dumpydooby
10th December 2008, 09:02 PM
Some guy on another forum was asking me for help on customizing an AT&T Tilt (HTC Kaiser to you international folks) he just bought. This was my explanation. If it's not too much trouble, I would like for you experts to peruse it and tell me if it I got it all right.
Here is what I wrote to him:
Everything about customizing it can be found here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/forumdisplay.php?f=378
If you want to flash a ROM, start by reading this post: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=433835
I'll spell out the process a little bit, though, so it's easier to grasp. First and foremost, there is a ROM. The ROM is basically an amalgam of other components. The three important ones are: SPL (I'll get to that), OS (yes, operating system), and Radio (tells your phone how to connect to networks). Now, when you first turn on your phone, there is a thing called an IPL (initial program loader) that checks to see that everything is in order on the hardware end (if you know computers, think of it as POST). After that, it passes control of the phone to the SPL (secondary program loader), which verifies that your ROM and OS is not corrupted, accepts triggers for other commands, and then loads and passes control of the machine to the OS.
The key is to tell the SPL that your ROM is not corrupted and that it is OK to load it. Obviously a legitimate ROM by AT&T or HTC will do the trick, but suppose you want one of the fancy ROMs out there, you'll have to trick the SPL a bit. There are two ways of doing this: (1) HardSPL and (2) SoftSPL.
A HardSPL is a "permanent" solution. It replaces your SPL; it's basically a cracked version of your SPL that removes the integrity checks that would normally be done. It's referred to as a permanent solution because it will not undo itself, nor can it be undone even if you flash a stock ROM (by AT&T or HTC), but there are ways of reverting back to the original SPL if necessary (I made this package (http://xpdnc.org/hosted/private/moar/ATT_Tilt_v3.57.502.2-FactoryRestore.7z) that contains everything necessary, including instructions, on how to do this).
A SoftSPL (AKA SSPL, USPL - UpdateSPL, JSPL - JumpSPL ... all the same thing as far as I know) is a temporary solution that is basically done for the purpose of loading HardSPLs, but you can flash ROMs with it as well (this is generally not recommended, though). It's a standalone EXE file that you will load onto your phone. When executed, it will unload your OS, and load up a cracked SPL. This will allow you to flash an illegitimate ROM to your phone, namely a ROM that replaces your SPL with a cracked one.
After that, you're golden. You can SIM unlock your phone (if that hasn't been done already) if you want. You can SuperCID it (CID is Country ID; a SuperCID is tantamount to using a "region 0" DVD player), but that's not necessary for you, personally; only useful if you sell to someone overseas. You can start flashing custom ROMs that are pieced together by the fine folks at that forum I linked above.
In short:
1. Transfer SoftSPL to phone.
2. Run SoftSPL.
3. Flash HardSPL.
4. Flash custom ROM.
Thoughts?
Here is what I wrote to him:
Everything about customizing it can be found here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/forumdisplay.php?f=378
If you want to flash a ROM, start by reading this post: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=433835
I'll spell out the process a little bit, though, so it's easier to grasp. First and foremost, there is a ROM. The ROM is basically an amalgam of other components. The three important ones are: SPL (I'll get to that), OS (yes, operating system), and Radio (tells your phone how to connect to networks). Now, when you first turn on your phone, there is a thing called an IPL (initial program loader) that checks to see that everything is in order on the hardware end (if you know computers, think of it as POST). After that, it passes control of the phone to the SPL (secondary program loader), which verifies that your ROM and OS is not corrupted, accepts triggers for other commands, and then loads and passes control of the machine to the OS.
The key is to tell the SPL that your ROM is not corrupted and that it is OK to load it. Obviously a legitimate ROM by AT&T or HTC will do the trick, but suppose you want one of the fancy ROMs out there, you'll have to trick the SPL a bit. There are two ways of doing this: (1) HardSPL and (2) SoftSPL.
A HardSPL is a "permanent" solution. It replaces your SPL; it's basically a cracked version of your SPL that removes the integrity checks that would normally be done. It's referred to as a permanent solution because it will not undo itself, nor can it be undone even if you flash a stock ROM (by AT&T or HTC), but there are ways of reverting back to the original SPL if necessary (I made this package (http://xpdnc.org/hosted/private/moar/ATT_Tilt_v3.57.502.2-FactoryRestore.7z) that contains everything necessary, including instructions, on how to do this).
A SoftSPL (AKA SSPL, USPL - UpdateSPL, JSPL - JumpSPL ... all the same thing as far as I know) is a temporary solution that is basically done for the purpose of loading HardSPLs, but you can flash ROMs with it as well (this is generally not recommended, though). It's a standalone EXE file that you will load onto your phone. When executed, it will unload your OS, and load up a cracked SPL. This will allow you to flash an illegitimate ROM to your phone, namely a ROM that replaces your SPL with a cracked one.
After that, you're golden. You can SIM unlock your phone (if that hasn't been done already) if you want. You can SuperCID it (CID is Country ID; a SuperCID is tantamount to using a "region 0" DVD player), but that's not necessary for you, personally; only useful if you sell to someone overseas. You can start flashing custom ROMs that are pieced together by the fine folks at that forum I linked above.
In short:
1. Transfer SoftSPL to phone.
2. Run SoftSPL.
3. Flash HardSPL.
4. Flash custom ROM.
Thoughts?