Of The People, By The People

my time with the gene is heading towards its end and i'd like to go out with a bang!!

i created this thread to give something back to this wonderful community for all the help and guidance that has been offered to me so far

i've kept the next post as sort of a checklist for new (and experienced) chefs for the stuff that they should include in their ROMs and also a list of things that our users request (based on popularity)
i'll also try and provide little descriptions wherever possible

so i'd like all those here to write down the features/apps/requests/tweaks whatever it is that you have used in your previous/current ROMS that you've liked

i'll go through the posts and add newer items into the list as time goes on

this will serve as a good place for the senior chefs here to contribute bits of their knowledge and as a quick reference index for new or aspiring chefs for things they should be considering while making their own ROMs

so here's a list of things a cook oughta look up while making a ROM
i've grouped the things up into separate catgories like

1] OEM

this group requires comparatively less editing on the chef's part so i figured it best to get it out of the way first

i - the initflashfiles.dat files can be edited to make changes in the default directory locations, file names and shortcut links

ii - i remember having changed the CameraDriver.dll module while trying to get my camera working, so chefs may want to look around for that one

iii - same goes for the sdbus.dll and sdmemory.dll, some of the older SYS builds need these modules to be patched else the sd card is not detected by the phone

iv - for those adding their own CABs or any other files for customization on first boot should make sure that their Config.txt file is edited as per their needs
kitchen crashes sometimes set the contents of this file to default thereby voiding the changes made by the chef

v - edit the mxipupdate_OEMVERSION_100.provxml to add in custom ROM name and date

2] SYS

i - firstly go through all the packages and remove unnecessary items to save some important space on our little GENES
look here for more info

ii - feel free to customize the graphics files in the dpi and dpi res folders
nothing says custom ROM more than custom graphics

iii - for more advance users, you can edit the graphics within the .DLL files in some of the files in the SYS folder
modules may also be recmodded to flat .DLL files to edit and then reversemodded to modules again

iv - various system files can be recmodded to reduce the number of modules in slot 0
here's the reason why
i'll place a link up when i find it

v - some of the files can be replaced to improve the functionality

3] EXT

here's another place for some really deep customization for the chef
instead of writing down every single software package that is available i'm making a list of the must-have softwares that work well on our devices
i'll be starting off with a list of my preferred apps and i'll be adding more apps as the user suggestions come in

i - a registry editing software like PHMRegistry

ii - PPCPimBackup

iii - S2P 0.83 by far the best FREE music player around
you could alternatively use older version like the 0.58 version which had the cover flow feature and a different method of creating the playlist

iv - XDA_UC, simply because it reduces the workload on the user post flash/hard reset and pitches in great for when the chef wants some post-boot customizations to be carried out

v - pocketnester, NES ROMs may not be everyone's cup of tea but it sure as hell provides some endless time-wasting fun

reserved...just in case

thanks for the heads-up...i'll give it a go and check out the results and post them up