How To: Customize your extended rom!
 

Alright for some of you who remember the first project I started on this subject, I couldnt find away to lock the ROM back and save the files in the extended. Well I figured out what the issue was and it was really simple. :D Just took some thinking on it....this how to is geared towards the more advanced users, and by the end of it you will know how to customize your own extended rom! Reason to do this you may ask? Well you can load the extended rom with ur what I like to call basic programs, common installs on hard resets, leaving the needed sprint cabs and you can delete the rest. Then on a hard reset, it will load everything for you! No need in manually installing them again. :)
Enjoy,
Mike

How to customize your extended rom.

Warning-If you make a mistake you may have to reflash your ROM! This tips about a 6 on the n00b scale. (1-10) :P

First I will lay down a couple ground rules...

Rules of the Extended_ROM

1. You may NOT add any files that on install require user input. (ie. have to hit ok to reset after install except the Arcsoft MMS Program which needs to be last on the install config.txt list [more on this later])

2. The .cab file that you wanna add to the extended rom MUST have its properties set to read only. You can do this by using your desktop. Right Click the .cab, properties, select the box that says read only. Or you can do this from your ppc which a program like Resco or TC.

3. The extended rom can not hold more than 9.9mb of files. Some of the space is taken up by the needed sprint cabs tho. To see which files you WILL need to keep, check the list here at the top.

4. All files that you want installed MUST have entry in the config.txt for them to be installed on a hard reset.

5. Entries in the config.txt MUST be formatted in this way....
CAB: \Extended_ROM\nameoffile.CAB

6. You MUST leave the autorun.exe in the extended rom this is what lauches the programs to install.

7. If you delete it from the extended rom, its gone! Won't even come back on a hard reset. That's why we backup the files, also you can get them back by reflashing the rom. ;)

on to the good stuff...... :thumbleft:

Customizing Extended_ROM

1. Install the PPCGeeks Apache Extended ROM Unlocker (which will unhide the ext rom), then install the other unlocker thats a .exe, (must be run from the ppc and not ur pc, this unlocks the ROM Thx buzz @ xda for this tool) & Soft Reset.

Couple of side notes about the tools used
You can uninstall the ext rom unhider which will hide the ext rom. But you cannot uninstall the unlocker so it will take a hard reset to remove/relock it, but it will not hurt anything to leave it installed.

2. After ur ppc reboots, there will now be a folder in the root of ur device that says Extended_ROM2 or something of that nature. Open the extended rom and you will see the files in the extended rom.

3. I would create a folder called extended rom on the storage card or desktop and copy all these files over to it, just in case you need them sometime.

4. Delete all the unwanted/junk cabs sprint puts in there. List of ones to keep can be found here if you missed that in the ground rules. (GetGood, Audible player, and samples.....etc.)

5. Start loading the .cabs u want into the extended rom and checking and making sure each one is set to Read Only! Doing as stated in the ground rules above to make read only. I like to rename my .cabs because some have extremely long names that you will have to enter in the config.txt

6. After you have renamed the .cabs to make them shorter and got them all to read only and in the ext rom, open up the config.txt on ur pc for easier editing or it can be done on ur ppc.

7. Now we will start the adding process. Your config.txt will look something like this....
You wanna make a new entry for every .cab you loaded, I recommend adding them to the very end of the file. (If you place the Arcsoft MMS cab in there then it has to be the last entry on the config or it will cause issues) And they have to be formatted in the same manner so if I was to add TC & my ApacheHax program to my extended rom it would look like so....

You can also change the image that is displayed when it goes to customizing. I added a ppcgeeks.bmp that says PPCGeeks.com Custom Sprint Extended ROM, its blue with white text, if anyone would like to use...its nothing special and was made in Paint but its different and the right size. ;)


8. After you have done all the editing, then drag ur newly edited config.txt over and overwrite the old.

9. Your done, you can now hard reset and everything should install on load! Enjoy!

VERY cool dude you rock hard core.

First post has been updated with the tools. Have fun and enjoy!
~mike

Update: Added the 8th ground rule.
~Mike

is it possible that for those of us who try this, post their versions of their custom ROMs for those who don't want to...?

sure but a few conditions since the package will be rather large please rapidshare or some other file host. I was planning on doing the same once I find my finally arrangement. ;)

@rmelle thanks glad u like :D
~mike

rather than posting maybe discuss what you did, what files you added and how you did it. MS voice command for sure will be added to mine, along with .net framework since they always will be needed

pretty good, will have to try out later when you update this

Nice job Wide. I'll have to find the time and read through it carefully before I start the process so I wouldn't messup.

What about a list for the XV6700 (verizon)

I'm gonna look at the sprint ext rom in more depth tonight, and after that...if u wanna send me the files in ur ext rom I will have a look at them also. (newest update would be best). ;)
~mike

Tutorial for removing "junkware" has been updated so you can know see which files are needed, added a link to that post in the ground rules and instructions. Note some of the .cabs may not be needed but they are recommeded you leave them there, plus we got rid of most huge ones taking up most your space! I will also be adding a Bonus Section and posting my custom ext rom soon....probably over the weekend, so keep an eye out for that. ;)
Enjoy,
Mike

If you wanted to add the MMS .cab it should go at the end of the config.txt were apachehax.cab is in the example.
~Mike

thanks

Wide, do you think you could create a basic custom ext rom (with just the basic .cabs w/o all the junks) for some of the members that find this task difficult to perform?

well that u could just delet the .cabs that aren't needed, u don't even have to edit the config.txt but I was planning on sharing my ext rom soon...

can some post the extended rom they are using

This is awesome ... I swear you never cease to amaze me ... I'm definately gonna have to set this up ... now one other question, besides manually installing each prog I wanna add, is there a way to tell if the prog will work with no user input? or do u have a list of popular software we may all want that def won't work?

I working on a list of apps that shouldnt be put in the extended rom. And as far as them installing, you just make sure you add them to the config.txt and when u hard reset, it reads that list and installs them automatically in the order they are on that txt file, no need in manually installing again. ;)
~Mike

im toying with this right now, only remove sprint junk and i have 40 free on storage :lol: i think ill wait a little longer,, this kinda complicated for me,, but for now i wont have to unintall junk everytime i hard reset. :lol:

Do you actually need to remove the CABs from the ROM you don't use? Or is it sufficient to just not have them listed in your config.txt?

back when i had my 6700 i did both...removed the cabs and edited the config.txt then performed a hard reset. BUT...and this is a big one...you gain more space by letting them install then going into the extended rom and manually installing them thus creating an uninstall option as it was originally intended...make sure if you go and manually install the apps that you clear out every folder/file associated with those apps to free up the memory otherwise you're just pissing in the wind so to speak.

removing from the config.txt would work, since that's what it goes by when installing the apps.
~mike

I think we are talking about two different things. If I just want to get rid of junk, then I can just edit the config.txt. If I want to do that PLUS gain space on the ROM to use. then I can install and uninstall or simply just delete from the ROM without installing. Right?

you can delete the .cabs to gain space, but only delete the ones that are not needed.
~mike

Is this the same method as that which has been over at PDAphonehome for a while now? Just curious.

you got me I rarely stop by there, and havent seen a tutorial like this. I may be wrong, but dont get his tutorial mixed with the junkware removal one, because this is different. We do a have a remove junkware tutorial also. ;)
~mike

somehow I got the feeling that I deleted something I wasn't supposed to. LOL I acnt send txt mssgs or acess phone settings. I get a mssg saying phone phone is not ready wait 15 sec.

ugh oh. Check the ext rom using TC and make sure u have what I recommend u leave in the ext. surely that's what ur problem is. ;)
~Mike

I'm in the process of upgrading to Mike's AKU 2.2
I've just installed the latest Sprint radio and rom update, and am going through the Extended_ROM to remove the junk

The new sprint update seems to add some items that I don't see in the tutorials on this site and others, specifically these items:

Does anyone have a recommended list of safe-to-delete items that also talks about these files?

Thanks a bunch!

check the read first thread it has a link to how to remove junkware and u can use the list located there. ;)
~Mike

I seem to be getting an out of space error when putting files back into the Extended folder (CABS). Any idea why this might be? All of the CABS are read only and I have plenty of space on my device. Perhaps it's the new AKU?

the ext rom is only 10mb so u will have to remove the ones not needed to add any to it. ;)

But it seems like the ones that I removed are all that I removed

rom's
 

will this work for the VX6700 verizon? if not were can we find ome...

Quick question, where can you change the name/version of the ExtROM? I noticed that when installing the "Advanced Custom" ROM it says PPCGeeks under ExtROM version. So, is this something that is easily changed?

Also, if you disable the lock that is turned on during the ExtROM installation, would you be able to install cabs that required user input?

EDIT: I was trying to get Voice Command to load so I tried disabling the lock, but this did not help.

Re: How To: Customize your extended rom!
 

Greetings,
I've been lurking here for a few weeks and just wanted to say thanks for all the effort and real work that you guys have put in. Just moderating the forums has got to be a part-time job, to say nothing of the amount of time that must go into finding all the great information posted here.

That being said...I just got done building my own custom extended ROM and it ROCKS! All the little widgets and stuff I like to have installed on my 6700, as well as the apacheHax update and some other things. Saves me a lot of time whenever I format my phone. I mean, less than 10 minutes and I'm synced, updated, and ready to go. Awesome!

I've got the day off work today and so I deceided to take a few minutes to go through and update, install, customize my phone using much of the information from multiple threads on this forum. But this one, the custom extended ROM is really great.

It worked flawlessly for me and I just want to say thanks.

upshot

It seems like the amount of junk and stuff varies from the sprint in the Verizon ext rom. I dont think there is much we(verizon users) would need to keep other than the MMS(config.txt and autorun.exe too of course). It would be great to have .NET and MS VC 1.6 there but since this runs like a card and not main mem is it safe to have ms vc there? Will MMS .net and msvc all fit? .Net is not installed on any of the 2.2 or later aku roms?

I also hear that while ms vc 1.6 upx'ed well in aku 2.2 and before it doesnt in 3.3. wanted to mention since it is good to see so many using it to make the roms less heavy and more efficient.

I have found a way to overcome the 10MB limit. I just changed the path in the config file from "extended_rom" to "storage card" and placed my additional cabs there. If I could just get past the cabs that require user input, I would be in business.