I am continuing the search for the holy grail that is a perfect self-installing and configuring hard reset. I have edited my ext ROM and config to work ok but now i am trying to make my own CAB file using WinCE Cab Manager.
Whilst I have succesfully created CAB files to change registry settings I am unable to create a CAB file that will install files to the pda AND THEN RUN them. The files are copied to the pda but I cannot find a way to automatically run one of them once copied.
Can anyone offer any advice?
Many thanks,
Coj
if the file name and destination are predefined ... why don't you use the normal EXEC command just after the CAB command in the Config.txt
ex:
CAB: \Extended ROM\<File.cab>
EXEC: \<Dir>\<File.ext>
cojones,
this link is very usefull for CAB file building.
http://www.codeproject.com/ce/pocketpc_deploy.asp
the essence of the CAB file is the .INF .
this link show's you how to make one.
they refer to cabwiz, but you can use the .inf in WinCE Cab Manager.
Thanks for your help chaps, I've knocked valuable minutes off my hard resets.
Now just got to sort out a "script" for applying program settings and reg keys...the quest continues!
Coj
I've been playing around with the various tools that have been created by members here but because they're so new there isn't much in terms of documentation so...
Could someone briefly explain to me how I would insert a program into the ROM kitchen?
Let's say I had a CAB or setup.exe on my PC, how would I get the Pocket PC program into the ROM?
Surely someone knows how to do this?
Do your homework and read the threads about each rom kitchen, this depends on the kitchen you use and the program you want to add, some have several files, dll, reg keys, etc.. others are as simple as a single exe file... basically you need to exctract the cab and add the relevant files to the rom, if needed edit initflashfiles to place shortcuts in proper location, and if it contains registry keys then edit default.hv or user.hv to add the registry keys there.
I was wondering if someone would share some information about low level modification of the rom kitchens. I have been working with Dog Guys kitchen and an original rom image and i have done some extensive modifications. Unfortunately, it is really just a cluged mess. The problem is that I don't know how to modify the underlying registry keys.
NOTE: I am not talking about *.rgu files in OEM packages and I am not talking about boot.rgu.
I am talking about the registry keys associated with the version of the compact framework built into the rom. Or the registry entries that define what applications are initially set on the program menu. Or the keys with the various application that are installed in the rom by default.
I have done a great deal of searching and I clearly don't know what the key words are to find this information. It must exist because both DCD and No2chem were able to either find it or derive it. I am just hoping someone will point me in a direction where I might be able to learn the next stage of rom customization beyond simply adding different OEM packages.
Thanks
most of the programs have their own folders. In each folder there is .rgu file. that file contains registery entries for that program.
in oem folder there are folders oemapps and operator. those folders contain more than one programs in one folder. all the registry entries that are related to all those programs are in one single rgu file in those folder. There are some registry entries in .provxml files as well.
when one file contains registry entries for more than one program, most of the entries that belong to a single program will be next to each other ( not always true )
a1jatt said:
most of the programs have their own folders. In each folder there is .rgu file. that file contains registery entries for that program.
in oem folder there are folders oemapps and operator. those folders contain more than one programs in one folder. all the registry entries that are related to all those programs are in one single rgu file in those folder. There are some registry entries in .provxml files as well.
when one file contains registry entries for more than one program, most of the entries that belong to a single program will be next to each other ( not always true )
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Could you tell me where the registry information is for the contents of the SYS directory. for example where are the registry entries for SYS/NET. there isn't a corresponding .rgu file.
thanks.
sys folder has lots of other subfolders .. they have their rgu files.
There are some programs in bin format. they are already encoded i think.
You can put registry entries in a cab and put it in extened rom .. and run it after hardreset .. that way it will overwrite the original keys.
atomclock, I found this old thread concerning a solution and troubles with cooking .net CF 3.5 into a ROM:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=350279
Keystone said:
atomclock, I found this old thread concerning a solution and troubles with cooking .net CF 3.5 into a ROM:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=350279
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thats funny... That is the oem package I'm using in my rom.
There seems to be three possible avenues to work this issue.
1. Build oem's and hope that the registry keys in the oem's .rgu file COMPLETELY overwrite the original entries. (Oemizer is a good tool for this http://tiermann.net/index.php?optio...d=3:personal-oemizer&catid=1:Desktop&Itemid=3 )
2. Review the registry after a rom is written and create an xml file that will overwrite and delete all unnecessary registry keys (here is a link for anyone interested http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=366337&highlight=kitchen )
3. Get the inside information as to where the registry keys are actually located and make changes at the source instead of trying to patch it after the fact. (If someone has a link for this information please provide)
Why is it so impossible to get the necessary information to proceed with option 3.
I want to port the drivers from the current official rom to an old wm5 kitchen. I really need to get access to the underlying workings.
NOTE: I already know how to proceed with options 1 and 2. I need the information for number 3.
If you can answer the following question then you have the information I want.
Where are the registry entries for the BUILT IN .net framework (/SYS/NET)?
Thanks
Hello all ,
I'm a happy user of Shep's 6.5 rom.
But i would like to cook rt (remote tracker a antitheft aplication) into the rom.
the rom is protected , so extracting it with a kitchen en recooking doesn't work.
Also tried flashing-> dumping into part0x.raw -> extracting , but also no luck.
so cooks i ask you, is there a way to do this??
thanks , arnold
Hi, yes, far easier would be to ask for a kitchen and use that, but barring that;
You can dump the rom, but do not split it into packages (you will need to manually dump as the kitchen will try to split into packages automatically)
Once dumped you'll have all the files in a single \dump folder.
Now add your files to it, then open default.hv in program CeRegEditor
manually add your registry entries or import them into the registry hive, and save it
now cook the rom (again can't use the kitchen, have to do it manually, since your source is already a single \dump folder)
this will give you the source rom + whatever you added To look at the manual steps you will need to do, look at the .cmd and .bat files in the kitchen.
ok will try that ,
but strange that automatic extracting by the kitchen hangs on "protected rom" and manual it works.....
But hey...your the kitchen master
thanks
Protected roms don't dump correctly in the kitchen because the scripts are designed to work around .dsm files.. and the .dsm files are stripped on a protected rom
You can however still manually dump and get a \dump folder, flat folder with all files (as it is stored in the ROM)
Still possible to work with this folder, however the kitchen(s) are not designed to. As it is more difficult.
okey , got it......
even made myself a little kitchen to dump and rebuild the roms
(will post it later if it works, have to flash my phone to test it)
All files in the dump dir seems to be in the phone's \windows dir...
is there a way to place files in other dir's , or do i have to do this by adding cabs to the config.txt file?
Anyway , thans for the help.
works like a charm..
posted it here : http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=3612337
Hi All,
with all of the kitchens found here, it is noticeable that when adding any packages to the OEM/SYS folders (i.e S2U2) then trying to re-build the rom specially in the process of BuildOS we got many errors that file already exist and then crashes.
after many research i got to know that the package will extract the files in windows folder for all packages on time then while installation, the files will be copied to the proper folders.
here is the problem, once trying to re-build the rom all files will be copied in the same folder.
is there a way to avoid this?
Hi robekia1,
Even I am facing the same problem when rebuilding os.
we will keep waiting for the seniors here to deliver a solution for us.
thanks to whom will help in this regard
I also faced this problem while cooking ROMs, Hey krazy! help please.
I guess, if we could know the file structure from the folder structue before installing, then it would be easy.
hmmmmmmmm, it seems that this problem have no solution as (Finding emulator for cooked ROM)
done the same and working
robekia1 said:
I guess, if we could know the file structure from the folder structue before installing, then it would be easy.
hmmmmmmmm, it seems that this problem have no solution as (Finding emulator for cooked ROM)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey I have done the same previously I love the s2u2 applications so I have cooked my rom with all 3 apps of s2u2 i.e. S2U2, S2P, S2V.
I created packages from package builder, then copied all files to one folder.
removing duplicates with latest one.
Also I changed the initflash file for the locations which is created by the package creator with the new folders path.
Then also I added the all item tag in XML to detect DSM files of the respective apps.
Make sure you have registry hack for installing third party apps in your ROM packages.
Enjoy... you will get all your S2U2 apps in your ROM.
Right now I dont have the folder I will upload it tomorrow if anyone wants.
Hope this information is useful to you all.....
Please Dooooooo
bhushangahire said:
Hey I have done the same previously I love the s2u2 applications so I have cooked my rom with all 3 apps of s2u2 i.e. S2U2, S2P, S2V.
I created packages from package builder, then copied all files to one folder.
removing duplicates with latest one.
Also I changed the initflash file for the locations which is created by the package creator with the new folders path.
Then also I added the all item tag in XML to detect DSM files of the respective apps.
Make sure you have registry hack for installing third party apps in your ROM packages.
Enjoy... you will get all your S2U2 apps in your ROM.
Right now I dont have the folder I will upload it tomorrow if anyone wants.
Hope this information is useful to you all.....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thnx a ton budy for this information.
really, i can't wait till tomorrow for this folder because i want to see all these modifications whitch greatly will help all ppl here.
please upload it ASAP.
also, what about Cooked ROM emulation? i hope there is a solution up there whitch i'm not aware about.
registry hack
bhushangahire said:
Make sure you have registry hack for installing third party apps in your ROM packages.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What you mean by registry hack? it sounds something new for me.
do you mean any registry editor? or it is another OEM Package should be installed along with the ROM?
robekia1 right, all file will be in windows folder, if you put it in the "program files" folder, the files exist in windows folder too, that is will be wasto your phone storage. Avoid put in the program files folder will be increase your phone memory.
Usually the default directory of the CAB file is in the progam file, and if you use OEM creator to that CAB, it will copied to Program file folder and exist in windows folder, to make only in windows folderyou can use this method:
1. edit the initflashdat result of OEM creator, delete all value of program file, or
2. Before you use OEM creator, edit the installation directory of CAB file, use wincab manager to do it, or
3. use wincab manager to extarct the files in the CAB, and registry, after that you can make .rgu, dsm, shortcut, manually and input the shortcut location in the initflash.dat file (I always use this method).
Usually every CAB file have different files with other, and if the have same file it can be same with the SYS file or the author/maker of the CAb is same. you can choose the latest version of that file if it happend.
While cooking even though we separate files inside different packages, but at the time when imgfs.bin is created, all the files go to \Windows folder. Thats why there cant be two files with same name even when they are in different packages.
Now some apps have common dependencies. Like the DirectShow and mHubVO dlls are needed by Youtube, as well as streaming media. Now what happens is, if you take two packages for these, sometimes the author puts the dependency files in both the packages so that if someone uses one package and not the other, it still works. This mostly happens packages that are made by converting a cab to a package. So if you cook these packages, you need to make sure that they are not putting duplicate files.
The same thing also happens with also happens with registry settings. Somtimes, two or more packages update the same regisrty keys in their .rgu files. SO we need to take care of those too and remove the lines that dont apply to the version of files we are actually using in our kitchen. This is a necessary evil and thats why cooking is not a child's play.
Once a ROM is flashed, and phone boots for the first time, the initialization process takes place. Now the ROM cooks have two ways to initialize their packages : using the .provxml files, this works if you have newer OEM* folders like from Elfin or Opal, it basically requires the Autoshortcut.exe file as well as newer HTCUtil.dll. The other way is the older initflashfiles.txt files inside the packages.
The difference between two methods is that using initflashfile.txt you can only copy files and create folders on the file system, but provxml can be used to perform many different things like registry values, applying themes etc.
So using one of the methods you copy your files to appropriate locations. Do remember that this process if done wildly can decrease the availabel free phone memory noticeably. Thats why we sometimes go a bit furthur and do some programming stuff to minimize this. You people sometimes dont even notice what is happening behind the scene.
I tell you one such experience. Google maps is a package that copies all its files to \Program Files\GoogleMaps but i noticed if i dont copy the files by deleting the initflashfiles.txt, and run GoogleMaps.exe from \Windows, it runs just fine. This works in pro user's rom but in Manila ROMs, the Maps tab of Manila looks for GoogleMaps.exe in Program files folder. So i had a choice to either copy googlemaps.exe into program files folder and waste 2 MB of phone memory or loose the functionality of maps tab of manila.
What i did was the third way i thought of myself. I created a .NET application called GoogleMapsStub.exe and what it does is it runs the googlemaps.exe from windows folder and passes all the information to it that manilla passed to it while running it. This exe is copied into the \program files\GoogleMaps folder by using initflashfiles.txt as GoogleMaps.exe. So now manilla is happy that it has googlemaps.exe in its proper place and i am happy too coz the new exe is only 3.5 kb in size You can verify this in v3.1.1 of VanillaManila rom. Look in the program files folder you will get the 4 kb googlemaps.exe, put it on your pc and check its version in its properties, you will get my name there And if you check the windows folder, there will be a googlemaps.exe of 2 MB size and a GoogleMapsStub.exe of 4 kb size.
So sometimes hacks like these are necessary in order to make a perfect roms. ROM cooking is just like food cooking, It may appears to be like just putting the ingredients into a cooker and light up the gas stove and wait for the food to cook. But if you try that for first time, your food will not be eatable for sure It requires a careful balance of salt, pepper and other things to cook a tasty dish I hope i have made myself clear
Wonderful
AMAZINGGGGGGGGGGGG PPL
latest buildos/ visual kitchen has option to delete duplicate file while cooking but
i will make new kitchen in future (not soon) because current kitchen work fine for me and i have lots of other work like android + building to rom from weekly leaked sys of wp 6.5
Thanks ankit360 for the visualkitchen9.7, i'm already trying to use it but the problem is: the ROM generated by the kichen is not working for GENE.
i tried another kitchen for the same ROM and it still working fine, the only problem with it is the duplicate
bhushangahire, i'm still waiting for you to upload your files.
also, what about the reg hacker?
Hi Karzy,
" What i did was the third way i thought of myself. I created a .NET application called GoogleMapsStub.exe " you answered one of my query unknowingly, when I had extracted your ROM, I saw there was GogleMapsStub.exe which was not present in any other ROM I had extracted. So I was wondering what that file was about !!! Now I know what it was.
Thanks a lot karzy for sharing this info.
You have been always good in explaining things indetail, which helps a lot for new comers like me.
I m glad that i am able to help my buddies here.
find the files below...
robekia1 said:
bhushangahire, i'm still waiting for you to upload your files.
also, what about the reg hacker?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Please find the files below sorry for delay.....
S2U2 Application OEM folder.
S2APPS.7z (786.47 KB)
Registry Tweak OEM Folder.
Registry__Disable - Security warnings when installing non-certified application.7z (849 bytes)
Please find the link to ROM with S2U2 applications + Antivirus.
WM6.5_Old_21231.7z (51.91 MB)
bhushangahire said:
Please find the link to ROM with S2U2 applications + Antivirus.
WM6.5_Old_21231.7z (51.91 MB)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i guess this ROM is for OLD gene???Correct me if i'am wrong...
yup for old
htc3400 said:
i guess this ROM is for OLD gene???Correct me if i'am wrong...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yup you are right this rom is for Old ..
If anyone want it for new gene please ping here I will cook it for new also....
Thanks
bhushangahire said:
S2U2 Application OEM folder.
S2APPS.7z (786.47 KB)
Registry Tweak OEM Folder.
Registry__Disable - Security warnings when installing non-certified application.7z (849 bytes)
Please find the link to ROM with S2U2 applications + Antivirus.
WM6.5_Old_21231.7z (51.91 MB)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks a Ton bhushangahire for sharing those links.
I appreciate this.
Now, i'm gonna read them character by character