How to Customize a Custom Rom: Adding/Removing Programs

[rstoyguy]

Originally Posted by spetrillo

I will say this over and over again as I embark on this ROM journey....thanks very much for being so open with the information you have provided and will provide. Alot of people wouldnt be so accomodating but I sincerely appreciate it all!

I'll try to answer within reason what I can. And appreciate the feedback!

Originally Posted by spetrillo

Now onto the questions. I took a step back in my quest for a Steve ROM using the leaked VZW ROM as my base. I noticed that alot of my OEMS just dumped right into the \Windows directory, and I want to have a much cleaner ROM than that. So I have gone back to the beginning and will be taking one OEM at a time and determining where it should be installed to, and then making the corresponding changes to reg and all. This is going to be a long process I know, but in the end the clutter in the \Windows directory will be minimized.

So on that note have you had a reason to want to copy the entire directory structure off of a device to your PC, and if so what tool have you used to do this. I hate having to browse through the device directory on the device. I have much better tools on my PC to do this and would rather dump it there for any manipulation.

Second I noticed a directory in the OEM directory of my VZW dump. Its called OEM_Lang_0409. I have come across several OEMs, like VC, which have OEMS that fit into this category. Would it be safe to say that anything like this should be in this directory rather than outside of it?

Onward and upward...thanks!

Steve

The only way to eliminate the \windows clutter is to not cook so much "stuff" into the rom and use an alternative like UserCustomization to do post-flash .cab installs.

Currently for most devices that I am aware of, this is the delivery method of WindowsMobile 5, 6, and 6.1. EVERYTHING you cook into your rom, get's dumped into \windows. Did I say EVERYTHING? \Windows is the starting point, then winmo copies stuff to where it is supposed to be using the initflashfiles.dat file and more recently people are using mxip provisinioning files to do some minor re-arranging of the files.

So, to eliminate clutter, Think Clean Rom....

And you should only add OEM's to the ..\Kitchen\OEM directory. This is where most of the "carrier stuff" resides.

[spetrillo]

So your statement about "Think Clean ROM" begs the question...what do you consider to be a clean ROM. What components are in and what are out? For example do you consider Office Mobile part of a clean ROM, or outside of its scope?

Steve

[rstoyguy]

Originally Posted by spetrillo

So your statement about "Think Clean ROM" begs the question...what do you consider to be a clean ROM. What components are in and what are out? For example do you consider Office Mobile part of a clean ROM, or outside of its scope?

Steve

Everyone has a different definition of a clean rom. I would include office in my clean rom. Those files, or program files run out of windows. That is the approach ppckitchen takes, they try to run everything out of windows so there aren't two copies of the programs of the device to save space. My approach is to install it as a .cab install.

[spetrillo]

Originally Posted by rstoyguy

Everyone has a different definition of a clean rom. I would include office in my clean rom. Those files, or program files run out of windows. That is the approach ppckitchen takes, they try to run everything out of windows so there aren't two copies of the programs of the device to save space. My approach is to install it as a .cab install.

Its funny you say that because this seems to be the great philosophical debate. I personally have gone back and forth. I start with a 6700, so I had to make sure I conserved precious ROM space. With the 6800 came some more room to cook more, and now with the 6900 even more room. I like the cab approach because it gives you the flexibility to be nimble when upgrades come out.

Steve

[puff]

Originally Posted by spetrillo

Its funny you say that because this seems to be the great philosophical debate.

very much so !!!

keep in mind that its just more n00b-friendly to put everything into the windows folder,
also check out Customize your StartMenu for PPCKitchen.org's - BuildOS - Tutorial

Originally Posted by rstoyguy

This tutorial will allow you to customize your Start Menu on your device using a PPCKitchen rom. I will show you how to add files to the attached "empty OEM", and then edit the initflashfiles.txt file that will copy your files to where you want 'em.

And for you diamond users: Templates: Custom Start Menu's for your ROM - 9/29/08

[rstoyguy]

........

But just copying around start menu entries doesn't take up much space....1k at the most...But say cooking opera into a rom and copying it to a destination directory while taking up \windows space is...hopefully you have a device with a little bit of memory...

[puff]

So lets say you wanted to move opera (not just the start menu shortcut) to \Opera

First you would obviously create the directory, but then can you move (rather than just copy) using the initflashfiles ?

[rstoyguy]

Originally Posted by puff

So lets say you wanted to move opera (not just the start menu shortcut) to \Opera

First you would obviously create the directory, but then can you move (rather than just copy) using the initflashfiles ?

initflashfiles can only copy files, you'd use provxml to copy, then delete the entry. I'm not sure about deleting a file cooked into the rom, but both initflashfiles and provxml will overwrite a file cooked into rom. That's how I do my startup screens in my rom. But you can't overwrite a file in use by the OS already, like once I tried to do no2chems battery.dll like that but since the .dll was already in use it wouldn't overwrite it.

Back to opera, that's what I call an intense app. You'd have to change all the registry entries and file/data locations as well...

[rstoyguy]

Updated Kitchens so that other devices can now benefit from this tutorial:

Titan Kitchen: DogGuy Kitchen Beta4.rar
Vogue Kitchen: Vogue_Kitchen_tools.rar
Diamond Kitchen: DIAM_blank_kitchen.rar
Raphael Kitchen: RAPH_blank_kitchen.rar

[spetrillo]

What does the attached screenshot mean when I am running BuildOS? Does it mean that I have a GUID that is duplicated?

Steve