How To: Customize your extended rom!

**Wideawake** · #1 (**permalink**) 11-28-2006, 07:46 AM

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.

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......

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....

Code:

LOCK:Enabled
SHOW:\Extended_ROM\Sprint_Logo.bmp
CAB: \Extended_ROM\PPST_FILE_SPCS_1_19_003_with_PRL20224.sa.CAB
EXEC:\Windows\PPST.exe
CAB: \Extended_ROM\DirectShow.sa.CAB
CAB: \Extended_ROM\RTPlugin_CDMA.sa.CAB
CAB: \Extended_ROM\Cert_SPCS.sa.CAB
CAB: \Extended_ROM\Cert_SPCS.CAB
CAB: \Extended_ROM\Fetch.CAB
CAB: \Extended_ROM\WTLAudiblePlayerPocketPC.arm.CAB
CAB: \Extended_ROM\AudibleSample.sa.CAB
CAB: \Extended_ROM\Getmail.ppc2003.ARMV4Rel.sprint.CAB
CAB: \Extended_ROM\sprint_software_store.CAB
CAB: \Extended_ROM\GetGL.CAB
CAB: \Extended_ROM\IOTA.sa.CAB
CAB: \Extended_ROM\Customize_SPCS.sa.CAB
CAB: \Extended_ROM\ButtonLock.sa.CAB
CAB: \Extended_ROM\Enable_RingTone.sa.CAB
CAB: \Extended_ROM\Disable_RemoveProgram.sa.CAB
CAB: \Extended_ROM\PhoneSetting_HelpFile.sa.CAB
CAB: \Extended_ROM\PowerICON.sa.CAB
CAB: \Extended_ROM\TimeSnyc.sa.CAB
CAB: \Extended_ROM\HiddenDurationPage.sa.CAB
CAB: \Extended_ROM\ResString.sa.CAB
CAB: \Extended_ROM\PP_IOTA_v1_10_Apache_206300.sa.CAB
CAB: \Extended_ROM\PP_ErrCodeForSPCS_Apache_206300.sa.CAB
CAB: \Extended_ROM\PT_RemoveHTCBatteryICON_Apache_206300.sa.CAB
CAB: \Extended_ROM\PP_Version_Apac_206303.sa.CAB
CAB: \Extended_ROM\PP_HTC_CM_Guardian_Apache_206300.sa.CAB
CAB: \Extended_ROM\PP_LockUp_Apac_212705.sa.CAB
CAB: \Extended_ROM\PT_Ril_Apac_206301.sa.CAB
CPY1:\Extended_ROM\AddContact
CPY2:\Windows\AddContact
EXEC:\Extended_ROM\AddContacts.exe
LOCK:Disabled
RST: Reset

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....

Code:

LOCK:Enabled
SHOW:\Extended_ROM\Sprint_Logo.bmp
CAB: \Extended_ROM\PPST_FILE_SPCS_1_19_003_with_PRL20224.sa.CAB
EXEC:\Windows\PPST.exe
CAB: \Extended_ROM\DirectShow.sa.CAB
CAB: \Extended_ROM\RTPlugin_CDMA.sa.CAB
CAB: \Extended_ROM\Cert_SPCS.sa.CAB
CAB: \Extended_ROM\Cert_SPCS.CAB
CAB: \Extended_ROM\Fetch.CAB
CAB: \Extended_ROM\WTLAudiblePlayerPocketPC.arm.CAB
CAB: \Extended_ROM\AudibleSample.sa.CAB
CAB: \Extended_ROM\Getmail.ppc2003.ARMV4Rel.sprint.CAB
CAB: \Extended_ROM\sprint_software_store.CAB
CAB: \Extended_ROM\GetGL.CAB
CAB: \Extended_ROM\IOTA.sa.CAB
CAB: \Extended_ROM\Customize_SPCS.sa.CAB
CAB: \Extended_ROM\ButtonLock.sa.CAB
CAB: \Extended_ROM\Enable_RingTone.sa.CAB
CAB: \Extended_ROM\Disable_RemoveProgram.sa.CAB
CAB: \Extended_ROM\PhoneSetting_HelpFile.sa.CAB
CAB: \Extended_ROM\PowerICON.sa.CAB
CAB: \Extended_ROM\TimeSnyc.sa.CAB
CAB: \Extended_ROM\HiddenDurationPage.sa.CAB
CAB: \Extended_ROM\ResString.sa.CAB
CAB: \Extended_ROM\PP_IOTA_v1_10_Apache_206300.sa.CAB
CAB: \Extended_ROM\PP_ErrCodeForSPCS_Apache_206300.sa.CAB
CAB: \Extended_ROM\PT_RemoveHTCBatteryICON_Apache_206300.sa.CAB
CAB: \Extended_ROM\PP_Version_Apac_206303.sa.CAB
CAB: \Extended_ROM\PP_HTC_CM_Guardian_Apache_206300.sa.CAB
CAB: \Extended_ROM\PP_LockUp_Apac_212705.sa.CAB
CAB: \Extended_ROM\PT_Ril_Apac_206301.sa.CAB
CAB: \Extended_ROM\TotalCommander.CAB
CAB: \Extended_ROM\ApacheHax.CAB
CPY1:\Extended_ROM\AddContact
CPY2:\Windows\AddContact
EXEC:\Extended_ROM\AddContacts.exe
LOCK:Disabled
RST: Reset

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!

remlle · #2 (**permalink**) 11-28-2006, 09:02 AM

VERY cool dude you rock hard core.

**Wideawake** · #3 (**permalink**) 11-28-2006, 09:21 AM

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

**Wideawake** · #4 (**permalink**) 11-28-2006, 10:19 AM

Update: Added the 8th ground rule.
~Mike

xclusiv_1 · #5 (**permalink**) 11-28-2006, 11:16 AM

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...?

**Wideawake** · #6 (**permalink**) 11-28-2006, 12:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by xclusiv_1

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

~mike

specv · #7 (**permalink**) 11-29-2006, 07:08 PM

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

**Sonin66** · #8 (**permalink**) 11-30-2006, 12:58 AM

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

wingzero · #9 (**permalink**) 11-30-2006, 10:54 AM

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.

rlith · #10 (**permalink**) 11-30-2006, 10:08 PM

What about a list for the XV6700 (verizon)