"How To" for custom ROM
 

First of all, thanks to all those spending precious time helping with, and creating the custom ROMs. There is lots of info throughout this forum about "cooking" custom ROMs but it would be very helpful to those of us new to this process to find a concise guide.

Is there one definitive thread that describes the process of creating these custom ROMs in depth? There seem to be a lot of little "gotchas" to watch out for.

If I do "cook" a ROM (for myself), can I put in retail programs like Pocket Quicken or Voice Commander?

What's the difference in extended ROM and non-extended ROM? Are there limitations on what can go in each?

From the discussions, there doesn't seem to be just one tool (newbie here, so be kind) to use to create a ROM. I for one will offer up a donation toward the creation of a tool that would:
1. Offer check boxes for what to include in your custom ROM
2. Be (somewhat) idiot proof for those like me who will certainly screw it up if possible.
3. Create the whole thing just by clicking "Cook" or something to that effect.

Comments welcome and please excuse my newbie ignorance in any of the above.

Thanks again for all your hard work in furthering this technology.

rtullier

If you read through all of the stickies in this section, 97% of your questions will be answered.

There are 3 ROMs (Read Only Memory) used on PPCs. The radio ROM, which makes the phone part of your device work, the CE ROM, more commonly known as the ROM, which is the core operating system of the phone, including drivers, etc and finally the extended ROM which is used by the carriers to customize the phone to work with that specific carrier. It also is used by the carriers to "nerf" things (disable/cripple) that they don't like/want you using.

Your tool idea is a good one that has been discussed. But unfortunately we are a ways away from having something that sophisticated. Please keep in mind that none of this stuff existed two months ago. If you aren't yet of the skill level where you feel comfortable using the existing tools you may just need to sit on your hands a bit until some more time passes and things can be ironed out.

Personally, I don't think any of these custom roms (with the exception of wideawake's custom 2.2 ROM) are all that suitable for newbies, because they all contain unfixed bugs that don't exist in the official releases. Furthermore, cooking a ROM yourself when there are still unfixed bugs seems crazy to me. I think everyone ought to wait until the bugs are completely squashed and documented and the finalized "kitchen" can be agreed upon and posted. Then all the other stuff can happen.

So think of this place like the wild west. Everything is somewhat rough and tumble, there isn't much infrastructure, and information is hard to come by. Eventually things will get really good but it's going to take some time.

It can be done just not sure about how legal this is......since XDA never hosted one....a member did.