Which one makes more sense to do?

[squarerootz]

Is it easier to create an "UberCab" of must have programs or just to cook a ROM?

I ask this because I have been a member here for around a year since owning a Titan and I have benifited from all that has been posted as I read and search before I post anything, (which is why my post count is very low) but I make sure to click the green button as often as possible.

That being said, I have been reading alot about cab extraction and progs to build/rebuild cabs after making adjustments but I haven't seen a post regarding extracting the files from several different cabs and putting them into one cab that will install all seperate progs to their respective registries or locations on the device or SD card.

Let me clarify, I am in no way am thinking of writing a prog or exe of my own. Trust me I am nowhere near that stage or learning curve (yet). I am only really interested in creating an all-in-one cab to make it easier to install my must haves back to my device after a hard reset.

Which is what I mean by an "UberCab". I want to create it, place it on SD card so that if and when the need arises to hard reset the device, I go throught those motions then install the cab, it installs all the must haves I like (HHC, HTC Home, Google Maps, Last FM etc., etc.) all in one swoop, they all work properly and if I check the device registry tree or the Program menu everything is as it should be and right as rain.

Right now, the most I have been able to do is use PPC Cab Creator to take all those cabs and build one big cab file that when installed only really just extracts the seperate cabs back out to the Program Folder in a folder labeled whatever I happened to name the cab. It also shows the cabs (cab icons only) in Program Menu as if they were installed programs. (Does that make sense? I'm at work so I can't really do a Screenshot.) I still have to go and install each one seperately which is quite time consuming.

Long story short, is this even possible? If it is possible what do I do, what progs do I need, what thread do I need to view and is creating this "UberCab" easier than actually cooking a ROM? If it is not possible than, I guess my next step is to read all I can about ROM cooking as I have taken the time to download the files for doing so but I am a little lost when it comes to the tutorial part.

If a thread on this exists already, please point me in the right direction and I will work on my mastery of the search options. Thanks in advance for any help for I am on a knowledge quest and not looking for smarta$$ed replies or flame wars .

[[sammich]]

I had the same issue. Now, I just use TierAutoInstall, but there is a way to merge your .cabs.

Well, its kinda complicated. I wrote a tutorial a while back that highlighted some basic tasks in WinCE cab manager: http://forum.ppcgeeks.com/showthread...ce+cab+manager

I believe you can import cabs. Then, you'd need to merge all the files between different installers. If I have time later, I might write a tutorial on that. [assuming I can get it to work with large .cabs]

Good luck~

[squarerootz]

Im about to leave work, so I will check that thread out further when I get home. Thanks for responding though. If you do get a chance to write the tutorial let me know as it would be of great help and might even boost my confidence in cooking a ROM.

[squarerootz]

Ok, re-read the thread you linked me to. Sounded like a good start. Went to the link for WinCE cab manager. D/L'ed it and and the other extractor only prog posted on the site. Ran the install exes for WinCE. Got a weird message about another program not finishing its installation and the WinCE cab manager wanting me to re-boot my PC. I complied cause I didn't know what else to do. Re-booted the PC. Ran the install again and I got the same message. Tried to install the other file from that site, the extractor only prog. Same thing happened. This time I became a little frustrated with those files and uninstalled whatever tried to install and deleted both the exe's. Did a google for cab creator programs and came up with BitZipper. The site for it totes it to do the same thing both of those progs would do in one. Went to my handy dandy torrent site and got a warez copy with a patch. Sorry not gonna risk posting the site here so don't ask me for it in the thread. Installed and it does what it says it will do. I did a test on the last version of AudioPara and it showed me the files inside. So I'm good to go on that as far as the cab extraction and put back together though I didn't test that part.

Question now is how do i arrange these cab extracts so they don't (and I'm guessing here, like I said still hunting for info) get jumbled up in the creation process and cause havoc when trying to install? Last thing I want is to create a cab that does nothing but a royal kcuf up on my brand new Titan. (Just got a new one from Sprint cause the screen on the refurb they sent me 3 months ago cracked.) I mean I have TEP but I don't have an extra $50 bills to give Asurion just lying around everytime something happens and even though I used to work for Sprint, I only know but so many loop holes in thier polcies and I've already used four or five in the last year and a half.

On a side note, took a step towards ROM cooking. Registered for PPCKitchen. Read most of what was there, downloaded everything I could get my mouse on that involved the Titan. Read a tutorial about cooking a ROM that was decent but still lacked some things for me like what files am I adding to the kitchen? The un extracted cabs, extracted cabs, OEM's? It's 0300 EST, to tired to figure it out right now.

Any help any one has is greatly appreciated. saumaun, I clicked the green for ya about the last post.

[squarerootz]

Bump, cause I'm not going away....

[[sammich]]

I'm so sorry! I'll start working on it sometime soon! I've been so busy

[squarerootz]

I appreciate the help. Not just because you are willing but also because I was begining to lose faith in the community. I know there are many threads that sit here for weeks and never get responded to so any response right now is a good one to me. Still looking at cooking a ROM but I can't seem to get the Updater for the kitchen to work. Ive been reading a few threads where others are having the same issue. Still willing to learn it though.