initflashfiles.dat -- Help Needed

[CameronJ]

So I've been playing around for a little while with the intention of creating my own custom ROM. I think I've got everything all figured out - however I'm having a problem that I think is related to the initflashfiles.dat file. Basically, after flashing my new OS ROM, my 8125 hangs at the splash screen with the version numbers on it. As a test, I redid my modified ROM, except I used the original initflashfiles.dat - this worked just fine. Tried it again by building the ROM with my modified initflashfiles.dat - same problem.

Here are the steps I'm going through.

1. Parse out the nk.nbf file using typhoonnbfdecode -x
2. prepare_imgfs 80040000-OS.nb -nosplit
3. viewimgfs imgfs_raw_data.bin
4. Modify contents of dump directory. Basically I've deleted files I don't need and added new ones.
5. Modifiy initflashfiles.dat (which I've attached). After modifying the file I open it in a hex editor and remove the first two bytes - making the first byte 3B (";"). I save it and mark it as read-only.
6. buildimgfs
7. make_imgfs 80040000-OS.nb -nosplit
8. Run nb2nbf_tornado.exe. I do run this correctly, using the correct memory address for the OS .nb file.
9. Put the new nk.nbf into an existing RUU self-extracting archive and run it.

It really seems like it's the initflashfiles.dat file - as I've successfully loaded this ROM with the original file (its really not the original, it's from a summiter ROM that I'm basing mine off).

Any thoughts?

[CameronJ]

I'm going to bump this once just in case people missed it originally.

I've messed around a bit more, and have pretty much isolated that this is my problem - but for the life of me I can't figure out what I'm doing wrong.

[risidoro]

I'm going to bump this once just in case people missed it originally.

I've messed around a bit more, and have pretty much isolated that this is my problem - but for the life of me I can't figure out what I'm doing wrong.

Hi,
i see that the file you've attached isn't actually a .DAT file. It is a .dat.TXT that's the same that saying it's a TXT file!!!

If the file you're putting inside your ROM is this very same file (.dat.txt) then you've found your problem: you need a .DAT and NOT a .dat.txt file!!!

Try following this procedure on your PC (i suppose you're using XP or 2003 server):

- open a folder (whichever folder you like, it's not important)
- on the Tools menu click Folder Options.
- click the View tab.
- clear the Hide extensions for known file types check box.
- press OK

PS: Here (http://www.fileinfo.net/help/windows-show-extensions.html) is an illustrated guide on how to show file extensions

Now go to the place where your initflashfiles.dat is. If the file is named 'initflashfiles.dat.TXT' (like the file you uploaded in this forum) then:

- select the file
- press F2 (or right click and choose 'Rename')
- remove the tailing .txt from the name

Finally:
- let us know if it worked

Bye bye

[CameronJ]

i see that the file you've attached isn't actually a .DAT file. It is a .dat.TXT that's the same that saying it's a TXT file!!!

:lol: Thanks for the reply.

I had to add the .txt extension otherwise the forum wouldn't let me upload the file (.dat files are not on the list of available file types for upload).

When I loaded the file I meant to put that explanation in there but forgot before I finished the post.

[jiggs]

Hi. I don't know if you're still working on this, but I'd like to share with you my experience last night. I examined your initflashfiles.dat, and it is perfectly ok.

As I see in your initflashfiles.dat, there are a lot of folder customization like:

Directory("\Program Files\Task Manager"):-File("taskmanager.exe","\Windows\taskmanager.exe")

There is nothing wrong with this as we need the file to be in the right location. BTW, THIS FORMAT WORKED FOR ME. Just a thought, you might be editing the default.hv and user.hv (hives) to put in the registry keys of some applications?

My device (Himalaya) did not start out correctly and did not execute the initflashfiles.dat, BUT when I connected my Hima through active sync, you can actually explore the contents. SO, in this non-working state, I experimented in tracing the culprit, by restoring a couple of the original files I edited. I found out that it has something to do with the way I edited the hives.

Steps I made in experimenting:
1. I sync my Hima to my PC.
2. Copied the original default.hv to \windows directory
3. Hard Reset Hima, BUT answer NO to all three boot options
4. My Hima started normally and executed initflashfiles.dat to the detail.

Discovery from experiment:
1. The files were only copied to the directory were we wanted it, BUT the original file is still in the \windows directory. Therefore, we did not save storage memory.
2. We only benefitted from an already installed app built into the ROM.

Hope this gives you some insight.