Tutorial: Adding Registry Entries to your Rom (RGU Method)
 

About this Tutorial
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This tutorial will show you how to add registry entries to your cooked rom. If you are wanting to learn about the
registry, follow this link first! http://www.wmexperts.com/articles/ho..._registry.html

A little preparation now, can save you a lot of time later.

This tutorial ASSUMES you have working knowledge of cooking your own rom. I AM NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR ANYTHING THAT HAPPENS TO YOU OR YOUR DEVICE by reading this tutorial! This tutorial will work with most windows-mobile based kitchens, Apache, Titan, Vogue and others.


Credits
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I would like to thank PPCGeeks and all those that made the kitchens possible! You all know who they (you) are!
And a special thanks to Hobbesisreal for the Registry tutorial I've linked, and AcesZHigh for providing the
tutorial basics on WinCeRegeditor! And of course mrgeoff, I found that he was the one that started the base for the registry edits in the RGU that I use and have attached!


Terminology used in this tutorial:
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OEM - Similar to a .CAB file, this is the method used to add files/programs to a cooked Rom. This is copied to
USER_OEM if using the ppckitchen, or into your OEM folder if you are using another kitchen.
GUID - GUID (or UUID) is an acronym for 'Globally Unique Identifier'. It is a 128-bit integer number used to identify resources.
RGU File - The file in the OEM that contains the registry entries.


What you will need:
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1. CeRegEditor from: http://ceregeditor.mdsoft.pl/
2. zz_MyRegistry_OEM.zip attached to this post.


The steps involved:
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This tutorial will teach you how to registry entries to your cooked rom. I will show you how to add the registry entries to the attached zzz_My_Registry_OEM by editing the *.RGU file. So here are the steps:

1. Download and extract "zzz_My_Registry_OEM.zip"
2. Copy "zzz_My_Registry_OEM" to your USER_OEM or OEM folder(s).
3. Registry Basics (If you need more, come back later...)
4. RGU Registry Syntax and proper formatting.
5. RGU file and it's formatting requirements.
6. Identify the registry entries you wish to include.
7. Export and/or enter your edits.
8. Flash and enjoy!


1. Download and extract "zzz_My_Registry_OEM.zip"
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Ok, who needs help with this one? Be sure to extract with paths!


2. Copy your files to the new directory "zzz_My_Registry_OEM".
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Just copy the files you want into the zzz_My_Files_OEM directory.
I have already created a custom OEM for you with a unique GUID, a sample initflashfiles.txt, and included a XML
file so the ppckitchen will identify your OEM.


3. Registry Basics
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First I think we need a little education on registry formats. There are 5 types of registry entries I deal with on
a regular basis. These are:
1. DWord : For entering numerical data
2. String for entering alphanumerical data
3. Multi-string - advanced
4. Hex or binary data - advanced
5. DecDword - A decimal valued DWord. Not currently supported by BuildOS.

All entries must have proper syntax or buildos will not like it and say "Error building xxxxxx Hives". All entries
must have 3 components. The Key or location name, the Value Name, and finally the data. Let's take a look at the registry edit to kill the SMS Sent notification as it would appear as a registry entry for a RGU file:

Let's examine the three lines above.
Line 1, is how to add a comment. Anything preceded by a ";" is considered a comment to the end of the line.
Line 2, is the Keyname where the value is located that you want to modify. If it does not exist, it will be
created. The Keyname is enclosed in brackets, [ and ].
Line 3, is the Valuename and the data. The value name is always enclosed in quotes.


4. RGU Registry Syntax and proper formatting.
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That was simple enough, now let's look at the syntax required for the above registry values. These will be
followed by the names from above, an example or two to show the syntax, and then a few comments.

1. DWord : for entering numerical data. This is a HEXADECIMAL VALUE!

"Value1"=dword:00000001
"Value2"=dword:000001cf
"Value3"=dword:1cf

The key here is the value must be in hex! The actual data can be 8 digits long padded by zeroes. You could also omit the leading zeroes and that will work as well.

2. String : For entering alphanumerical data

"Value1"="blah, blah, blah"

This is straight forward. Most data here is text and simply enclosed in quotes. There are some advanced
functions, but I am here to show the basics. PM me or read below on exporting values.

3. Multi-string - advanced

"Curr0"=multi_sz:"alarm2", "", "alarm2", "default", "Empty", "alarm2", "infbeg", "infend", "infend", "", "", "",
"alarm2", "infbeg", "infend", "infend", "alarm2", "", "", "voicbeep", "RecEnd"

This is one that I almost always Export.

4. Hex or binary data - advanced

"AlarmHandle"=hex:\
21,00,00,35,2B,00,00,32,1F,00,00,35,2A,00,00,34,2D ,00,00,34,00,00,00,00,\
18,00,00,36

This is multi-line and I ALWAYS Export these!

5. DecDword - A decimal valued DWord. Not currently supported by BuildOS.
This is not supported by the current kitchens. I was introduced to this while making custom OEM's. It sure would be sweet though!

The OEM below is ALREADY LOADED with most of the registry edits I use in my rom!

Re: Tutorial: Adding Registry Entries to your Rom (RGU Method)
 

5. RGU file and it's formatting requirements.
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Now that you have that down, let's talk about the kitchen requirements of a basic RGU file and it's format.

There are 4 basic rules:

1. The first line must be "REGEDIT4"
2. The second line is usualy a blank line. (enter will do just fine.)
3. any thing on a line after a ";" is ignored. This can be at the beginning of the line or after your entry. Comment well so you know what you have!
4. The end of the file always need to have two blank lines! Again enter will work. And while it is debated 1 or two, I always put two to be safe...

Here a complete sample RGU file including the SMS Notification hack from above:


6. Identify the registry entries you wish to include.
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Site to learn more about registry:
http://www.wmexperts.com/articles/ho..._registry.html
You can also find some great links here for additional registry entries...


7. Export and/or enter your edits.
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The easiest way to do this is by using CeRegistry Editor mentioned above. Here are the steps as explained by
Aceszhigh from his tutorial: Tutorial: Integrating Custom Registry Settings into a ROM w/ ProvXML - Lazy Man's Way

Now to open this file, right click on the new *.cereg file and select Open With... then Notepad. Now cut and
paste into the OEM's RGU file. Don't forget formatting!!!!

8. Flash and enjoy!
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Build your rom and Flash! Now everyTime you need to hard reset, re-flash, you can keep your registry edits if you
wish and know how...

This has been a great timesaver for me in the past, and I hope it will be for too. If you can think of an idea for
another tutorial, send me a pm to let me know and I will see what I can do...
HAVE FUN!!!

You can also find some great links here for additional registry entries...


Note: I will edit the content over the next few day to ensure accuracy and clear content....

Re: Tutorial: Adding Registry Entries to your Rom (RGU Method)
 

Adding Registry Entries to your Rom (RGU Method)

Reserved for commonly asked questions...

And a partial peek inside the RGU:

Re: Tutorial: Adding Registry Entries to your Rom (RGU Method)
 

Good job, time to read lol

Re: Tutorial: Adding Registry Entries to your Rom (RGU Method)
 

Great post! I've always wanted to add my registry into the kitchen so I don't need to do it every time after I cook. This thread should be sticky'ed.

Re: Tutorial: Adding Registry Entries to your Rom (RGU Method)
 

Thanks, remember, I'll update it tomorrow after a couple hours of sleep...

It is already. I maintain Post #8 in the stickied How To's For Developing. thread with links to all my tutorial's.

Re: Tutorial: Adding Registry Entries to your Rom (RGU Method)
 

Thanks for adding it to the holy grail of ROM Development! lol

Re: Tutorial: Adding Registry Entries to your Rom (RGU Method)
 

Paging: rstoyguy

A little bit off topic, but this is the closest (on topic) thread of yours.

I used CeRegistryEditor to extract the values in question.

I run that through the rgu to xml application:

I name the file _setup.xml and use makecab to create RegSetting.cab

There are a number of other settings that are in the xml, too - but this is the one that is preventing the cab from installing properly.

Any thoughts that you might have are certainly welcome and appreciated.

Best regards,
-boggsie

Re: Tutorial: Adding Registry Entries to your Rom (RGU Method)
 

And this is well out of the range of the integer value...2147483647

You need to use base64 for this and xml. I'm trying to finger it out now. (learning/googling) A quick call to the colonel may help as he uses the same method when defining binary data in his themes...
Example: the "Manilla Theme" in ppcgeek_oem.rar

Re: Tutorial: Adding Registry Entries to your Rom (RGU Method)
 

I found a program at xda-developers that does quite abit as far as converting .reg to .xml. It converted your setting to
Here is the thread. It even does the binary type like I'm looking for, by far the most advanced I've seen. Just rename your RGU to REG and go for it...
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=390846

Edit: When running the program, click "Cab & Copy" tab up top, then the option in the lower left will do all the dirty work...

Re: Tutorial: Adding Registry Entries to your Rom (RGU Method)
 

Thanks for the pointer to the Manilla Theme provxml ...

So I presume that this entry

<parm name="FontSize" datatype="integer" value="4294967295" />

becomes as follows

<parm name="FontSize" value="/////w==" datatype="binary" />

... after converting the original HEX FFFFFFFF to Base64, using this:

http://www.batchconverter.com/66763.zip

Careful, though - I think it has a trojan in the installer ... Kapersky denied the trojan (or so it said =8^o ) and the app works perfectly.

Unfortunately, TodayAgenda doesn't appear to like the non-integer/hex registry entry.

EDIT: After correcting the parm name to FontSize ... it appears to have worked like a charm.

Best regards,
-boggsie

Re: Tutorial: Adding Registry Entries to your Rom (RGU Method)
 

thank you very much for the nice guide, do you have one on how to remove battery icon from title bar?

thanks

Re: Tutorial: Adding Registry Entries to your Rom (RGU Method)
 

You want a different thread :)

http://forum.ppcgeeks.com/showthread.php?t=11156

Best regards,
-boggsie

Re: Tutorial: Adding Registry Entries to your Rom (RGU Method)
 

That one I don't have since there are many programs that add their own icon to the title bar. But...just a minute...

Here is a list of what this registry key will do:
HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Shell\ShowTitleBarClock = 2

The values can be :
0 = Battery
1 = Clock (may cause dialer app to pop up)
2 = Nothing
3 = Both

From this Thread Post #19.

You can find more tweaks in the Vogue forum: Registry Tweaks/Hacks/Edits - Share them here! or in the Pocket PC Registry Tweaks Forum.

Re: Tutorial: Adding Registry Entries to your Rom (RGU Method)
 

sorry to let you know that 2 it does not work! I still can see the clock even when its set to value 2!

Re: Tutorial: Adding Registry Entries to your Rom (RGU Method)
 

What software do you have installed? Quickmenu?

Re: Tutorial: Adding Registry Entries to your Rom (RGU Method)
 

yes, I have Quickmenu, and it does has battery for that I want to remove one of them if I can.. for now I'm happy with having Clock

Re: Tutorial: Adding Registry Entries to your Rom (RGU Method)
 

In QuickMenu you can remove the battery by:
Start Menu -> Quick Menu -> Option
Goto to the Tab "View" and uncheck "Show Battery on Taskbar".

Re: Tutorial: Adding Registry Entries to your Rom (RGU Method)
 

thanks you very much for the info I get it work. I hope not alot of people like me picky alot about view! I did remove the battey and now I have a space w/o anything and then the clock and the rest of icons. But I'm happey with what I have right now. thanks again

Re: Tutorial: Adding Registry Entries to your Rom (RGU Method)
 

Great tutorial!

I actually do not have a single question.... yet!:mrgreen:

Re: Tutorial: Adding Registry Entries to your Rom (RGU Method)
 

Okay, now I do have a question... :mrgreen:

I think I've got a handle on adding and changing registry entries but can you delete registry entries when you cook a ROM?

I want to get rid of the Cube in my ROM and I figure I can just set EnableCube = 0 but I'm curious about whether I could just clean up the unnecessary registry entries since I'll be deleting the related files anyway.

Re: Tutorial: Adding Registry Entries to your Rom (RGU Method)
 

Yes you can...

[-HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Inbox\Settin gs]

Add a "-" after the bracket to delete that key. You can zero values, but I have only seen keys deleted.

Re: Tutorial: Adding Registry Entries to your Rom (RGU Method)
 

It appears that the delete mechansim only works for that key, if there aren't any sub-keys present.

Can you confirm or am I doing something wrong?

For example, I want to completely remove all of the existing internet favorites and insert mine ... in an OEM, using RGU.

I was hoping to use the following, with the desired result that this key and every sub-key would be removed / deleted. This is not happening.

[-HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main\FavoritesEntries]

So, with PPCKitchen, I would need to use:

Actually, I am rebuilding now, but if it doesn't work I am hoping to get a head start on the proper approach. :) Without using provxml.

Best regards,
-boggsie

EDIT 1: I wanted to ask for a favor: Can you drop the latest version of the program you linked to above in your ftp folder here at geeks? I can't get to rapidshare for a couple of days and I forgot to put this on my SD card. Thanks for your consideration.

Thread: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=390846
Prog: http://rapidshare.com/files/13014198...v0.7.85.PE.rar

EDIT 2: Hrm ... the "[- ]" I tried above didn't work. I wonder if you have to do that for each key value and then for the key?

Re: Tutorial: Adding Registry Entries to your Rom (RGU Method)
 

You may also try the provxml way, I think it also works on that key/value only...

<!--
<nocharacteristic type="HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Today\Items\HTCHomep lug" />
-->
<nocharacteristic type="HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Today\Items\Pocket MSN" />


Here is the link: SDConfig.Builder.v0.7.85.PE

Re: Tutorial: Adding Registry Entries to your Rom (RGU Method)
 

Thank you again for the help with SDConfig.Builder !

... and it looks like I am back to using provxml, at least for internet shortcuts / favorites :|

http://forum.ppcgeeks.com/showpost.p...3&postcount=16

Best regards,
-boggsie

Re: Tutorial: Adding Registry Entries to your Rom (RGU Method)
 

thanks rstoyguy! great info man

Re: Tutorial: Adding Registry Entries to your Rom (RGU Method)
 

Hi There I'm trying very hard to disable the "Unknown Publisher" security warnings whenever i try to run a CAB or EXE.

Basically, I have did some reading... its related to the HKLM\Comm\Security\Policies\Policies\* settings.

I have converted the registries that I would like to install into a SecuityPolicies.provxml and added the followng entries into config.txt to get autorun to import into the device's registry.... but it failed...

XML: \Storage Card\CABS\SecurityPolies.provxml

Please advice... I really want to get this working so as to have an unattended autorun setup on my device.

Any experienced cook around...... please tell me how to disable this warning :)


regards
FY....

Re: Tutorial: Adding Registry Entries to your Rom (RGU Method)
 

I would imagine that the "XML:" tag works if used correctly, but I never got it to work for me, either.

What I do (on Windows XP) is rename the *.provxml file to setup.xml (SecurityPolicies.provxml -> setup.xml) and then use makecab.exe to put the xml into an installable cab file.

at a command prompt: makecab _setup.xml SecurityPolicies.cab

Then it should run ... if the provxml is not correct, it will throw an error when you try to run it on the ppc.

Best regards,
-boggsie

Re: Tutorial: Adding Registry Entries to your Rom (RGU Method)
 

I got it to work for me using "XML: \windows\regist_ry.xml" . I never tried the extionsion .provxml. You can also name the file something like "mxip_MySecurity_Off_100.provxml", cook it into your rom and windows should run it on start up.

Of course keep in mind, one little syntax error in your xml code and the whole xml/provxml file is bad and won't execute anything. For that, I nominate Boggsie! :) You might want to share and post the file, we can check it for you...

Re: Tutorial: Adding Registry Entries to your Rom (RGU Method)
 

Just want to say THANK YOU Thank you thank you thank you. Here is a pure result of all your tutorials http://forum.ppcgeeks.com/showthread...375#post602375

Re: Tutorial: Adding Registry Entries to your Rom (RGU Method)
 

Hi there,

I am using Ervius Kitchen, any idea where to place zzz_My_Registry_OEM folder to get it working?

Re: Tutorial: Adding Registry Entries to your Rom (RGU Method)
 

Ervius's Visual Kithchen?