[Main-OUTDATED] The Development Chronicles... [Day 4 - 08/25/08]

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These are the development chronicles. They will chronicles the creation of Just, my next ROM. I will keep track of everything I do here. Please do not post anything on this thread. I will create a second sister thread where you can ask questions. Please keep the threads clean of anything that is not related to the subject. I am not a mod, so I cannot delete posts, so I will rely on your honor.


Note: Since I work full time (actually, about 46 hours...), am a student and I'm getting married soon, my time is a little on the limited side. This will not be updated daily. Ivan's Class will not be cancelled, but will be placed on hold for the mean time. I will probably copy and paste lessons from there to here to save time, though. Since this is going to be my next rom, let's hope that I will keep at it until we have a working ROM.)

Day 1: Our OEM

Today we'll be getting our OEM. To do so, we will follow the following:

Welcome to Lesson 2. Today, we will learn how to decompile a ROM using Hypercore. This will serve us in two ways.
1. You'll understand how to decompile a ROM and obtain files from it.
2. You'll be able to get started building your own OEM folder. This OEM folder will be the basis for every ROM that we will be building in these lessons.

To begin:
Go here and download the Hypercore.7z file. You'll need 7Zip in order to open the file. Uncompress the hypercore folder into your desktop. Uncompress the Core folder into your main drive (C for MOST people.) These are my personal folders so you'll get more tools, fixed batches, correct settings for the Herald... and probably some random junk.

Here is where the fun starts. Start by grabbing a base ROM. You can use either Tmobile's Wing ROM or HTC's Herald ROM. I'm sure you can find a copy somewhere...
If you've downloaded 7zip, you should be able to right click on the RUU file and extract it somewhere. You'll notice that one of the files is named RUU_signed.nbh. This is a ROM in its NBH format.

1. Extracting the files in your NBH.
   1. Go to your newly created HyperCore folder, open up Tools, then NBH_Tools_v1.1.
   2. On the first tab, you will notice one and only one button... Press it.
   3. Search for your RUU_signed.nbh file and click Open.
   4. Save the files somewhere.
      As you can see... this isn't rocket science.... yet.
2. Blind Date with HyperCore
   Just to tell you a few things about HyperCore:
   You will be working with the HyperCore folder. The Core folder includes all the things that are done in the background. Don't touch it.
   The Panel folder holds most if not all the batch files that make the kitchen possible.
   The Build Folder is where you'll find your OEM folder once we're done with the next step.
   
3. Extracting your files
   1. Find Windows.nb in the folder you just extracted everything to.
   2. Rename this file to os.nb
   3. Copy the os.nb file to your HyperCore/Extract/Source folder.
   4. Go to HyperCore\Panel\Extract and launch DumpRom.
   5. Press Enter and wait...
      With any luck, you'll see:
      
   6. Press 1 then Enter to Start the Package Tool. Press Enter again. Then 3 and Enter to do it manually.
   7. Go to File, Open, open your HyperCore\Extract\Dump folder.
   8. Click on Tools, then Build Packages but do not close that window.
   9. Rename the Dump folder into Packages and then close the Package Tool.
   10. Press 4 to move your OEM and SYS folders. Press N to bypass making a backup.

That's it. Now you have your very own OEM folder to play with. You can discard the SYS and ROM folders, as we will not be using them in this class. The next lesson will teach you about the OEM folder, what it does, how to clean it up, etc. Then we will be downloading our other kitchen. Bepe's kitchen... or maybe my own EasyBakeOven... anyhow, it's late and the only reason I'm still up is because I promised you guys a lesson. It might not be pretty, but it will get the job done. Maybe I'll fix it up and rewrite it later when I'm fully awake. lol

Source: My Cooking Class: Lesson 2

The XIP and SYS will be extracted next. I will be using the XIP from Bepe's kitchen as a base to port other XIP's over. The SYS will come from somewhere else... I haven't decided which SYS to use.

Day 2:
OK, so we have the OEM folder which is where most of my ROM is going to come out off. Now it's time to plan out my goals so we know what we're building.

Goals:

• 80mb free of storage for LZX version
• 30+mb of RAM
• A dark red and black theme
• Raw speed
• Stability above all else
• Starting from scratch with a new core, instead of working with my previews cores like I did with Just2Clean and JustMe.

umm.... All my ROMs are the same aren't they? lol

So we have to familiarize ourselves with the OEM folder.

Lesson 3: Getting Personal with Your OEM

In today's lesson we are going to learn what the OEM folder is, what it does, how it does it, and why it is so important to you personally as a cook. This will be your signature and where most of what makes the ROM yours will take place...

The very first thing we will do, though, is make sure that you have your computer set to show all hidden and system files.
Open up the folder that holds the OEM folder, go to Tools, Folder Options, click on View, make sure Show Hidden Files and Folders is checked, hide extensions for known types in NOT checked and Hide Protected Operating System Files is NOT checked. Please do not go around deleting files in your computer after this and then PMing me that your PC will no longer boot up.

1. File Structure
   The file structure of a STOCK OEM folder is as follows:
   • LangDB
   • OEMAPPS
   • OEMDrivers
   • OEMMISC
   • OEMOPERATORS
   • OEMVERSION
   • OEM_DPI_96
   • OEM_Lang_0409
   • OEM.cer
2. What does this mean? - We will not be getting into all of them, only the ones important to today's lesson.
   • OEMAPPS - This is where all the OEM apps are stored. This means all the apps that are not originally part of the OS and were placed in by the phone manufacturer. These apps include the camera utility, a java manager (usually a crappy crippled old one, too...) etc. This folder is usually full of random useless things but has no real order within it. You'll see files for things like an FTP-Bluetooth utility and other things you might not need. Cleaning this OEM folder will be the meat of our cleaning process (although not the only place.)
   • OEMDrivers - This is where the drivers of the device are stored. You'll also notice that a few ringtones and such should be listed in here. These will be part of the cleanup process, too. The only driver here which you can touch will be the touch.dll (no pun intended.) This driver will be replaced later on to allow for BioTouch (the ability to touch the middle of the screen to scroll instead of the side bars.)
   • OEMOPERATORS - This is where a lot of the junk that your OEM puts in goes to. This is also where you can set your preferred theme and setup your UC compatibility. Unless you're me... and you use a separate package... more on this later.)
   • OEM_Lang_0409 - You will see a lot of MUI's here. MUI's store the wording on programs and thus the language of your device. More on this later. This is also part of the cleaning process.
   So now you have a VERY basic overview on the OEM folder. We will get more indepth as we go through this class.

Source: My Cooking Class: Lesson 3

The Clean...

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Day 2: Part 2:

OK, cleaning an OEM folder is the funnest/least fun part of making a ROM, depending on how you see it. To me, it's a fun investigation game.

I'm going to just list the folders in the OEM one by one and post exactly what I've done with them.

We have a couple of ways of cleaning out files we don't want. We have the research way, which means we will research to see what the files do. This one we do AFTER we get rid of the bulk of useless files. The second way, which is actually a short cut I made up... is to find packages of programs that you do not want and copying and pasting those files into my OEM folders. By default, windows will leave those files highlighted when the copy is done. All the files, even if they overwrote the files you had in there that you don't want anyways. Then, you just delete those files. If this sounds confusing, that's how everything in my head it... lol

So....., in practice:

1. Open oem package of program you don't want.
2. Copy all the files.
   
   
   
3. Paste them into the first OEM folder.
   
   
4. Delete the files.
5. Paste them into the next folder.
6. Delete the files.
7. etc.

It's a cheap trick, but it does its job well.
So how do we know which programs are in that we don't want? Install the stock RUU and write down what you want to get rid off. Or look through the files and research to find out what they are.
If you really want to be extra picky, you can also search for all the registry keys that the RGU has in that package as well.

Hey Ivan. Nice informative thread you got here. Long time, how you been. Congrats on your wedding

There, I posted a junk post But me being a Mod, can delete useless posts from here to keep it clean (including mine) Just let me know when you wish to get this one cleaned up

lol. You're forgiven this time.
Thanks on the wedding congratulation!

Day 3: OK, So I went through all the packages for the easy cleaning process. I also looked through all the RGU's and deleted any and all references to the stuff deleted. Now I have to go file by file and find out what to keep and what not to keep. One thing to notice, PROVXML files also include a lot of info that has to be edited. Think of them as a making of an XML file and a RGU file.

Day 4: I had an idea. I'm going to use the extROM for storage of certain system files that do not require a read directory... That might give me the push I need to reach 80MB free.