Develop Bugs

Contributing factors to ROM speed

I know that many people will already know the answers, but starting to cook my own rom has raised a few questions, and I was wondering if anyone could provide some more definitive answers
I saw comments somewhere that suggested that the amount of files in the windows folder was a direct contributor to ROM responsiveness - is this true?
If so, why am I bothering to cook a rom when I should take the lightest one around and install everything via cabs into a different location.
Take Phone Alarm, that installs into the root program folder from a cab, but if I cook it in, it goes in windows as well.
Would anyone have any other advice as to the factors that contribute to the speed of the ROM? (I have seen the Page Pool tests that were done a while ago)

In my opinion, a rom filled with cooked apps seems to give better responsiveness than a rom filled with cab installed apps. After noticing a difference in this, I to starting cooking regularly used apps into my rom! trust me it does make a diff.

Hi, although I probably don't have the best answer for you, I have chime in a bit here, I kinda like this question.
I can't speak for everyone, but in all instances I have noticed, the more files in the Windows directory does affect ROM responsiveness to an extent, Im not saying that making it bare minimum will give you the fastest ROM when it comes to useability, I do think there is a point of removing files, where the extra little bit you remove really isn't going to be noticed when it comes to speed and usage.
If you cook in Phone Alarm, it might not actually give you any noticeable slowdown, but you're also wasting space in Storage, because you are having to duplicate the files to Program files, which you already knew, the only way to go around that would be to use your ext ROM, run your device low on storage in general, and I wouldn't be surprised if that alone didn't slow it down, no matter where the files are.
Im sure there are a few things you could cook in, registry edits, small apps that work in Windows, if you use a different dialer, you could cook it in, and remove/replace the default images, even I have noticed that some ROM's are a bit messy, parts of stripped stuff left in, you could even remove all of the help files, and change the default PIE page to Google..etc, and delete the files it pointed to.
Do I know for sure that will make the fastest ROM...no, I don't even find it worth the time to cook my own, I just run a old mostly clean big storage lvsw release, that runs sweet, and personalize it with cabs I create.
As far as page pools, I've ran a 4 and 6, I will say I did like the extra 2mb showing, but I can't say for sure myself if it really made a difference, this ROM is a 6.
I don't know if there are any really definitive answers, cause user results usually do vary, and Im sure there are even others that know better about it than I do.

Hmm slightly conflicting views. Anyone else got any thoughts....

Light 6.0 or 6.1 ROM with rgu files...please?

Please will someone post ONE rom without removing .rgu files before posting.
I just want to cook my own ROM.
...
Cmon, guys

I was about to create the exact same thread.
Until a few month ago, I used to re-cook the roms I downloaded here to get rid of the unusefull applications and add my customisation.
Now that wm6.1 is out, I wanted to switch to it but I was unable to find a rom with this f*** dsm and rgu that are mandatory for a clean cooking.
Cookers, why the hell are you removing this files ?!?
Is it to save a few kb which is stupid regarding the pain in the ass trying to improve the rom after this suppression ? (Or did I miss a major revolution in the cooking process that make them unusefull to create packages and registry hives ?)
So could anybody give an advice for a good ROM (light and fast) where this RGU and DSM remains ?

Exactly,
recently I switched from Prophet from Trinity.
I couldn't wait to compare its performances to previous device, but was unpleasantly surprised to see that almost NONE of the ROMs posted in Trinity section is editable.
On the contrary Prophet ROM section is way more advanced.
In the end, I thought that ROMs are (at least ones posted here) kind of public property, and that the they shouldn't be locked (by removing rgu files prior to posting, or putting the time code on them!!!). If you want to sell them - then go apply for job at Micr0s0ft.
On the other hand - I can understand that someone is affraid that someone will overtake his/her work and claim it as their own. But again, we are here to help to each, and I never personally published any of my own modified ROMs - due to respect to the author. It would be good practice that someone who makes modification - always mentiones which ROM is used as a base for development.
Just imagine what would happen if Bepe, Mamaich, Olipro and other real developers made their tools just for themselves!
Cheers!

There's something I can't understand...
Why do you need to edit released ROMs, when you have access to ROM kitchens?
My best guess is that you don't want to spend endless hours figuring out the best tweaks, solving problems, creating packages, and so on, when you can have it all done by others.
Remember one thing:
None of the cookers here are releasing ROMs for profit. We do it as courtesy, to help the less skilled, so they can also have a more updated and efficient system running on their devices.
Cookers aren't by any means obliged to reveal their little secrets, which for you may seem trivial, but in fact, it may be the sum of many hours testing.
Cooking with a untouched kitchen is a good way to get to know how things work, and to improve your own cooking skills. So it's not respectful of you to say that cookers have to release their ROMs editable, or any other related demand for that matter, whether you release your edits or not.
It's the cookers choice to release a ROM as he see fit, and it's the user choice to use it or not.
I don't have a problem with the so called "competition", since I'm not here to compete. I'm not here to win, rather to provide an alternative. But it's hard for me to give up my work just like that.
I wouldn't have any problem providing a kitchen, but unfortunately my main source is XDA-Developers, so I also rely on others to get a base for my work. My skill level is not yet that high, but I'm always trying to improve myself.
I'm sorry if I'm offending someone, but I needed to speak my mind...

FInixNOver said:
There's something I can't understand...
Why do you need to edit released ROMs, when you have access to ROM kitchens?
My best guess is that you don't want to spend endless hours figuring out the best tweaks, solving problems, creating packages, and so on, when you can have it all done by others.
Remember one thing:
None of the cookers here are releasing ROMs for profit. We do it as courtesy, to help the less skilled, so they can also have a more updated and efficient system running on their devices.
Cookers aren't by any means obliged to reveal their little secrets, which for you may seem trivial, but in fact, it may be the sum of many hours testing.
Cooking with a untouched kitchen is a good way to get to know how things work, and to improve your own cooking skills. So it's not respectful of you to say that cookers have to release their ROMs editable, or any other related demand for that matter, whether you release your edits or not.
It's the cookers choice to release a ROM as he see fit, and it's the user choice to use it or not.
I don't have a problem with the so called "competition", since I'm not here to compete. I'm not here to win, rather to provide an alternative. But it's hard for me to give up my work just like that.
I wouldn't have any problem providing a kitchen, but unfortunately my main source is XDA-Developers, so I also rely on others to get a base for my work. My skill level is not yet that high, but I'm always trying to improve myself.
I'm sorry if I'm offending someone, but I needed to speak my mind...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1 you've said everything

Hi, FInixNOver,
well I am glad you replied. Although better anything than nothing.
Watch now:
"Why do you need to edit released ROMs, when you have access to ROM kitchens?"
Well, why do you need kitchens (and tools) - why don't you develop them by yourself?
You say
"So it's not respectful of you to say that cookers have to release their ROMs editable, or any other related demand for that matter, whether you release your edits or not".
No one said they have to. But after hours of testing and achieving something which only you succeeded to - to keep it as a secret? And not share it with the "less skilled" on the forum? I understand if someone invested hours in artistic-visual development of the ROM - everyone will recognize that as effort - but removing .rgu files used for creating the registry during ROM building - is creative???
Or when I dump the ROM and see the folder named "Don't touch my ROM"?
Cmon, thats pure blsht!!!
What if someone makes "Don't touch my Hard-SPL"?

phnikola said:
Hi, FInixNOver,
well I am glad you replied. Although better anything than nothing.
Watch now:
"Why do you need to edit released ROMs, when you have access to ROM kitchens?"
Well, why do you need kitchens (and tools) - why don't you develop them by yourself?
You say
"So it's not respectful of you to say that cookers have to release their ROMs editable, or any other related demand for that matter, whether you release your edits or not".
No one said they have to. But after hours of testing and achieving something which only you succeeded to - to keep it as a secret? And not share it with the "less skilled" on the forum? I understand if someone invested hours in artistic-visual development of the ROM - everyone will recognize that as effort - but removing .rgu files used for creating the registry during ROM building - is creative???
Or when I dump the ROM and see the folder named "Don't touch my ROM"?
Cmon, thats pure blsht!!!
What if someone makes "Don't touch my Hard-SPL"?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You may be right about the tools, without them it would have been very hard to get many of the tasks completed successfully and probably I wouldn't have even started cooking.
But, how on earth would you be able to build a ROM without a kitchen?!! You certainly cannot make an omelet without the eggs, now can you?
And I never demanded any tools from anyone or even kitchen. When I have a request or something to say, I usually politely ask or give a suggestion.
You should try to create you own ROM before making assumptions about what cookers should keep a secret or not. Then you'll notice that cookers help each other whenever possible (e.g. when something important is fixed).
And I do share my findings, mainly in my ROMs obviously!! That doesn't mean I have to expose all my work. It's necessary to research a bit. You'll find it rewarding.
Also, almost all of the art work in my ROMs is my hard work, and it's painful to see it scattered around without so much as a credit (I'm not asking to be paid or anything). So, why not protect my work?
Tweaks? That's a whole different subject, the ones you may find helpful other may not, it's up to each one to use the one that will best suit your needs.
You will also learn, that most times, a cooker will not mess with the RGUs in a kitchen. Instead, a brand new package is created just for registry tweaks, this way the changes are easily tracked down. This being said, I can easily build a ROM, that you'll be able to dump and repackage, but you won't find my registry tweaks. Would that work for you? Because, I find this process to be more deceiving than providing the ROM without RGUs and DSMs.
You're making it sound like I say less skilled persons in a bad way. Every user is a potential cooker. Everything is available. Sometimes, you just have to dig a little deeper.
Some find it to hard to learn, others get what they need from the available options, others, well... they're just too damn lazy. But hey, everyone's got their reason, and who the hell am I to judge them?!!
"Don't touch my hard SPL"
This is a funny one!!! You have quite a mess in you attic. You're mixing 2 very different subjects...
I know one thing!! I wasn't fully satisfied, with the options I had, so I decided to get my hands dirty and do it myself. I learn everyday, and I have yet plenty to learn.
My conscience rests easy, as I've made some contributions, maybe not very important ones, but never the less...
I released some fine ROM(not perfect, I'm well aware of that) if I may say so, and made some users happy.
I don't want to start a war or anything. This all subject of protecting or not the cooker's work has already been extensively discussed, and I gave my opinion about it.
In the end I can say:
I've paid my dues. Have you?

OK, I wont argue anymore but will not change my oppinion either.
I am closing this thread by posting HTC Trinity - Complete Cooking tutorial for begginers in the forum.
Maybe my debts will be payed now!
Now let us be more useful and post comments and EDITABLE ROMs!
In the end - I would do that for you as a forum member
Cheers!

FInixNOver said:
There's something I can't understand...
Why do you need to edit released ROMs, when you have access to ROM kitchens?
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Click to collapse
To my mind, kitchen are not made to cook a rom but to learn to the newbies how it works. It's far from beeing a good solution to realy cleanly cook roms (often buggy, not possible to have an up to date OS, ...). However it's really instructive and it's great work from the creators of theese kitchens.
FInixNOver said:
My best guess is that you don't want to spend endless hours figuring out the best tweaks, solving problems, creating packages, and so on, when you can have it all done by others.
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It's right but it's exactly the point of development, saving hours by using existing libraries to be able to create something realy new that's not another copy of something existing.
Do you know the meaning of a Community of Practice or did you forgot the first function of this board ?
Moreover, you must know that it's way more painfull to cook a rom without kitchen than with a kitchen, even if the result is best.
Finally, this kind of "protection" is quite useless as the rom is still dumpable and editable, it's just a bit more painfull as you need to find the missing files from other roms or from packages.
I was curently working on a rom editor to enable cookers to save time cooking rom with a GUI but I think I will stop the project for a time to try to develop a tool that will be able to recreate the missing dsm, rgu and packages.sof to proove:
1) I'm not a lazy lamer
2) Sharing knowledge is much more profitable for the community than keeping it for itself (even if it has already been done a hundred of times by bepe and so many other on this board)
However, don't think I don't respect cookers work but I think this point stands against this board main function, this will be my way to pay my dues
@phnikola : I found this rom http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=391450&highlight=KAEW working quite well (light, fast, stable and recent build) where the rgu, dsm and .sof are still existing. If you want to use another ROM, just copy all the rgu, dsm and packages.sof from this one to the dump directory of the other rom

Peace
@ phnikola
I welcome your gesture and I'll be more than happy to make some contribution, to make it the best tutorial that I never had.
@ tonio94
Well, my understanding of kitchen is the set that includes the ROM files, packages, tools (whether they are batch files, or fancy tools) used to edit and build the ROM. As I say that's only my understanding of it. I may as well be wrong. And I'm very thankful for the effort and hard work put into developing all the tools that can make our cooking experience so much better
I think you're missing my point. I'm all in favour of sharing. And I try to do it as much as I can, but you may also be aware that even though programmers may use the same libraries, they often protect their final work, so that other cannot take credit for it.
The same happens with ROMs. Altough I'm using the same base as many others to create my ROMs, the final result is different from cooker to cooker, and I can only speak for myself when I say that the main reason for protecting my work is to avoid having my work ripped off.
I have absolutely nothing against making available the kitchen as bug free as possible, so that everyone can make their own customization of it.
I'm well aware that this protection can only slowdown the process of editing the ROM, but it's a way to make it a bit harder for others (I mean only the ones whose sole purpose is to take someone elses's work as their own), to take my work.
Sometimes, just because of a handfull of gready people that take other people work and make it their own without any credits, the rest of the community ends up paying for it.
I wish I had some developer/programmer skils, so i could make a bigger contribution to this community, but unfortunately I've never learned that (however I'm hoping to work on it someday).
In the whole spirit of sharing, I'm going to release some treats, just to prove that it's was never my intention to undermine the work of new cookers (what am i saying?!! I'm also a new cooker!! and a noob for that matter ), I just wanted to protect myself.

FInixNOver said:
In the whole spirit of sharing, I'm going to release some treats, just to prove that it's was never my intention to undermine the work of new cookers (what am i saying?!! I'm also a new cooker!! and a noob for that matter ), I just wanted to protect myself.
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Click to collapse
I have a respect to that, mate
I think your ROMs are among the best. Keep up the good work
Cheers!

tonio94 said:
@phnikola : I found this rom http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=391450&highlight=KAEW working quite well (light, fast, stable and recent build) where the rgu, dsm and .sof are still existing. If you want to use another ROM, just copy all the rgu, dsm and packages.sof from this one to the dump directory of the other rom
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks a lot, tonio94!
Will try it as soon as download completes

FInixNOver said:
@ phnikola
In the whole spirit of sharing, I'm going to release some treats, just to prove that it's was never my intention to undermine the work of new cookers (what am i saying?!! I'm also a new cooker!! and a noob for that matter ), I just wanted to protect myself.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi FInixNOver
I don't normally get involved in these threads, but once again I have to admire the way you avoid an argument with yet another member of the community who seems to just take, take, take.
Had he and others bothered to have a look at not just the quantity and quality of ROMs you produce for everyone but the feedback and replies you give on a daily basis to people with problems, maybe he would have a clearer idea as to who the givers are in this forum.
You guys give up your time and effort for free so that others (including myself) can benefit and enjoy the fruits of your work. To show any anger or frustration is ridiculous. At least 70% of the people in Trinity forums have tried and enjoyed your ROMs. And yet still they expect you to give more. Incredible...
Mattster.

Mattster_spv said:
Hi FInixNOver
I don't normally get involved in these threads, but once again I have to admire the way you avoid an argument with yet another member of the community who seems to just take, take, take.
Had he and others bothered to have a look at not just the quantity and quality of ROMs you produce for everyone but the feedback and replies you give on a daily basis to people with problems, maybe he would have a clearer idea as to who the givers are in this forum.
You guys give up your time and effort for free so that others (including myself) can benefit and enjoy the fruits of your work. To show any anger or frustration is ridiculous. At least 70% of the people in Trinity forums have tried and enjoyed your ROMs. And yet still they expect you to give more. Incredible...
Mattster.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Man, I already posted that his ROMs are excellent, but you have a real problem with your selfesteem. Anyway we came to agreement - so be more useful and post in another thread

Developing a ROM

I don't really don't consider myself a noob but would prefer to add a little caution here since the solution will affect alot of phones.
I would like to build a ROM that would slim down the HTC Sprint 6800 by removing programs or tools that are not needed for my purpose, which in exchange cause alot of memory to be freed for another third party application.
I really need to help to understand that steps needed to build as I want. Can I use my own jpeg images for the boot screen? Incorporate third party software (that I have full control over) into the Rom? Will an unlocker be needed?
What applications/programs would you recommend in order to gain the most memory availability?
Thank you for any advice you could give.

I'm agree with you i searched a lot for some thing like that and i didn't find till now could some of members here help how to do that

Aniken010 said:
I don't really don't consider myself a noob but would prefer to add a little caution here since the solution will affect alot of phones.
I would like to build a ROM that would slim down the HTC Sprint 6800 by removing programs or tools that are not needed for my purpose, which in exchange cause alot of memory to be freed for another third party application.
I really need to help to understand that steps needed to build as I want. Can I use my own jpeg images for the boot screen? Incorporate third party software (that I have full control over) into the Rom? Will an unlocker be needed?
What applications/programs would you recommend in order to gain the most memory availability?
Thank you for any advice you could give.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is there a reason as to why no one answers? Am I asking something wrong? I've read through search and "how to" on developing the rom but wanted more information about specific questions.... really? anyone?

You would do well to check out the Titan ROM forum here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/forumdisplay.php?f=384 and at www.ppcgeeks.com .
There is a plethora of information in these areas as well as ROMs that are doing what you are asking for.
Now, if you would like to do this on your own then I would still check the above areas as well as searching this site. There is a ton of info that can be found quite quickly.

[UPDATED 02/18/10] A call to all chefs!!!

Hi there!
There are members here who have successfully cooked for the Vogue with each one using the kitchen that he prefers, while there are many others who have researched for hours and still have trouble setting up a kitchen.
Anyone who tried to do this without prior knowledge surely remembers how much effort is needed to learn all the steps, since the cooking process is quite complicated and there are many new things to learn. Even if one managed to setup a kitchen he might still have no idea how to port a new build to the kitchen. I have also found it difficult to learn what exactly do you need to keep from the original ROM that was shipped with the device and which of those old files can we get rid of. And the list goes on and on...
Many would love to enjoy the thrill of building their own custom ROM with the programs that they find useful, and to be able to tweak it the way they prefer.
I'm calling here on all of you who have experience cooking for the Vogue to please share your knowledge here.
If you have a kitchen setup that you would like to share, I'm sure that many members would love to make use of it!
See post #18 for a description of ROM XIP SYS OEM and LANG. Thanks to egzthunder1.
UPDATE 02/18/10
From my own personal experience and as others have mentioned in the first few posts of this thread, the easiest kitchen for a new chef is the PPCKitchen.
STEP 1: You can register at ppckitchen.org and download the latest version of the kitchen. After installing the kitchen you will need to run the updater. It will take a few seconds while it connects to the server. After that you will have an option of downloading different files. In order to cook a working ROM you will need to go to ROM Kitchens\Vogue and download the following Vogue Carrier Kitchen files, Vogue Kitchen Core, Vogue Drivers. (I don't believe you need Generic OEM Kitchen files in the above directory). Of course you will also need at least one of the Windows Mobile builds from the same directory (ROM Kitchens\Vogue).
Although the builds that show up in the updater are pretty new, yet the latest builds will not show up. In the future after having successfully cooked a ROM with one of the more stable builds from the updater, you can go get the latest builds from the PPCK website at Windows Mobile Build Discussions\Test SYS Builds. *Advanced PPCk Users only*. For now I would stick to the builds that show up in the updater.
There are also OEM files that you can download with the updater. These files have different programs that you will be able to add to your ROM. You can download PPCKitchen OEM's, PPCKitchen 240x320 OEM's, Non Freeware OEM's (don't get exited it's only a trial!), and User submitted OEM's. You don't need any of these so you can download them and check if you want the programs that's inside, if not you can delete the whole file from your kitchen folder that's in your PPCK folder.
The kitchen is very easy to use and you can now build a basic ROM.
I hope to add more to this mini tutorial within the next few days.

I agree 100%, I think it would be great if some of the experienced chefs could drop some knowledge on the rest of us, if not only so we can keep pumping out new ROMs for our Vogues.

Head over to PPCKitchen.org they have a tutorial and everything you need to cook roms, its also the easiest to use in my opinion.

As you may have noticed over the past few days, I have been trying to keep the forum a little cleaner by asking people who open new threads with questions to simply ask them in a sticked Q&A thread. This request also falls under that same premise. Please do not open new threads asking questions. Threads should only be opened to contribute to the site (roms, kitchens, skins, guides, apps, etc). Thanks.

Barogi44 said:
Head over to PPCKitchen.org they have a tutorial and everything you need to cook roms, its also the easiest to use in my opinion.
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I also have been using the PPCkitchen and agree that it's the easiest, but I have found that it's also somewhat limiting and think it would be a good idea if those using the Ervius VK or any other kitchen would be able to help others.
egzthunder1 said:
As you may have noticed over the past few days, I have been trying to keep the forum a little cleaner by asking people who open new threads with questions to simply ask them in a sticked Q&A thread. This request also falls under that same premise. Please do not open new threads asking questions. Threads should only be opened to contribute to the site (roms, kitchens, skins, guides, apps, etc). Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry, didn't mean to make a mess while your trying to clear things up. It must be frustrating, sort of like cleaning up the floor and having somebody walk in tracking dirt on the freshly cleaned floor!
I just thought that this would be a Tutorial type of thread where members could come and add their little bits of knowledge until we would have a lot of info gathered in one spot. Personally I still think that it's not another simple Q&A thread, although your welcome to disagree and to remove this thread if you want. I'm still hoping that this thread will become a guide for all newcomers to cooking.

When I get home tonight, I will give you a heads up on how i use PPCKitchen. I cook for personal use only and don't publish roms. In short, all I do is use is a modified version of Vin's Generic_OEM. By modified, I take out things I don't need and insert things I want. When I used to flash manila roms, this was critical as his MANILA folder has every thing needed. Now that I don't use MANILA (I replaced it it SPB Mobile Shell 3.5.3 (I LUV IT!). When a new WM build comes out, I simply pop them files in the appropriate places and run it. I am currently in love with 23529.
If your interested in what I'm doing, you can start by downloading Vin's Generic_OEM from his 28014 Thread. Just search for Generic_OEM in the thread.

Lewy1 said:
Sorry, didn't mean to make a mess while your trying to clear things up. It must be frustrating, sort of like cleaning up the floor and having somebody walk in tracking dirt on the freshly cleaned floor!
I just thought that this would be a Tutorial type of thread where members could come and add their little bits of knowledge until we would have a lot of info gathered in one spot. Personally I still think that it's not another simple Q&A thread, although your welcome to disagree and to remove this thread if you want. I'm still hoping that this thread will become a guide for all newcomers to cooking.
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I know what your intentions were and I do not disagree with you. But there are a few things that need to be considered for making a "cooking guide" for this particular section of the site...
*There are only 3 (4 at best) active chefs for this section: Nag, Barogi, vin (if he decides to fully return), and myself. I believe that NFS will not return (personal unfounded belief).
*Most of the above chefs use PPCK. I am not saying that they don't use others like VK, but the info on cooking will be pretty much the same that you can find in the PPCK website.
*There are a slew of tutorials floating around the site (not just the Vogue section, but throughout XDA), which have a lot (and I do mean a lot) of information on how to cook.
*Cooking with other kitchens is far more involved than simply dropping build packages into PPCK. You can even get down to the nitty gritty of hex editing your rom to get more stuff out of it (ie, there is a hex change in the BA roms that allow you to have more ram available).
*Lastly, since the Vogue uses newer style roms (nbh, as opposed to older formats like nbf), learning how to cook from scratch would be kinda a waste of time (believe me, I spent the last month learning how to port a newer rom to the Blue Angel and it isn't as simple as you may think).
One of the mods (I can't remember which one right now) has a series of posts with tools, tutorials, and a bunch of other things needed to cook. What we could do is simply make a one or two post sticky with the links to the different tutorials on xda as well as on other sites (ppcgeeks has a 1100+ pages thread that talks about cooking and porting). I will see if I can get my hands on those and get them in here if that is ok with you.

egzthunder1 said:
One of the mods (I can't remember which one right now) has a series of posts with tools, tutorials, and a bunch of other things needed to cook. What we could do is simply make a one or two post sticky with the links to the different tutorials on xda as well as on other sites (ppcgeeks has a 1100+ pages thread that talks about cooking and porting). I will see if I can get my hands on those and get them in here if that is ok with you.
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Click to collapse
Thanks, that's perfectly fine with me. I have seen most of the stuff that you mentioned and was actually thinking along the same lines as you. If I can I will add my own little bit of knowledge like links to the various kitchens and so on. By the way there is a new kitchen, Oskitchen with new UI by airxtreme (original kitchen by Ondraster). It looks like it will be easy to use and has just been modified for the Vogue, and I'm hoping to give it a try tonight.

Lewy1 said:
Thanks, that's perfectly fine with me. I have seen most of the stuff that you mentioned and was actually thinking along the same lines as you. If I can I will add my own little bit of knowledge like links to the various kitchens and so on. By the way there is a new kitchen, Oskitchen with new GUI by airxtreme (original kitchen by Ondraster). It looks like it will be easy to use and has just been modified for the Vogue, and I'm hoping to give it a try tonight.
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Click to collapse
Yes, I did see that one. I had tried oskitchen before and it isn't too bad (still preferred Ervius though). However, this new UI seems a little more user friendly...

Start out with PPCK. It works well, most users will not notice the limitations.
Biggest thing with making your own ROM's is getting all of the Reg edits that need to be included.
Good Luck! PS Start with build 23529 it seems to be really stable and fast!

First post updated with mini tutorial.

Lmiller1708 said:
Biggest thing with making your own ROM's is getting all of the Reg edits that need to be included.
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Perhaps we can use this thread to gather up those types of regedits in one place. It would also be good to have guides for new cooks on how to add things like EzInput 2.1 (with working vibration) and Long Press End Key, BT Pan and Alarm functionality (while plugged in). Most of the newer roms have old or incomplete implementations of these features. vin was the last person to get many of these features all together in one place. With the age of the Vogue many of the cooks are trading up to newer devices and much of that knowledge is getting lost.

codf4ther said:
Perhaps we can use this thread to gather up those types of regedits in one place. It would also be good to have guides for new cooks on how to add things like EzInput 2.1 (with working vibration) and Long Press End Key, BT Pan and Alarm functionality (while plugged in). Most of the newer roms have old or incomplete implementations of these features. vin was the last person to get many of these features all together in one place. With the age of the Vogue many of the cooks are trading up to newer devices and much of that knowledge is getting lost.
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Are you talking bout me ?

egzthunder1 said:
Are you talking bout me ?
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No sir, not trying to single anyone out. I've tried pretty much every rom released here and on PPCGeeks I haven't tried your latest ones labeled MetroPCS. I'll flash you latest tonight and try it out for a few days.

just uploaded 28230. Try that one and let me know if you like it...
btw, I was joking... don't sweat it. I don't get so easily offended

tharris297 said:
When I get home tonight, I will give you a heads up on how i use PPCKitchen. I cook for personal use only and don't publish roms. In short, all I do is use is a modified version of Vin's Generic_OEM. By modified, I take out things I don't need and insert things I want. When I used to flash manila roms, this was critical as his MANILA folder has every thing needed. Now that I don't use MANILA (I replaced it it SPB Mobile Shell 3.5.3 (I LUV IT!). When a new WM build comes out, I simply pop them files in the appropriate places and run it. I am currently in love with 23529.
If your interested in what I'm doing, you can start by downloading Vin's Generic_OEM from his 28014 Thread. Just search for Generic_OEM in the thread.
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I don't know if you sent this over via PM but I'd be interested in reading it too. I tried replacing the Generic_OEM.rar in the kitchen folder with the one from vin, but the kitchen won't startup after i do that.

codf4ther said:
I don't know if you sent this over via PM but I'd be interested in reading it too. I tried replacing the Generic_OEM.rar in the kitchen folder with the one from vin, but the kitchen won't startup after i do that.
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The reason is that Vin's packages are not "kitchen ready". What he posted is in essence a dump of the Mega rom. The packages have to be worked on in a one by one basis to get them to work with PPCK. There is a nice guide on how to do that in the forum at PPCKitchen.org.

Hey Lewy1,
You are off to a good start. I have been giving your idea some thought and if you truly want this to be a "learning resource" for new chefs, you may want to start by describing a few basic concepts as well.
[highlight]ROM[/highlight]
In essence the Operating System with all the necessary files and programs that make up for what you have on your device. This contains things that are general to all devices as well as certain files and folders that are specific to each particular device (hence, the reason why you cannot flash a rom from a Blue Angel into a Vogue and vice-versa). Once a rom is obtained by dumping it, the dump will have a bunch of folders and files, which need to be turned into something "cookable". There exist several applications that can (and must be used) in order to accomplish this.
After all the things in the "dump" are sorted out and manipulated, the rom will essentially turn into 4 main parts: XIP, SYS, OEM, and Lang packages.
[highlight]XIP[/highlight]
The XIP is what holds the core of the OS. This is what holds the Native Kernel of the particular device as well. In order to port a rom to a device, one cannot simply replace the XIP with a new one. The XIP of the new OS must be "implanted" into the XIP of the base rom of the device. The reason for this is that there are many files that can simply be replaced in the XIP, but some must remain untouched as they hold key elements for the proper functioning of the device (Native Kernel).
[highlight]SYS[/highlight]
The SYS folder will have packages with software that the device may or may not need to run properly. This holds things such as the Shell (your UI), Office, core applications, etc. A lot of these packages can be removed from the SYS in order to make space for other apps that the chef maybe interested in having. However, great care must be taken when removing/adding packages since some packages are needed for the device to even be able to boot. Likewise, having too many packages will render the rom un-flashable since most devices have a specific size of rom that they cannot go over. In the case of latter devices, the available space for rom has gone up dramatically. For instance, the Vogue has roughly 90 MB of space for the rom. This is more than plenty to cook a lot of apps without too many issues. There are older devices such as the Blue Angel, where the size of the rom is limited to 32 MB, which forces most cooks to remove packages and compress things as much as possible to even have a bootable rom (keep in mind that most of the time, builds are coming with more and more space requirements).
On top of all this, there are the resolution requirements. Most packages will come with a second folder of a similar name with the resolution added. For example, Base will have another folder called Base_96DPI. The chef will have to be careful on what he/she puts to be cooked as having different resolution packages can make the device either not boot, or look weird (out of scale images) if it does boot
[highlight]OEM[/highlight]
The OEM normally holds fixes and programs that the cook could not fit in the SYS. It also hold drivers, sometimes even Language packs among other things.
[highlight]Lang[/highlight]
These are language and location specific modules. The chefs use the location modules to make roms for different languages and locations. It is usually a four character code that determines which country/language the rom is made for. For instance, 0409 is WWE.
There are many other basic concepts (such as Virtual Memory allocation) that could be discussed, but for now, these basic definitions should help the average person understand what they are dealing with when they see a new set of packages coming out on PPCK,
Hope this helps the cause

egzthunder1 said:
Hey Lewy1,
You are off to a good start. I have been giving your idea some thought and if you truly want this to be a "learning resource" for new chefs, you may want to start by describing a few basic concepts as well.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks! Great Info I'll add it to the first post.

[REF] How To Post and Promote a New ROM

This is a short summary of some important general points for posting new ROM's.
It should be considered as an optional "add-on" to the general thread:
"Galaxy S I9000 Android Development **STICKY THREAD** Read here first!"
The number of man hours spent working and developing new custom ROMs are astronomical! So why then, is it that so few new ROMs are successful? Basically because of lack of information and poor public visibility/involvement of the developers themselves. It's just like in any other successful business, you have to make your product or service stand out from the rest. Either by making an amazing product or by being a great inspiration for others to follow. Here I will try to explain and list some fundamental ideas, in order to make your ROM better and more popular.
When a would be ROM flasher is looking around for a new ROM, he searches the web and the XDA-forums for threads, usually beginning with the text "[ROM]". Next he/she look at the FIRST page where the developer (and his/her team) is presenting the various features of their new design. What is presented there will often be a decision maker for whether or not someone wants to try it out.
There are a few things that consistently differs between "good" ROMs and "bad/poor" ROM's. These things are often and naturally related to the amount of information available around the ROM in question. Someone who have put down enough mind, sweat and hart into the production (cooking) of a ROM, would also like to share his/her effort in the best possible way, not minding writing a detailed and useful description about their product. The items found below are part of some of these things that do MAKE A DIFFERENCE.
- Primary Purpose:
Essentially a description why you want to provide this ROM and why you think it is needed. What are the main features and driving forces for providing this ROM?
- Ultimate Gaming Experience
- Super stability
- Super Compatibility
- Great Battery Duration
- Minimalistic User Interface (UI)
- Simple to use functionality
- Latest and coolest never seen before interface behavior
- Fully loaded with ultimate editions of absolutely everything
- Mobile Penetration Testing Platform
- or perhaps just for educational or experimental purposes etc...
- Up-to-date Maintenance:
That means an active developer (or group of) who are readily available to answer questions from users of all levels, new or advanced! Often that they should be inhumanly available at all times of the day & night!
- Up-to-date Firmware Release:
That means the the source of your ROM is preferably based on the latest, but publicly available code/firmware. Not on some hidden leaks or old hacked code. When I say "hidden leaks" here, I mean the kind where the origin of the code (compiled or not) cannot be verified or downloaded. (BMW doesn't make car/sales advertisements using 2 year old engines from unknown/secret sources!)
- Detailed CHANGE-LOG:
People want to know that what they flash on their phones, is as close as possible to what they would like to see and use. Also from a paranoia perspective most of us would like to know that it doesn't contain 3rd party or other strange applications that we will never use, or which will give us trouble when we want to add/update applications, at a later time. A description of the various applications is also very useful. Most people would wonder what the "DarkBotSendHelper.apk" is doing on a phone.
A change-log would ideally consist of a list with:
- Title: Change Date and the custom ROM Version the changes apply to
- Full application name
- Full application version
- Short application description
- Link to application source-code, if available
- Link to application on "Android Market"
- Reference to what hacks has been made, if any
- Reason for why the hack is needed
- Unresolved BUG-LOG:
A brief log of bugs and unresolved issues that affects the current release. It is hard to explain without cussing how annoying it is to flash a new ROM, just to find out that some WiFi issue has not yet been resolved, which was posted on page 456/1200! If people post bugs/issues, that cannot be immediately resolved, please add those issues to the BUG-LOG, on the front page.
- Screen Shots! Updated Screen Shots!
The importance of good screen shots can never be enough emphasized! Many ROMs are updated continuously and if the screen-shots doesn't match what the user installs, he's gonna go WTF!, and will start to peppering your support threads with questions about how to install this and that, and how to get the same themes you are using in those screenshots, or from another different ROM altogether! You wouldn't be able to sell a new BMW with a picture of an old Volvo, would you? So why do you think a ROM would be any different? Also include a brief caption about the essential feature(s) shown, for each picture.
- Detailed Installation Instructions
This hardly need more explanation apart for making sure you also say something about:
- WIPE/No-WIPE
- Bootloader Requirements
- Recommended Procedure
- Detailed Device Compatibility List
Yes, the same gross model name/number of a particular device, may very well have some minor variations that can render the device completely incompatible with software from it's apparent twin-brother. Or even certain Firmwares may not be compatible to slight manufacturing variation. See for example the "Samsung Galaxy S" with their sub-models GT-I9000(B/M/T), and to complicate things further, even within the same model there may be slight differences, like in the PCB of the USB-port of the SGS2 GT-I9100.
- Detailed Language Compatibility
What do people use their phones for? Communication! Sure, some use them as a game pad, but after all it is primarily a browsing and communication device. So if you can't use your primary languages with your device, it is useless! Although some network operators are only beginning to understand that most of the connected world is at least bi-lingual and often much more. Thus it is of essence that your phone's keyboard, screen-reader and web-browser can read, display and understand most characters and alphabets around. (I.e. I still fail to understand why it is virtually impossible to find a phone with Russian, English, Spanish and Norwegian keyboard layouts/character sets or at least let me select these my self!) In addition it is very confusing for a first-time ROM flasher to understand the need for all the various PDA/PHONE and CSC region settings, which are often modified and re-packaged for a well cooked ROM, and thus no longer adhere to the original regional code.
So when you cook your ROM, please provide as much information as possible regarding how the user can adapt their phone to his/her own languages. This information includes at least:
- What languages are available for basic operation (the operating system)
- What languages are available for the keyboard mappings
- What keyboard applications can use these languages (Swype, Samsung Keyboard etc.)
- Simple instructions how to include, use and set the phone languages
- List of Technical Terms and Definitions that describe the ROM
The world of mobile device development is packed by technical jargon and abbreviated terms. Many times they are also abbreviated and used in the wrong context, although some the community know what it means. Simplify your vocabulary and clearly define your terms and stay with community standard ones!
- General Presentation
Like any other business presentation, please skip the HUGE fonts in a zillion colors. Most of us are neither blind nor illiterate, but you may risk to come across as being both, with those type of fonts. Remember "KISS"? - Keep It Simple Stupid.
- SPELL CHECK!!
It's embarrassing and very annoying to read descriptions of how great, professional and how well maintained a particular ROM is, when the text is riddled with misspellings, wrong words and childish grammatical errors. Although most of us are very understanding that we are living in a multicultural and multilingual society, sometimes all I think about is, how a person who doesn't know how to spell check, could ever be able to cook a mobile phone ROM. Most text editors feature at least some basic spell checking, bloody hell, USE IT!
- CREDITS
Most of the Android development community is completely driven by voluntary and open source work. Make sure to include the correct credits to those persons who have contributed to the various info/hacks/software that you include in your ROM. Use a separate list for the credits, that include the name (handle) and how/what he/she did to contribute.
2 Good Examples:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1350763
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1155776
Final Words:
It is very likely I have missed something here, or that you (as a developer or moderator) disagree on something I have written here, if so, please provide your constructive comments how I can improve this list and post.
In Great Expectations and Hope for Many New Amazing ROMs!
- E:V:A -
PS. This was posted in the "Developer Section" as it applies only to new ROM development threads, and I wouldn't consider this neither as "Q/A" nor "General". But if OP/MOD know of a better suited place, please just move it there...
Also I am not aware of a similar post to this one, even after searching XDA quite a lot. So if it already exists, it is not easy to find and should be reposted or stickied!

<Reserved>

@E:V:A
The only thing that I missed so far is a thread like yours.
Agree on all requirements of released software.
Sometimes I wonder how some "devs" priorities are stacked regarding quality control vs. early delivery on pay-per-download sites.
Not sure what is best place for this thread. Counting # of posts in General asking Q already answered in stickies, it's kind of accepted to skip reading what's there. :-\
Perhaps keep it alive as hottest thread here?
Tapatalked - There's a Thanks button somewhere

I like this
One thing you must add while promoting your ROM.. That is CREDITS.

Rahulrulez said:
I like this
One thing you must add while promoting your ROM.. That is CREDITS.
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YES! Not giving credit where due is horrible, basically just forgetting all the hard work another individual has put in to the "feature" of your ROM. Also, this should probably be in general.