (you can find it on xda-developers) and the Apache WM6 Kitchen on this site and repackaged and installed it onto my titan without problems.

I have been a little vague on options used as it pays to understand what you are doing, and I am not necessarily sure I am using the best options and tools and although I had good sucess cooking with the alltel, my first attempts yesterday with the new sprint rom failed miserably.

I would like to get AKU .7 ported, but I have not quite figured out what that involves, can extract it, packagetize it, modify things, put it back into xip.bin, just don't know how to add it to the rom to flash back.


Hope that helps,

Geoff

I don't claim to understand what you guys are doing, but it's refreshing to see this kind of geeky discussion on this board (again). It reminds me of the time not too long ago when these kinds of things were being done for the 6700. Good luck, and have some fun. tmb

i will learn. been reading alot. missed the 6700 cooking due to the fact that i sold my 6700 before you guys started (got the treo 700wx). now that i'm back, i will learn.

dcd siad that he used the old 6700 how to to do the 6800. here is a link for the others who want to learn.

http://forum.ppcgeeks.com/showthread.php?t=1904

hopefully someone will put together the right tools with the right tutoral for us 6800 users.

cody