(How To) Breaking down an acer a100 ROM - Acer Iconia Tab A100

I think every body should have the source to information so they can better understand what they are messing with... why waste time waiting and begging for food when you can learn to cook for yourself?! ... so here is my tutorial on breaking down CyanogenMod9 on the Acer A100( although most of this should be a general guideline to most roms) ***** I am not responsible for you breaking your stuff nor responsible what you do with this information... you have been warned! u can soft brick your tab in a heartbeat***
okay so there are countless tutorials on how to build a ROM from source... just google it.. but some ppl obviously don't have the need to spend the hours compiling because there is already a build for the ROM that they like... but on the other hand they want to add some mods and tweaks to the zip before flashing to tweak the tab to how they want it... after all it is your device and your the one that uses it most so why wouldn't you want personalized tweaks... and theres only one way to learn.. trial and error! haha but hopefully this guide will help you grasp some basic to advanced Android tweaks and mods ... again this tutorial is written for CM9 for the acer a100 but the "general" idea is about the same on the basic stuff... this tutorial is written by me from many sources too many to name but thanks for all the tutorials or I wouldn't know a lot of what I know about Android... This guide is for Ubuntu 12.04... but I would assume 10.04+ it would be compatible but don't quote me on that as I don't know so its your fault if you f* something up!!!!
First off you have your cm9.zip... its simply a zipped archive.. dur... sometimes a signed zip.. now you can simply open nautilus file explorer and go to your .zip and extract it with archive manager.. I suggest when the dialog comes up as where to extract the files that you click make a new folder and name it extractedCM9 and let it extract... okay not so hard quite yet 'eh?.. hang in there it gets a lot better ... you should now have a folder named extractedCM9 with some files in it... copy the extractedCM9 folder and paste it into the same directory that your copying from... rename the folder tweaked then cut and past that folder into extractedCM9... next open the extracted CM9... you should see the following: META-INF(a directory), system(a directory), and boot.img( this holds your initrd which is your "ramdisk", your zImage which is your kernal, and on extracting you'll also find a boot.cfg... we will get to extracting the boot image latter.. stick with the easier things to get us going!... now create another directory called stock .. you should now have the following... META-INF/(a directory), system/(a directory), stock/(a directory), tweaked(a directory), and boot.img.. okay a little more copying and pasting.. all this will be used later so if following this tutorial all the way throu you should do as instructed lol... CUT META-INF/, system/, and boot.img and paste it into stock.. you should be left with the two directories tweaked/ and stock/ both having extracted CM9 in them go into your tweaked/ directory and lets begin.... so some of the things you can tweak just from a simple extraction of the zip are as follows...
You can edit your /system directory and make tweaks as needed before ever installing the rom! .. just some of the things held in /system is the boot animation and it can be found at /system/media/bootanimation.zip its also a simple zip composed of images to be ran concurrent to appear as a single animation.. the resolution for the a100 boot animation is 1024x600 and a simple google search for either a100 custom boot animations or basically any low-def 1024x600 boot animation should work simply delete the existing bootanimation and copy the new one in its place.. remember NO MATTER WHAT THE DOWNLOAD FILE NAME is you MUST rename it to be bootanimation.zip or it wont work( I say should because I obviously have not tried every boot animation and I know there is a limit to the size for the acer animation so sticking with <6mb bootanimations should be just fine).. now if you decide to go further and extract the cm9 boot animation you will find part0( a directory), part1( a directory) and desc.txt.. the part0 and part1 directories hold the images that are to be ran and desc.txt simply states the resolution and then below that it list the directories that are included in the zip... part01 will be ran before part02.. for the novice I recommend just sticking to finding cool bootanimations already zipped for our resolution that some has posted for download so you can simply copy and past!...
also in system/media/ you will find a directory named audio.. dive into that and you find where the default sounds(aka ringtones, notifacations) that are stored for your fresh rom go back up a directory to system/media/ again and you'll see the video.. those are just some mp4's stored for the ROM.... that about it for editing in media.. lets recap.. you can basically edit/ change your boot animation and the default ringtones and notification sounds in /system/media... lets move back up to /system..
from /system you see another directory user/ ... lets go in there for a second.. what do we find.. MORE directories of course lol.. what else would we find... keychars( a directory) and keylayout( a directory) contain your configuration files for the input keys.. you can find things for the way game controllers and keyboards input are handled and what codes on keypresses.. now for our device if you proceed into keylayout/ (system/usr/keylayout/) you will see a file called gpio-keys.kl right clicking on that file and selecting open with and choosing gedit will bring up the file and you will see someything like
key 136 SEARCH WAKE_DROPPED
key 139 MENU WAKE
key 102 HOME
... and so on.....
these are what your hardware buttons do.. basically to explain whats going on is the key ### is the hardwired part... the SEARCH or MENU or what ever action you see is simply that.. an action to be called... and the WAKE_DROPPED and WAKE... well to be honest I'm not for sure what those do lol I assume having WAKE associated with a key would wake the device when pressed.. not for sure on that one thou haven't tried it.. but a quick google search and you can find list of commands that you can choose from.. one of them is being the command to call the camera.. so in essence you could bind any of your hardware keys to the camera function and it would open the camera... my little tweak to this file is to completely disable the HARDWARE HOME KEY... the only key on the front of our devices.. now I have seen some tutorials no disabling it by changing the...
key 102 HOME
... to ...
key 102 UKNOWN
... my problem with that is it does seem to disable the key.. sorta.. and what I mean by that is when you are in certain apps it will trigger the select/ hover action like if you were using a keyboard... so to completely disable it where it will call NO action simply DELETE that line! change ..
key 102 HOME
... to ...
... lol just delete that line out of the file and save it... voila! no more hitting it on mistake while playing a game or browser or w.e it is your doing *** note that this will not disable the light on the button.. it will still flash for notifications and the like...
alright once you have that saved you can exit out of gedit and go back to nautilus showing your extracted cm9 files go up your directory tree until your back in tweaked/ looking at META-INF/, system/, boot.img ... highlight all three of those... right click again and hit compress.. name the file myCM9tweak.zip or w/e you want to call it... make sure .zip is selected in the drop down menu of type of format to compress and compress... once its done you have an unsigned tweaked CM9.zip that if you didn't make any mistakes will boot.. and even if you made mistakes it could possibly boot and you will find your errors as you use it.. now if you just stuck with the simple tweaks I should you above you should be pretty safe and not worry to much about the device not booting.. if it doesn't boot a stock .zip then go back to your tweaked/ folder and try and find out what you did wrong and compress again about try it out! ... okay my fingures are tired of typing so I'm done with the tutorial for tonight.. well I might add more tonight but don't hold me to it... but this tutorial is in NO WAY finished... we are just beginning.. I haven't even showed you how to unpack-edit- and repack your boot.img to swap out kernals and from there extracting your initrd( aka "ramdisk") so you cant edit things at the very core of the ROM... don't be mad if you made the stock/ and tweaked/ directories and are wondering what the hell i had you make two directories of the same crap... just remember this tutorial is at its very begin if you plan on unpacking boot.img's with me then you need to just follow along... for what I have showed you tonight you can do this from windows of course and using notepad instead of gedit... for the advanced stuff sorry your going to need Ubuntu! ...
MORE TO COME...
--more simple system tweaks and mods--
--unpacking-modifying- and repacking boot.img's--
--extracting initrd's( aka "ramdisk") to make edits to the core of your rom and of course repacking them--
I hope someone finds some kind of useful information out of this.. tonight was pretty basic stuff but theres a lot more coming... including but not limited to a whole bunch of command prompt!
*~ENJOY~*
(please excuse any typo's.. I don't think theres any where it count's ..)

This is the guide I wish I had read the day I rooted, you rock man!
sent from your future.

Related

[Guide] Android Cooking Guide for HD2 [Guide]

heartsurfer008 said:
Well I am desparetly trying to cook a NAND build for my HD2 but there is pretty much less info available for me [a big NOOB in cooking] to try out my luck at cooking..!!!
So I'll appreciate if someone would put some light on it..!!!
PS: - I would appreciate if somebody can provide a detailed info..!!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Finally the tutorial
Make your own Android Build for the HD2 by domineus ​I have always lived by these words- if you give a man a fish, he can eat for a day; but if you teach a man to fish you can eat for a lifetime. Android on the HD2 has always been an interesting thing for me and I know a lot of people that want to create their own builds, but have no idea how. If you ask a build creator or maybe someone in the htc-linux-chat how to get started, there may not be an answer. In fact, some of the perplexing behavior has left me puzzled in several ways - as if how to get an android build is a vaulted secret of knowledge like the holy grail. To be honest, it's not. It's a bit of hard work, a few nods in the right direction, and ultimately it's a community involved project. Just like miui development is a community project spanning actual continents to get this thing on our device every single week! It has led to a lot of questions, in my inbox, of how to begin. For a long time, the answer to the question was not answered until Cass helped me out. I want to do the same and contribute how to get a build of miui (or any android build) to the HTC HD2.
Things you will need
In order to properly start android development, it would be a good idea to make sure you have the following (a lot of it is no duh when you think about it)
A computer running linux
I can't stress that enough. While there is a lot of things you can do in windows, you will need some sort of linux distro in order to get android properly running on your HD2. There are a lot of linux distros you can use; with many using ubuntu as it is the most user friendly. I use Fedora and I am quite happy with the results. It's simple and effective. It gets the job done. Get a distro that you feel can get the job done.
Android SDK - either windows or linux
Android SDK is something that can be freely accessed and downloaded from the following location:
http://developer.android.com/sdk/index.html
It is a developer environment, but probably the most important thing you can use here (for the time being) is logcat. Logcat provides you to visually see the libraries and files working together to get android to work as well as if you run into an issue, it is the first thing you should resort to. For instance, boot reloop? Take a look at your logcat and try again.
A kernel
There are quite a few kernels available for android previously and they are divided into evo kernel or nexus one kernel. Many builders have transitioned to an evo kernel for PPP and a few other nice details but it is totally up to you. I highly recommend hastarin's kernel. For most of the time, it works well. But as you have noted, on MIUI, it hasn't been working as fantastic on other builds.
Donor Files
This is a bit difficult to find because it appears that the files that work best are nexus one builds without CM6.1 modification. So far, only one chef has that and it is tytung's nexus one build. Regardless of whose files you're using (e.g. tytung or darkstone's system which is the preferred choice) you will need a well working android build. You will be pulling several files in order to port.
MIUI itself (well any build honestly just miui is a good example)
This is a given. However, if you download from miui.com you will probably have an untranslated rom with odex files. That's bad. And in Chinese! It would be a good idea to browse the English forum for a deodexed rom with appropriate english translation (apps and frameworks)
-If pulling files from windows, you will need this
system extractor
http://uranus.chrysocome.net/linux/explore2fs-old.htm
I use that if I download in windows. It's relatively straight forward and it allows you to pull the files you need from the system.ext2 you're using and copying them to folders necessary.
build.prop
This you will need. You can find one here:
http://www.multiupload.com/B59IU3S6XY
Patience
Probably the most important thing. One thing I have noticed is you need patience to make it through. Sometimes, your build works, sometimes it doesn't. And it is difficult to still keep going. But gotta pull it all in and keep trying...it does pay off.
Okay so you have your files, a nice linux distribution, your build you want to port (MIUI preferrably) and you're ready to go. Now it's time to begin the process!
Step One - The Setup
I usually grab my files in windows before transitioning to my linux distro to finish the process. If you using windows 7 and you are using explore2fs, you will definitely have to right click on the exe and make it compatible by selecting compatible with windows vista. The file should also need to be run by administrator. If you don't know how to do that you can google compatibility in windows 7.
First thing is first. Create a new folder, you can call it donor_files if you want because name is arbitrary. The most important thing is to just name it. Within that folder, create a new folder called system. Enter the system directory and create a new folder called etc. Within etc, select Once that is done, create a new folder within etc called firmware. Once completed, return back to the system folder, create the folder called lib. In the lib folder, create a new folder called hw. So your folder should look like this:
Folder Name
-system
--etc
---firmware
--lib
---hw
So far so good? Excellent. Now, if you're in windows you will need to do a few things. Extract the system.ext2 of your donor build and place it somewhere you will remember (like your desktop). Now open up explore2fs, select file, and open image file. Under files of type (drop down), select all files and navigate to your system.ext2 file. You should now see the ext loaded on the left side of the program's workspace. Located is a very small + that allows you to view all directories in your ext2 file. Click that.
You will see several system folders on the left and files on the root. Since you haven't selected a specific folder, in the right hand view, you should see the file build.prop. If you did select a folder (like app) you will see some files. And that's okay too. Get a feel of the program.
Now you will do a test file pull. On the left hand side, select the folder etc. On the right window, you will see several files. We want AudioBTID.csv. Once you see the file, right click on AudioBTID.csv and select export file. Navigate to the donor file folder (or whatever you named it) and place the file in system/etc of that folder. Congratulations you just pulled your first file! But you will need a lot more files. Within the same directory, pull gps.conf, hosts, media_profiles.xml and the ppp folder. Now, navigate to firmware and pull the following files:
BCM4329B1_002.002.023.0360.0362.hcd default_france.acdb htcleo.acdb
BCM4329B1_002.002.023.0436.0439.hcd default_nel.acdb yamato_pfp.fw
bcm4329.hcd fw_bcm4329_apsta.bin yamato_pm4.fw
default.acdb fw_bcm4329.bin
Ideally you should not be able to find htcleo.acdb. You can find it here
http://gitorious.org/xdandroid_leo/q...eo/htcleo.acdb
Now in explore2fs, go to the lib directory and pull these files and place them in your lib directory:
libcamera.so
libcamera_client.so
libcameraservice.so
libhtc_ril_wrapper.so
libmm-omxcore.so
liboemcamera.so
libomx_aacdec_sharedlibrary.so
libomx_amrdec_sharedlibrary.so
libomx_amrenc_sharedlibrary.so
libomx_avcdec_sharedlibrary.so
libomx_m4vdec_sharedlibrary.so
libomx_mp3dec_sharedlibrary.so
libomx_sharedlibrary.so
libomx_wmadec_sharedlibrary.so
libomx_wmvdec_sharedlibrary.so
libOmxCore.so
libOmxVdec.so
libOmxVidEnc.so
libqcomm_omx.so
libstagefright_omx.so
Once those files are pulled, navigate to the hw folder of the system and pull the following files:
sensors.htcleo.so
lights.htcleo.so
Once those files are pulled, you can save your donor files to a flash drive and then boot into your linux distro. Login to superuser in terminal. For fedora, the proper method involves typing in su --login and entering your password you set up. Minimize your terminal window.
Extract the miui (or any other build) to your desktop (the focus is the system folder). Ensure the rom is deodexed and in your own language (if its miui, you will have to apply the proper language translations). Now copy the files you pulled from your donor build and apply it to the appropriate folders (usually a copy and a paste-literally). In this instance there will be duplicate files, overwrite them. That's the point! Do not forget the build.prop file I linked to earlier. You should add that to system folder.
So the files are copied, the next step is to restore the minimized terminal window (the one that is logged in as root). cd to where your system is located (not to the system folder itself). Now you will have to enter the following commands in terminal
chmod -R 777 system/etc
chmod 755 system/bin/*
chmod 755 system/xbin/*
rm system/etc/firmware/default*acdb (if you have sound in call issues)
touch system/etc/ppp/active (If you have latest wrapper and need ppp)
chown root:2000 system/bin/pppd
chmod 4755 system/bin/pppd
chown root:root system/xbin/su
chmod 4755 system/xbin/su
chown root:root system/xbin/hci*
chmod 4755 system/xbin/hci*
dd if=/dev/zero of=system.ext2 bs=1048576 count=256
mke2fs -F system.ext2
sudo mount -o loop system.ext2 /mnt2
cp -rp system/* /mnt2
sudo umount /mnt2
A few words on this that I must bold. the /mnt2 directory may not exist. If not, try mnt, that usually works
Once this is done, you will have a nice system.ext2. The only thing you'd need now is a rootfs, a kernel, clrcad.exe and a startup.txt file. Once that is done, you can test your build out.
Any questions
Special thanks to Cass and the htc-linux-chat for the few pointers they gave me.
The guide is by "domineus - http://www.miui-dev.com/" & I take no credit what so ever​
Thanks to "white-energy" for giving us the link..!!!
Hope to have many more Chief's for our HD2, so that we [especially me] can satisfy our hunger to try different builds/ROM's..!!!
Happy Cooking..!!!​
PLEASE PRESS THANKS IF YOU FOUND THIS THREAD USEFUL..!!!​​
+ 1... nobody wants to share information?
I don't know if this help but you can try
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=897940
These kind of thread pop up once in awhile, but it's going no where, I've never seen well known chef show up in this kind of thread.
knowledge is power, maybe they dont want to share the power
Can anybody out there give us a step by step guide for cooking a NAND ROM for HD2..???
http://www.miui-dev.com/forums/showthread.php?481-Howto-Make-your-own-Android-Build-for-the-HD2
Instead of making a ext image, you should make a yaffs image.. so it can work on Nand
white-energy said:
http://www.miui-dev.com/forums/showthread.php?481-Howto-Make-your-own-Android-Build-for-the-HD2
Instead of making a ext image, you should make a yaffs image.. so it can work on Nand
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you, please check post 1..!!!
I've been looking for something like this. I want to create my own build for the recovery flasher. I guess the only thing needed would be how to convert from regular nand to recovery.
Thanks bro.
velayo said:
I've been looking for something like this. I want to create my own build for the recovery flasher. I guess the only thing needed would be how to convert from regular nand to recovery.
Thanks bro.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was lookin for the same & credit goes to domineus & white-energy
& "white-energy" comes up with a NAND ROM..!!!
Congrats..!!!
white-energy said:
http://www.miui-dev.com/forums/showthread.php?481-Howto-Make-your-own-Android-Build-for-the-HD2
Instead of making a ext image, you should make a yaffs image.. so it can work on Nand
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Are you sure its the only difference? Are the nand drivers stored only in the bootimg/initrd and not somewhere in the system.img?
yes or no will do for me thx
Is there a way to edit system.bin files, that comes with the NAND builds. I suppose that is where the ROM is. I want to unpack, edit the included apps and repack. How it is done? How the bin file is done. Google does not give any satisfiable links, did a quick search, though...
i am confused
Which explore 2fs do I download? There are 3 different ones one for binary one for code and optional update source code. I am a noob and tired of not having roms I am happy with. I have windows 7 and xp. I realize this will take time and I am good with it everything thats worth anything takes time.
deckoff said:
Is there a way to edit system.bin files, that comes with the NAND builds. I suppose that is where the ROM is. I want to unpack, edit the included apps and repack. How it is done? How the bin file is done. Google does not give any satisfiable links, did a quick search, though...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think you mean system.img not system.bin
You can extract them with the unyaffs.exe or with the unyaffs command under linux. I have written a guide with attatched utilities here
Additionally birksoffsjunk (seasoned WM guru & chef of ChuckyDroid, ChuckyROM, & Dexter) has made a batch program to make this process easier. It's a work in progress & somethings are still buggy so follow the thread
Between the utility birkoffsjunk made & the tutorial I wrote you should be able to successfully edit & run your own build. Hope this helps.
deckoff said:
Is there a way to edit system.bin files, that comes with the NAND builds. I suppose that is where the ROM is. I want to unpack, edit the included apps and repack. How it is done? How the bin file is done. Google does not give any satisfiable links, did a quick search, though...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think you mean system.img not system.bin
You can extract them with the unyaffs.exe or with the unyaffs command under linux. I have written a guide with attatched utilities here
Additionally birksoffsjunk (seasoned WM guru & chef of ChuckyDroid, ChuckyROM, & Dexter) has made a batch program to make this process easier. It's a work in progress & somethings are still buggy so follow the thread
Between the utility birkoffsjunk made & the tutorial I wrote you should be able to successfully edit & run your own build. Hope this helps.
anyone know how to edit or anything about initrd.gz?
hnamanh said:
anyone know how to edit or anything about initrd.gz?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's an archive that can be decompressed and edited thru linux.
White-Energy use system.bin in his rom
Regarding initr and zimage, there is a guide that you can point me on ?
Thank you
KillaHurtz said:
I think you mean system.img not system.bin
You can extract them with the unyaffs.exe or with the unyaffs command under linux. I have written a guide with attatched utilities here
Additionally birksoffsjunk (seasoned WM guru & chef of ChuckyDroid, ChuckyROM, & Dexter) has made a batch program to make this process easier. It's a work in progress & somethings are still buggy so follow the thread
Between the utility birkoffsjunk made & the tutorial I wrote you should be able to successfully edit & run your own build. Hope this helps.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have only green HTC
Hello
I would like to use Android on my HD2. I was searching and testing many ROMS but I didn´t find any rom which is usable for me. I would like to have a ROM that is without Sense, has Multilanguage support and is on Android 2.2 version.
So I decided that I would make my own.
0) I was reading
HTML:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=10291851&postcount=1
and made this procedure.
1)downloaded some ROM from here
2)unpacked this rom in linux with :
Code:
unyaffs system.img
then I got this directories:
Code:
app bin build.prop etc fonts framework lib media usr xbin
3)I downloaded update-cm-6.1.1-N1-signed.zip from CyanogenMod Forum > Downloads > Stable Mod > Nexus One and unpacked. I got : META-INF system boot.img.
4)I copied everything what was described step 0 from directories from step 2 to directory system from step 3
5)I downloaded and copied build.prop from step 0 to system
6) I updated permition like it is described in step 0
7) I created system.img with command : mkyaffs2image . ../system.img
Then I copied this system.img from linux to my windows and put this file in directory in which was different NAND rom. (replaced system.img). After that I flashed my phone and it did not work. Screen was frozen after booting and only green HTC was on display.
Can somebody please help me and give me some advice or some small howto. Does anybody know what can be wrong?
Thank you
Michal Fichtner
I appreciate the guide but damn that is hard to read. It really needs some sort of structure to it, titling proper paragraphs etc.
Hi,
it is possible to combi the dropdown energy widget froom miui and the gingerbread lockscreen into Desire HD Build?
Thats was awesome !
Sorry for my bad english

[Q] Create flashable .zip?

Hi im working on creating some boot animations. Ive got the files ready, but i cant figure out how to put them into a flashable .zip.
I flashed this file thunderbolt boot animation and it worked so i figured if i just replaced my animation and audio it would work but i get an error saying "e:update script not found" or something along those lines.
Id like to know if there is an easy way to create a "template" were i just copy my animation into a folder and zip it, or if there is a program that will package it for me including the script/etc.
Any input or guide on how to make these boot animations flashable .zip's would be great, thanks.
Eat it iPhone said:
Hi im working on creating some boot animations. Ive got the files ready, but i cant figure out how to put them into a flashable .zip.
I flashed this file thunderbolt boot animation and it worked so i figured if i just replaced my animation and audio it would work but i get an error saying "e:update script not found" or something along those lines.
Id like to know if there is an easy way to create a "template" were i just copy my animation into a folder and zip it, or if there is a program that will package it for me including the script/etc.
Any input or guide on how to make these boot animations flashable .zip's would be great, thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thats weird it didn't work. Should. Maybe it wasn't re-packaged correctly.
Try the one attached.
CCallahan said:
Thats weird it didn't work. Should. Maybe it wasn't re-packaged correctly.
Try the one attached.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks ill try it out, just dont have the time right now.
If you cant figure it out i'll give you a guide tomorrow when i'm off my iPad .
did you rezip it correctly?
I ran into this trouble, I forget what it is, but you have to zip the files a certain way or they will not work. I don't remember the settings anymore, but just creating a regular zip file won't work.
There is a good guide to making your own update script on xda somewhere. Just search the entire site. If i'm just flashing something simple like a theme or boot animation sometimes I just use someone else's flashable zip and replace the necessary files. I can't remember off the top of my head, but iirc there are two folders you want to keep from someone else's zip. Meta-inf which is basically the signature files and something else which contains the script. If you dissect someone's zip it should be obvious what the other folder you want to keep is. You will find the update script in one of the sub folders, and if you want you can open it with a text editor and get an idea of how the script works.
If you need more info I can help you more when I get to my computer.
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App
dkdude36 said:
If you cant figure it out i'll give you a guide tomorrow when i'm off my iPad .
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Id appreciate a guide either way, id rather learn to do it myself than use someone else's. No rush as i cant really approach this til the weekend.
Eat it iPhone said:
Id appreciate a guide either way, id rather learn to do it myself than use someone else's. No rush as i cant really approach this til the weekend.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ok, here it goes.
first, figure out where you want to push your file. i'd reccomend pushing manually in recovery to make sure the file itself works. then, using a tool like 7zip (pc) or betterzip (mac) create a file structure that matches the one on the phone. for example, if you wanted a boot animation to be put in system/customize/resource, make a folder system, customize in that, resource in that, and the bootanimation.zip inside that. now you have the main part. next, make a folder in the root of the zip called META-INF (caps counts) inside that, com, inside that, google, and inside that, android. thats /META-INF/com/google/android/. inside android, you need to place in an update-script. i'd reccomend taking one from another zip and just editing it becasue i still have not figured out a way to make that type of file (unix exec) from scratch. open it up in a .txt editor like notepad++ (pc) or coda (mac) and write your script. here is the baisic script for copying the directory system on the zip to system on the phone (like flashing a boot animation).
copy_dir PACKAGE:system SYSTEM:
CAPS COUNT AND MAKE SURE YOU HAVE AN ENTER AT THE END. IF YOU DO NOT HAVE AN ENTER AT THE END (TO MAKE IT TWO LINES INSTEAD OF ONE, LIKE ISSUEING A COMMAND) THEN IT WILL NOT WORK AT ALL ( E:SYNTAX ERROR IN UPDATE-SCRIPT IS THE ERROR YOU WILL GET)
so put this file into the folder android, and zip it. make sure it is in store only, compatibility mode, if you have such options. then, use an auto signer (or just say zip is not signed and make sure to put sig verification off) to sign the zip. flash, and watch your work magically appear.
the update-script i showed is written in amend. i have no idea how to write in edify bcuz it is much more complicated with the binary and stuff. so dont flash with cwm 3.0+.
good luck. ask if you have any questions.
hello will this methed work on like adding some personal apps you want to be on your rom?

[Q] Bootanimation.zip help please

I have been trying desperately to get my boot animation to change, and have made some success from just locking the device up to skipping the animation all together.
I can't seem to figure out what people mean when they say to save the desc.txt file as a UNIX file, but have been trying to use UTF-8 in Notepad++. This is what searching google has showed as the prefered *nix text file encoding. I even went so far as to just copy and paste the desc.txt file from one of the other zips on the device to my zip to get it to work, and no joy. So, I am not sure if this is the trouble or not.
This is on a Sprint lovers rom and I have put them in /data/animation. I had them in /system/customize/resource along with another spash screen, but it just ignored it there and went to the /data/animation ones. Or, maybe was using those all along. I am not sure.
So, I shall include my zip for scrutiny, and my audio for scrutiny as well. I have removed most of the images to get the zip down to size limits and stuffed the audio file in the zip as well.
I would like some hints on what I did wrong. I am trying to learn this stuff....
I use a program called Text Pad. It's free just search for it on Google. After creating the file hit "save as" name the file "desc" and at the bottom you will see a drop down menu labeled "file format" and it will give you the option to save as PC, UNIX, MAC. Choose UNIX. The second step is putting it all into a zip folder that isn't compressed. For this I use 7-Zip. Open 7 zip and highlight the desc file and the folders that have your animations. Next click the add button at the top menu, when the next window pops up you will be able to name the zip "bootanimation". Find the drop down menu labeled "compression level" and select "store", next find the drop down menu labeled "update mode" and select add and replace files. Last hit the ok button and your zip will be created and should be usable.
i have been dealing with the same thing all day but i got it to work the problem was that the png has to be no more than 24 bit i downloaded your zip and they are at 32 bit mine would not work at that rate i remade the png at 24 bit and all is well..hope this helps
you may also want to run png through pngoptimizer(google it) make sure you hit enter at the end of desc file then save. sound on system/custosimize/resource should be named SPC_animation_final.mp3 and zipped (storage)with same name (no mp3 should be).zip
see if this works for you
Will it boot?
dased14 said:
you may also want to run png through pngoptimizer(google it) make sure you hit enter at the end of desc file then save. sound on system/custosimize/resource should be named SPC_animation_final.mp3 and zipped (storage)with same name (no mp3 should be).zip
see if this works for you
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have a question about the kindle fires Bootanimation.zip
will the kindle still boot without the Bootanimation.zip or will it just lock up?
is there anyway to turn off the boot animation? I am running a jb rom and would really prefer it if there were no boot animation..
skipwilly said:
is there anyway to turn off the boot animation? I am running a jb rom and would really prefer it if there were no boot animation..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try deleting sanim and bootanimation zips from /system/media.

help with flashable zips for a rom im maken

im trying to make my own rom trying to try new this out and i was going around taken lil apps tht other roms hads like hulu, mastermind mirror, ect and i dont think i zip it correctly cause when i check the inside of the zip folder the other file is still not zip and i am sure that is a problem right ??? ps im using cwm 3.0 is tht a problem ?
i use this meth...
ok, here it goes.
first, figure out where you want to push your file. i'd reccomend pushing manually in recovery to make sure the file itself works. then, using a tool like 7zip (pc) or betterzip (mac) create a file structure that matches the one on the phone. for example, if you wanted a boot animation to be put in system/customize/resource, make a folder system, customize in that, resource in that, and the bootanimation.zip inside that. now you have the main part. next, make a folder in the root of the zip called META-INF (caps counts) inside that, com, inside that, google, and inside that, android. thats /META-INF/com/google/android/. inside android, you need to place in an update-script. i'd reccomend taking one from another zip and just editing it becasue i still have not figured out a way to make that type of file (unix exec) from scratch. open it up in a .txt editor like notepad++ (pc) or coda (mac) and write your script. here is the baisic script for copying the directory system on the zip to system on the phone (like flashing a boot animation).
copy_dir PACKAGE:system SYSTEM:
CAPS COUNT AND MAKE SURE YOU HAVE AN ENTER AT THE END. IF YOU DO NOT HAVE AN ENTER AT THE END (TO MAKE IT TWO LINES INSTEAD OF ONE, LIKE ISSUEING A COMMAND) THEN IT WILL NOT WORK AT ALL ( E:SYNTAX ERROR IN UPDATE-SCRIPT IS THE ERROR YOU WILL GET)
so put this file into the folder android, and zip it. make sure it is in store only, compatibility mode, if you have such options. then, use an auto signer (or just say zip is not signed and make sure to put sig verification off) to sign the zip. flash, and watch your work magically appear.
the update-script i showed is written in amend. i have no idea how to write in edify bcuz it is much more complicated with the binary and stuff. so dont flash with cwm 3.0+.
i only have 1 thing to say first switch to amon ra amon ra is 1000 times better than clockwordmod
how do i switch?? lol also what if i unroot my phone would tht be a problem?
Jcki4 said:
how do i switch?? lol also what if i unroot my phone would tht be a problem?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
go here and download the PC36IMG.zip and follow the directions
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=705026.
as for setting up a rom unzip one to see how it's set up, i have changed a few things in some and zipped it back up and signed it but never built one, sorry couldnt be more help

[Q] Can I get a li'l help w/ merging diff framework-res.apks?..

'K, so'm new 2 android hacking, but I'd like 2 make a framework-res.apk that includes StarBurst's MotoBlur x-itions here, SAShady's CRT Off animation here, & Gingerbread's Overscroll & MotoBlur Orient8ion animations when they become available. How would I go about merging the MotoBlur x-itions w/ the CRT Off animation, as they're both framework-res.apk files? Also, where mite I extract Gingerbread's Overscroll & MotoBlur Orient8ion files, is it from a stock Gingerbread framework-res.apk & MotoBlur (possibly Photon 4G) framework-res.apk? &, how would I know which files 2 extract? Are there any particular s/w tools that I need?
Thnx.
That's going to be a bit of work. I just went through the learning process of decompiling, modifying, and recompiling .apks myself. I don't have the most efficient method down yet, but I can get you started.
First up, are you using an odexed or deodexed ROM?
Thnx 4 the help.
Sycobob said:
...I just went through the learning process of decompiling, modifying, and recompiling .apks...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'd really dig a link(s) to these resources. &, I'd b usin' the Stock ROM, which I'd imagine is odex'd.
EDIT: Man do I feel foolish. I just typed out way more than I needed to, thinking framework-res.apk was odexed. *sigh*. Oh well, I guess I just started the tutorial I was thinking about posting.
This won't be too hard:
Pull your stock framework-res.apk from /system/framework/.
Gather the other modded .apks
Decompile each of the .apks (luckily framework-res.apk doesn't rely on other stuff, so decompiling is easier)
Drag the modified file(s) from one of the decompiled, modded .apks to the stock one overwriting the old file(s)
Repeat for each mod
Recompile the new uber-modded .apk
Push it back onto your phone
Decompiling
You're going to need Apk Manager for decompiling and recompiling.
Place the .apks you want to decompile in the 'to be modded' folder of Apk manager
Run the script in the Apk Manager folder
Enter 22 to 'Set Current Project'
Pick the .apk you want to decompile
Enter 9 to decompile (no dependencies)
Repeat 3-5 for each .apk
Recompiling
(In Apk Manager) Enter 22 to 'Set Current Project'
Enter 11 to compile
Enter y (this is a system app)
Enter y (I haven't been able to get it to work when I answer no here)
Follow the prompt and delete the files you've modified from the 'keep' folder
Go back to the command prompt and press a key to continue
As for actually finding the changes, you're on your own here. I guess you can look for files with different sizes/modified dates or try to search the forums to see if people mention what they had to change for the mod. If two mods change the same file, you're going to have to open the file and make both sets of changes then toss it into the .apk.
Pro tip: if you have Eclipse set up with the Android SDK, you can go to Window > Preferences > XML > XML Files > Editor and check "Split multiple attributes each on a new line" so that when you hit Ctrl+Shift+F while looking at the messy decompiled .xmls it will instantly format it into a more easily read form. <--This is why I love Eclipse
If you don't know how to push the file back into place, it's a bit of a pain without a modded boot.img that allows you to use 'adb remount'. Copy the .apk somewhere on your phone. From command prompt (with phone plugged in):
Code:
adb shell
su
stop
mount -o rw,remount -t ext3 /dev/block/mmcblk1p21 /system
cp /wherever/your/file/is/framework-res.apk /system/framework-res.apk
mount -o ro,remount -t ext3 /dev/block/mmcblk1p21 /system
reboot
Unless you have CWM and know how to write/reuse an update.zip.
Thnx, Sycobob. I'm just afraid that there'll be an overlap in overwritten files. But'll c.
Sycobob said:
...and updating the archive...ext3
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
&, what d'ya mean by upd8ing the archive, is it signing? Also, I'd thought all of the E4GT partitions were ext4. Didn't even activ8 my E4GT, 'cause'm still tryin' 2 get my TP2 repaired, so I can flip it. Maybe u can help me w/ another Q - I've been lookin' all ovr 4 info on android OS, &'ve been able 2 find what each partition is, using adb cmds, but cannot find, 4 the life of me!, a glossary of sorts on all of androids system files, a la "framework-res.apk is..." I really wanna get n2 android hacking/modding w/o havin' 2 use an app 2 make any & every change that I'd wanna make 2 the OS. Comin' from WiMo, I was very familiar w/ the registry, exploring & hacking it, but there's no real equivalent n android. Also, do go here & vote 4 my Brushed Aluminum Barely There Case with Kickstand suggestion. We're already n 9th place. Thnx again 4 ur help.
System packages don't get signed. By updating, I mean dragging the file into the WinRAR archive which automatically replaces the existing file in the archive, therefor updating it.
All the partitions are ext4. This is where my newbishness shows, I have no idea why I have to use ext3. /dev/block/mmcblk1p21 isn't the correct path either, but it works. In one of ptfdmedics posts he uses the same options. If I use the 'correct' mount -o rw,remount -t ext4 /dev/block/mmcblk0p9 /system it doesn't work. *shrug*
Also, I just realized something I missed in my first post. If you modify an .xml the resources.arsc in the .apk needs to be regenerated. This is done when you decompile and recompile the package. I'll be editing my previous post to reflect this.
As far as a glossary, I have no idea where to find one. I would mind having access to something like that though. If you find something, please post it.
EDIT: don't worry too much about overlap. I'd imagine it'll be easy to find the changes you need to make, then you can just copy+paste the relevant lines. Pro tip: if you have Eclipse set up with the Android SDK, somewhere in Window > Preferences > XML > XML Files > Editor > Check "Split multiple attributes each on a new line" and when you hit Ctrl+Shift+F while looking at the messy decompiled .xmls it will instantly format it into a more easily read form. Adding this to previous post.
Thnx, 4 all of ur help. I've got a lotta wrk ahead of me 2 experiment w/ this stuff. Now, just gotta find the time.

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