[Question] Cooking a personal Rom - Touch Pro, Fuze ROM Development

Is it possible for me to cook a personal ROM? I have tried alot of ROMs here but ever since HTC's new official ROM was out (asia) , I find it really good for me. One thing i hate from the ROM compared to cooked roms are that everything is disorganised. Everything is in 1 program file. In cooked Roms, the chefs have already taken the liberty to assign each app to their appropriate folders (apps,connection,multimedia, etc)
I would like to do the same , however it takes alot of time for me to do so but I can manage that. What i really want to do is, after organising the apps to their respected folders, and installing all of my needed softwares on the phone, how do i make a complete backup of the ROM, and then save it on my computer perhaps. So then i could flash my phone with the backup ROM and the next time i were to flash my phone, everything would be there (my apps, my organised folder).
Will it be possible (i'm sure it's possible, i just need the right software / app to do it)

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You're going to need a Kitchen to cook your own ROM; assuming you have a Raphael device, have a look at this thread:
Useful Links Thread
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=439783
Many folks use Da_G's Kitchen ... but there are other great Chefs that have made their Kitchens avalaible.
HTH,

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Thank you for the link hilaireg. It's very helpful.
After reading the available tutorials, i have a question. Most of the kitchens are using pre-existing ROMS.
I would like to use a new official HTC ROM to start with. "-HTC Touch Pro-MRII-RUU_Raphael_hTC_Asia_WWE_5.07.707.2_Radio_Signed_Raphael_52.58.25.30_1.11.25.01_Ship"
I noticed that all the tutorial require a .nb file which they say comes in the package. However, when i extracted the .exe file , a few files were extracted alongside a .nbh file. But there is no .nb file. What do i do?

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arvin2212 said:
Thank you for the link hilaireg. It's very helpful.
After reading the available tutorials, i have a question. Most of the kitchens are using pre-existing ROMS.
I would like to use a new official HTC ROM to start with. "-HTC Touch Pro-MRII-RUU_Raphael_hTC_Asia_WWE_5.07.707.2_Radio_Signed_Raphael_52.58.25.30_1.11.25.01_Ship"
I noticed that all the tutorial require a .nb file which they say comes in the package. However, when i extracted the .exe file , a few files were extracted alongside a .nbh file. But there is no .nb file. What do i do?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You need to have NBHextract Tool it will be in include in kitchen...me too trying to cook on same build with no results. It's no easy try try that's it...

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krish_nank, Is this your first time building a ROM?
If so, we're on the same boat...
I tried using NBHextract Tool but when i run the .exe a pop up cmd window comes out and then dissappears. I added the program manually in cmd, and here is what it says , but it doesn't do anything although i have place my .nbh file in the same folder with it.
"
C:\Users\xda>C:\Users\xda\NBHextract.exe
=== NBHextract v1.0
=== Extract contents from HTC NBH files
=== (c)2007 xda-developers.com
=== by: pof & TheBlasphemer based on itsme perl scripts
Usage: C:\Users\xda\NBHextract.exe <nbh file> [-v]
C:\Users\xda>
"

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arvin2212 said:
organising the apps to their respected folders, and installing all of my needed softwares on the phone
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you just want to organize your existing app then all you have to do is go to this folder,
\\\Windows\Start Menu
This folder has all the icons for the programs. So now you can arrange/ rearrange icons, create folder and move the links to the respective folders as you see fit. Total Commander can be used for this.
If you want a way to install apps after installing a new ROM, you can use UC you can read about it here
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=366337
But if you just want to build custom ROM then the easiest kitchen is Da G's. If you want a fully loaded kitchen try At0mAng - Advance Kitchen - V2

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nnkumar73 said:
If you just want to organize your existing app then all you have to do is go to this folder,
\\\Windows\Start Menu
This folder has all the icons for the programs. So now you can arrange/ rearrange icons, create folder and move the links to the respective folders as you see fit. Total Commander can be used for this.
If you want a way to install apps after installing a new ROM, you can use UC you can read about it here
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=366337
But if you just want to build custom ROM then the easiest kitchen is Da G's. If you want a fully loaded kitchen try At0mAng - Advance Kitchen - V2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Both Da_g's & AtomAng kitchen or based on some OS build we ...we want to dump a ROM & Rebuild it on our own way we want.......

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krish_nank said:
Both Da_g's & AtomAng kitchen or based on some OS build we ...we want to dump a ROM & Rebuild it on our own way we want.......
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
okay, my bad. Then I am sure you have seen the ROM reconstruct thread. Hope that thread helps you.

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Have a look at the first three posts in the following thread:
[TUT] Sous-Chef's Guide to Da_G's Simple Kitchen
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=490787
Essentially, once you unpack the "-HTC Touch Pro-MRII-RUU_Raphael_hTC_Asia_WWE_5.07.707.2_Radio_Signed_R aphael_52.58.25.30_1.11.25.01_Ship" executable, you run a script that performs the actions required to prepare the NBH file for custom cooking.
That should get you started.
HTH,

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krish_nank said:
Both Da_g's & AtomAng kitchen or based on some OS build we ...we want to dump a ROM & Rebuild it on our own way we want.......
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
With my kitchen do this...
Backup the OEM and SYS folder...
If you have the NBH file already place it in the BaseROM folder
If you do not have the NBH file then run the EXE downloaded from HTC, let it go all the way to the first install screen and dont do anything yet, go to your temp folder on the computer, dig around the folders if there are many, you will see ruu_signed.NBH, copy and paste into the BaseROM folder of kitchen.
Once NBH is in the baserom folder start my kitchen
Select 2, 1, 1 and let it do its thing
When extraction is completed and you are back at main menu select option 8, move dumped OEM/SYS from Temp
When that is done select option 6 Copy Extracted ROM XIP from Temp
When that is done your new dumped ROM is ready to be built.
Delete or do not select any duplicate packages
Clean out the new OEM/SYS folders. There is a lot of junk in there that can be removed, welcome folder, do a search in the OEM/SYS folders for *.3gp and remove the welcome movie and blah blah blah...
If you take the time to look at the folder structure of the OEM and SYS folder you should be able to figure it out pretty quickly.
If you need further help you may ask in my kitchen thread.
Hope this is a start for you guys...

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nnkumar73, Thank you for your suggestion but i already known about manually doing it from the start menu folder. However it's not practical as , i would have to do it everytime i reflash my phone. If there is a new rom available, and i were to try it and somehow wanted to go back with my older ROM, i would have to do all the moving etc all again.
hilaireg once again, thank you for the link..
At0mAng, Thank you very much as well. I will follow your steps and see how it goes. I appreciate your effort of posting the right steps for it. Thank you.

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DELETED.......................

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Just an addition to previous posts
arvin2212 said:
C:\Users\xda>C:\Users\xda\NBHextract.exe
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can see u missed out the command : nbhextract ruu_signed.nbh
arvin2212 said:
3.If you do not have the NBH file then run the EXE downloaded from HTC, let it go all the way to the first install screen and dont do anything yet, go to your temp folder on the computer, dig around the folders if there are many, you will see ruu_signed.NBH, copy and paste into the BaseROM folder of kitchen.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The easiest way is to use any packer apps like winrar. u can extract the nbh directly. if u r using total commander will be a lot easier. just press ctrl+pg dn & u can extract the file instantly.

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Thanks to everyone's help especially At0mAng,
I finally extracted the ROM. I can see aloto of files in SYS and OEM folder.
What i would like to know now is, how do i create folders (icons are not neccessary for the folders) so that i can group installed apps in them according to category? Example is, A multimedia, navigation and games folder is created and , my apps are stored in the folders according to their functions. Like GPS tool goes into navigation and so on..

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To simply copy files from \Windows to another directory, you can use an initflashfiles.txt in the OEM. Syntax is:
Directory("\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Tools"):-File("Enable Proxy.lnk","\Windows\Enable Proxy.lnk")
If you are trying to just place Start Menu items in different folders, it's a bit more complicated. There are many places that this can happen.
1) In \OEM\OEM_Lang_0409\initflashfiles.dat
You can edit this file in Notepad if you remove the ReadOnly bit in Windows. Once you've edited it in Notepad and saved it, you need to re-open it in a Hex editor and delete the first 2 bytes "ff fe". Once you delete those first 2 bytes, save the file and reset the ReadOnly flag. In this file is where I define the Folders I want to use in my "Start Menu" folder like this:
; Start Menu contents
Directory("\Windows\Start Menu")ermDir("Programs")
Directory("\Windows\Start Menu")ermDir("Settings")
Directory("\Windows\Start Menu\Programs"):-Directory("Games")
Directory("\Windows\Start Menu\Programs"):-Directory("Navigation")
Directory("\Windows\Start Menu\Programs"):-Directory("Internet")
Directory("\Windows\Start Menu\Programs"):-Directory("Multimedia")
Directory("\Windows\Start Menu\Programs"):-Directory("Office")
Directory("\Windows\Start Menu\Programs"):-Directory("Phone")
Directory("\Windows\Start Menu\Programs"):-Directory("Tweaks")
Directory("\Windows\Start Menu\Programs"):-Directory("Tools")​2) *.provxml files
You need to edit these files with a unicode editor. Personally I use EmEditor. You'll notice that in mose packages in \OEM and \SYS there is a _Lang_0409 dir that goes along with it. It's "usually" in this folder where you'll see a *.provxml file. If you open these in EmEditor you'll see that there are lots of file operations. You want to seach or the line containing the *.lnk. In that line you can set the patch of where you'd like the icon installed.
There may be other places that this happens as well, but that's just off the top of my head.
Good Luck!
-e

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eras2r said:
To simply copy files from \Windows to another directory, you can use an initflashfiles.txt in the OEM. Syntax is:
Directory("\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Tools"):-File("Enable Proxy.lnk","\Windows\Enable Proxy.lnk")
If you are trying to just place Start Menu items in different folders, it's a bit more complicated. There are many places that this can happen.
1) In \OEM\OEM_Lang_0409\initflashfiles.dat
You can edit this file in Notepad if you remove the ReadOnly bit in Windows. Once you've edited it in Notepad and saved it, you need to re-open it in a Hex editor and delete the first 2 bytes "ff fe". Once you delete those first 2 bytes, save the file and reset the ReadOnly flag. In this file is where I define the Folders I want to use in my "Start Menu" folder like this:
; Start Menu contents
Directory("\Windows\Start Menu")ermDir("Programs")
Directory("\Windows\Start Menu")ermDir("Settings")
Directory("\Windows\Start Menu\Programs"):-Directory("Games")
Directory("\Windows\Start Menu\Programs"):-Directory("Navigation")
Directory("\Windows\Start Menu\Programs"):-Directory("Internet")
Directory("\Windows\Start Menu\Programs"):-Directory("Multimedia")
Directory("\Windows\Start Menu\Programs"):-Directory("Office")
Directory("\Windows\Start Menu\Programs"):-Directory("Phone")
Directory("\Windows\Start Menu\Programs"):-Directory("Tweaks")
Directory("\Windows\Start Menu\Programs"):-Directory("Tools")​2) *.provxml files
You need to edit these files with a unicode editor. Personally I use EmEditor. You'll notice that in mose packages in \OEM and \SYS there is a _Lang_0409 dir that goes along with it. It's "usually" in this folder where you'll see a *.provxml file. If you open these in EmEditor you'll see that there are lots of file operations. You want to seach or the line containing the *.lnk. In that line you can set the patch of where you'd like the icon installed.
There may be other places that this happens as well, but that's just off the top of my head.
Good Luck!
-e
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Somehow, i am not able to find this file , initflashfiles.dat in my OEM_Lang_0409 folder. :?

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Do you have Windows Explorer setup to view all system/hidden files? (Tools->Folder Options-->View)

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If using a kitchen that supports it (mine does for sure) you can create a new, blank text file in a package folder, initflashfiles.txt
it uses the same format eras2r posted above, but gets appended to initflashfiles.dat during the cooking process
in this manner you can have initflashfiles.dat changed on a per-package basis, it's also easier because you don't have to worry about the first 2 bytes etc.
e.g. \Packages\beer\initflashfiles.txt
When cooking rom check box next to package "beer"
now the contents of \Packages\beer\initflashfiles.txt get appended to initflashfiles.dat automatically during cooking, don't get applied if box is not checked
similarly this initflashfiles.txt can go in any folder in \OEM and \SYS as well

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eras2r, yes , it has already been configured to show hidden files & folders
Da_G, i get what you mean, roughly. What you're saying basically is that i can manually create a txt file for initflashfiles and leave it in the packages folder?
Also i am not sure about the syntax that eras2r posted. I find it alittle well above my level of knowledge. Maybe someone can guide / explain to me regarding this?

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Right right, an initflashfiles.txt can go in any subfolder under \OEM \SYS or \Packages
You can create the file with notepad, no need to worry about removing things with a hex editor or otherwise using anything other than notepad.
The syntax is as follows:
using this example to create a directory:
Code:
Directory("\Windows\Start Menu\Programs"):-Directory("Tools")
Directory("\Path\to\create\directory\in\goes\here"):-Directory("Name_Of_Directory_To_create_in_path") - essentially you're saying "Switch to the folder named \Path\to\create\directory\in\goes\here and create a new folder named Name_Of_Directory_To_create_in_path inside of it.
similar syntax to copy a file from one directory to another:
Code:
Directory("\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Tools\"):-File("Fieldtest.lnk","\Windows\Fieldtest.lnk")
Directory("\Path\to\copy\file\in\goes\here"):-File("destination_file_name.ext","\source\path\to\filename.ext") - here you're saying "navigate to \Path\to\copy\file\in\goes\here, copy file from source \source\path\to\filename.ext, rename it to destination_file_name.ext when copying (you can use the same filename here if you don't want it renamed, renaming is useful for files that might be indexed by windows media player, or the windows help system, etc.
That should clear it up a bit, let me know if it doesnt