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Well hello everyone.
I am an application development student from Belgium.
I am proficient in Java, VB.NET, some c/c++ and also PHP/JS/HTML/CSS
Anyways, my recent interest has been going out to creating custom roms for the galaxy S!
The problem now is though, I was able to find some guides and such, but most were incomplete, and for HTC(and other) devices.
I have no idea what is different between making a ROM for galaxy S or a ROM for an HTC device.
If anyone would like to link me to some good resources that can help me on my way, or would like to collaborate (and in the meanwhile teach me a bit) I would be more than happy! (I am open for collaboration as I am pretty proficient in Java and I'm always happy to code and learn more about coding!)
I think the question is really want you want to do!
Custom ROMs for Android are as simple as using recovery console to replace files on the system with your own versions.
ie. Replace the framework.apk which contains all theme images with your own modified one, which you can use to skin the device. Same for replacing other system apps.
Unfortunately, most of these apps are closed source, so modifying them is difficult. The stock android system has open source versions of most of them though, and you can modify those and build them, and then replace the ones on the device. I'm not entirely sure how to build them up though, but it probably isn't too hard.
Then there are custom kernels, which let you actually change the underlying linux system underneath android - Samsung has an open source version of the kernel available that you can compile, and then flash to your phone using Odin or other tools. Compiling the kernel is pretty tricky though.
Well i'm really talking about stuff like SamSet, MoDaCo, Doc's ROM and others.
I'm not saying I want to create a pro ROM in a day or anything, but i'd really love to learn more to get better (always looking for more stuff to put on the resume, I guess?!)
Thanks a lot,
Kenny
Bump for some help
(sorry for the double post but i'm really eager to learn)
I don't have time to give a detailed response right now. However you will want to read up on yaffs (file system) and odexing/deodexing ROMs.
Thank you I will definately do that,
I am following a guide now to start out creating custom ROMs for android, however it was written for Motorola Droid and I have no idea what you have to do different for a samsung galaxy s.
I am a good coder, even though I say so myself, with a lot of experience. I also have a lot of linux experience, you name it
Only the problem is the old, and much known "where do I get started?"
So if anyone can point me out in the right direction on that, tell me how/where you started out, I would appreciate it greatly!
Thanks!
Very sorry to bump again
I set up my environment in ubuntu today to get started (just gotta fix a few errors, didn't know android wouldn't compile on java 1.6, only on 1.5)
Anyways, still need some help here! thanks!
Again I am awefully sorry for the bump here but i'd really like some help.
Note that i'm not a newbie at coding whatsoever and i'm not unfamiliar with some hardcore java, c/c++ and other languages, I'm just having trouble getting started when it comes to modding an existing android release (there are tutorials on HTC and other devices but some methods do not apply to the galaxy S)
If you're trying to create a ROM from scratch then unfortunately you're out of luck at the moment. No one has really managed to do so yet. By "from scratch" I mean the Android Open Source Project (i.e. official Android git repository).
What you can do is grab an existing firmware. Extract the contents, de-odex the apks, modify them or add new apks, optionally you can also compile a custom SGS kernel using Samsung's kernel source. Then you can re-odex the ROM, pack it back up and distribute it.
There's no real "starting place" as such and you won't yet find any tutorials about how to create SGS ROMs. Just give it a go and see where you get.
Yes, I do mean creating a ROM from stock samsung firmware, of course.
So my next logical question would be now:
How do I go over extracting contents from the existing samsung firmware, de-odexing and so on?
Any links/guides/tips are greatly appreciated, as long as they are applicable to this cell phone and not totally crap, thanks!
Samsung uses rfs, I think you should know. There is a thread somewhere in this forum regarding extracting .rfs file. Understood you need Debian though.
For some readup, go search for a famous guy named JesusFreke. Tons of materials...
Hope that from here onwards, this can lead you on, and to find out more. Google is your friend too...
I'm afraid my biggest problems already occur in setting up the environment, so it's really the very beginning that gets me stuck, i'm sure coding would be a bikeride compared to setting up the environment for me (i'm no hero in linux,not at all, i'm afraid)
How the hell do I get from point A (being downloading the full source) to point B (starting to create a custom ROM?)
thanks
of course if anyone has the time, and wants to, you can PM me your msn or something, if anyone is up to it
Raykoid666 said:
I'm afraid my biggest problems already occur in setting up the environment, so it's really the very beginning that gets me stuck, i'm sure coding would be a bikeride compared to setting up the environment for me (i'm no hero in linux,not at all, i'm afraid)
How the hell do I get from point A (being downloading the full source) to point B (starting to create a custom ROM?)
thanks
of course if anyone has the time, and wants to, you can PM me your msn or something, if anyone is up to it
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Agreed completely! Getting a full cross-compilation to Samsung's Android going is seriously difficult! There have been some promises for tutorials and guides for setting things up though, but none have appeared yet. Probably because it's hard!
Well thank you for agreeing with me on that.
I am really hoping for anyone that can help me out here, either on here or in private, and give some detailed instructions on how to get started.
Hell there is enough information on creating roms alread, deodexing, adding/removing apps etc etc etc... The real problem lies in setting everything up properly.
I think I have gotten to the point where I'm compiling the android source (without samsung specific files)
note i'm saying "i think i am compiling" because i'm hoping it won't error out on me again after an hour of compiling!
But once that is done... I have no idea where to go next, where to get the samsung specific files, or what to do with them whatsoever once i have them
thanks!
Android generic source won't actually help you much. Samsung has made a huge number of changes to it, and while it is all open source, backporting their changes to get your stock source running on the phone is a major undertaking. I believe cyanogenmod was actually working on this, but it seems without much success so far.
What the other rom makers you see are doing is taking a snapshot of a running rom, copying over all of the APKs and the files on a running device, and then tweaking those. ie. Opening up framework-res.apk and changing the image files inside.
The update.zip roms that are what most people are doing are really just using the Android recovery to replace files on the phone with their own versions. Since the underlying system is linux, and everything is a file, this actually works pretty well.
The kernel development effort is completely separate from the rest of the system though, and Samsung has provided the entire source tree that just has to be compiled. I'm a bit stumped myself on all the details of setting it up, but I have seen some threads on this forum about it, and it didn't seem too bad to set up. Apparently you shouldn't use the codesourcery toolchain though, or something. Not too clued up on it, sorry. Hopefully someone with the details can chime in, or give us a link to the old post on it (I'm failing to find it using the search function! )
Alright sounds good!
So these recovery files you are talking about (the contents of /system) how do i retrieve those from a base ROM such as JM7 or the likes after a clean flash?)
Raykoid666 said:
Alright sounds good!
So these recovery files you are talking about (the contents of /system) how do i retrieve those from a base ROM such as JM7 or the likes after a clean flash?)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Root your phone, zip them up onto the sdcard, and then copy them off.
There are probably better methods, but this works fine.
Also, with credits to Unhelpful, he has told me that the correct toolchain to be using is 'uClibc or eglibc toolchain with ct-ng'. I have no idea what to do with that yet, but it's a start.
RyanZA said:
Root your phone, zip them up onto the sdcard, and then copy them off.
There are probably better methods, but this works fine.
Also, with credits to Unhelpful, he has told me that the correct toolchain to be using is 'uClibc or eglibc toolchain with ct-ng'. I have no idea what to do with that yet, but it's a start.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You don't even need to root your phone to pull /system Ryan
adb pull /system <random folder>
is all you need ^^
Alright thank you, I managed to get all the /system files using abd pull /system
now next thing up would be de-odexing right, before I go editing stuff?
Now before I go de-odexing. Can anyone tell me what exactly de-odexing is and why I need it?
and what do I need to do to create an update.zip again?
thanks a lot all!
Tayutama said:
You don't even need to root your phone to pull /system Ryan
adb pull /system <random folder>
is all you need ^^
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Haha cool, didn't know you could pull whole folders!
Raykoid666 said:
Alright thank you, I managed to get all the /system files using abd pull /system
now next thing up would be de-odexing right, before I go editing stuff?
Now before I go de-odexing. Can anyone tell me what exactly de-odexing is and why I need it?
and what do I need to do to create an update.zip again?
thanks a lot all!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The apk files in Android are odexed - that means they have a special index applied for dalvik that speeds them up somehow! I don't know how, I haven't checked how it actually works.
The important point is though:
odexed is faster, but you can't edit it because of signatures or something technical
deodexed means you can change it however you want
More useful info can be found from google - lots of it!
update.zip is easy - it's a zip file in a special format that can be understood by Android's recovery console. The easiest way to do it is to grab an existing update.zip and modify it as needed. Tayutama has millions of em around, so use his!
Then you need to sign it once you're finished with it so that the SGS will accept it. Samsung made a boo-boo and didn't disable the test keys for the 2.1 SGS firmwares. That makes it easy!
http://www.londatiga.net/it/how-to-sign-apk-zip-files/
Just use the test keys to sign it, and then copy it to /sdcard/update.zip and reboot into recovery and it'll work.
NOTE: This is a thread for the build devs.
Users who want to try this solution themselves should head over to TheAgent1982's thread: RTL Support Project, or go to the Hebrew guide at htcaddicts.com.
Update: Hey devs. Just so you'd know, we're even willing to do the framework.jar patching for you!
All we ask from you is to deodex your builds, and include the patched framework.jar (which appears to be almost the same for all builds, barring sense/non-sense differences).
PM if you're willing to let us help
Hey devs
First of all, thanks to all the devs who are doing a great work with everything!
There's one thing though that's a pox on all Android builds (even native android devices), and that is full-on right-to-left support. What do I mean?
Sure, there are Hebrew (and I assume Arabic) fonts in Android, and MOST applications work just fine, with the notable exceptions of Gmail, Google maps, and most native Google-apps, who all display Hebrew backwards.
A far more stressing issue, however, is that ALL android applications without exception display numbers backwards in right-to-left texts (so 10 becomes 01, 12 becomes 21, etc. It can get really confusing really fast).
Any way, there exists a solution for both these problems that can USUALLY be fixed with a medium amount of experience on native Android devices, but requires a bit of a hassle for HD2 owners.
Hopefully, you devs can incorporate this fix to future releases, once the fixed files are obtained it shouldn't be too hard to spread in the future.
Here's the process:
BTW, This only works on completely deodexed builds!
First, you have to download this zip file. It basically contains the fixed files and some other stuff you devs probably won't need.
The fix then involves extracting 'framework.jar' from the phone, and extracting the 'classes' file thusly:
Code:
java -jar baksmali-1.2.2.jar -o classes classes.dex
Then, in the subsequently created "classes" folder, you need to replace the files in "/classes/android/graphics/" and "classes/android/text" with the relevant files in the aforementioned zip file (from the corresponding folders, of course, under "files/froyo/")
After that is done, you need to re-create 'classes.dex' using:
Code:
java -Xmx512M -jar smali-1.2.2.jar classes -o classes_new.dex
Then, replace the old 'classes.dex' in 'framework.jar' with the new one (after renaming it back to 'classes.dex', of course), and push the new and fixed 'framework.jar' back to the phone.
Reboot, and voila: full-on Left-to-Right support!
I'm sure you devs have far better ways of including these fixed files without having to edit the entire thing every time, but what would I know?
We would be extremely appreciative to all you builds devs if you could incorporate those fixed 'classes' files in future builds, it'll save us a ton of work.
Also, if any of you guys also need volunteers for beta-testing this solution (as I'm sure you don't have Hebrew content to test it with), feel free to PM me.
Thank you for listening, and keep up the great work!
((PS, thanks to member silverbluem who helped simplify the process))
+1
i use the htc sense to read sms so
the msg wont appear word4 word3 word2 word1
+1 for that. although i am using bifbif ver 1.2 with CM6 and its OK here.
i've test it on Mdj Evolution 2.3 and it work perfect:
i never copied the files to /graphic only to /text folder
to put the Framework.jar in the device because we dont have recovery mode
use this commands:
to pull the file:
adb pull system/framework/framework.jar
install the attached files
adb push (your file location/framework.jar) system/framework/framework.jar
after putting the file restart the device
restart might take 5-10 min first run after applying the file
thanks
silverbluem said:
i've test it on Mdj Evolution 2.3 and it work perfect:
i never copied the files to /graphic only to /text folder
to put the Framework.jar in the device because we dont have recovery mode
use this commands:
to pull the file:
adb pull system/framework/framework.jar
install the attached files
adb push (your file location/framework.jar) system/framework/framework.jar
after putting the file restart the device
restart might take 5-10 min first run after applying the file
thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This sure does absolve us of needing to use Linux and needing all that messy system.ext2 stuff. I'll give it a try.
Still, it'd be nice to have these updated files already incorporated into future builds.
Ambious said:
This sure does absolve us of needing to use Linux and needing all that messy system.ext2 stuff. I'll give it a try.
Still, it'd be nice to have these updated files already incorporated into future builds.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
still need to figure out how to replace the graphic file
cause the view is not perfect without it...
Ambious said:
Edit: I tried this method, and while it DID boot, the solution didn't work - numbers still backwards, Google applications still reverse.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
what rom are you using?
EDIT: the only thing that need to change to you is the phone book is now need to be RTL and the number backwards
Gmail need the Graphic file
silverbluem said:
what rom are you using?
EDIT: the only thing that need to change to you is the phone book is now need to be RTL and the number backwards
Gmail need the Graphic file
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My WM rom is OzDROID2.0, my Android rom is MDJ FroyoHD 3.7
Well, the phone book was never a problem for me, only hybrid text/numbers like in text messages etc.
Anyway, turns out I didn't modify framework.jar correctly, so I tried again using the script, and this time the phone just won't boot (like when I used Linux, it just hangs at boot screen).
Edit: Tried all day, all combinations of 'texts' files and with or w/o the 'graphics' file, and it always either just didn't fix anything (when I did the fix manually), or didn't boot at all (when I tried the script). This got me to conclude that I must not be doing it right, or else it would fail to boot for me as well (at least, I'm not even considering me being able to totally fix it myself )
Not a week ago, i was referred to the Samsung Galaxy S's newest ROM which came from Orange..
The rom includes (to my understanding) all the latest fixes regarding left to right text and even a hebrew version of Swype
It is easily retrievable. Obviously, it isn't legal to extract their work and use it to manutfacture a widespread ROM... but you can use it for personal use if you want to check how to fix that annoying hebrew thing.
+1000
Thanks
nir36 said:
Not a week ago, i was referred to the Samsung Galaxy S's newest ROM which came from Orange..
The rom includes (to my understanding) all the latest fixes regarding left to right text and even a hebrew version of Swype
It is easily retrievable. Obviously, it isn't legal to extract their work and use it to manutfacture a widespread ROM... but you can use it for personal use if you want to check how to fix that annoying hebrew thing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It COULD be used to reverse engineer some of the stuff, but I doubt it's similar enough to the HD2 builds to use it.
+1
Thanks
Hebrew RTL Support
For those who are asking, i have made a working framework.jar , time ago.
It is working for most FROYO Sence, CM6.+ does not need it...
BUT NOT Desire HD Sence ( Because is is odex files, not only *.jar).
If needed i will upload it, and put a tutorial how to make it work...
Good Day!
RTL HEbrew
Please do that !
Thanks
Framework.jar
Tomorrow i will post the file with short tut how to put it, i must say that Ambious bring a good tut directly from iAndroid
Any way, Ambious, if i will upload the file please stick it to 1st page.
For now, good night...
This fix is a must for all RTL language users.
As mentioned, CM6+ already includes the fix and is working pretty good!
Problem is, for some reason, CM6 builds are rare...
I tried a few Sense builds but eventually i came back to a CM6 based build
because of it's support for RTL languages.
Devs, please include this fix in you builds, to make them as much accessible
as possible.
Thanks.
TheAgent1982 said:
Tomorrow i will post the file with short tut how to put it, i must say that Ambious bring a good tut directly from iAndroid
Any way, Ambious, if i will upload the file please stick it to 1st page.
For now, good night...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I sure will!
Thank you
However, as a Sense user myself, I'm pretty anxious to see if a fix can be applied to any of the Sense builds (especially DesireHD, which is my current build).
Well Organized Post
I have made well organized post for it:
RTL Support Post.
I must say, it will NOT Work for Desire HD for now, because it is ODEX and jar combined, and as you have read at iAndroid, for now there is NO solution for it,
and i do not have the experience and time to learn and convert it, since i am a student.
But i will give it a try between the semesters...
Hey,
The HD2 Desire HD builds are fully deodexed.
Froyo HD 3.7 for example: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=795914
Maybe you could use them for preparing a RTL fix for when the deodexed desire HD ROMS come and for us HD2 android users.
Cheers.
It may be my semi-n00bness, but all my attempts to create a fix for DesireHD 3.7 failed.
Also, trying the supplied fix in the thread above on MDJ Sense Clean (non HD based) failed, wouldn't boot.
Hopefully someone can get it to work, and better yet - that the devs will incorporate those fixes in their builds.
I have programmed in java for quite some time, and am decent at android apps.
However, i have two questions about developing on my device (rooted samsung captivate).
First, how can i get dev tools to run correctly on my phone. I have installed it as stated in "developer.android com/guide/developing/debug-tasks html#additionaldebugging". However, when clicking on Dev Settings it crashed with HARDWARE_TEST security exception. I have read that you need to sign/run it as system.
Is it possible to run it on my rooted captivate? if so how do i install it as system or find the system signature to sign it.
My other question is about programing, compiling, and running android applications from a device. I can take my .apk and unzip it. Then edit any resource files. Then rezip and sign it. However if i want to replace the actual code i need to compile it. I can use an online java compiler but i need to convert it to android format.
I know that dx.bat does this by using dx.jar . I can add dx.jar to the referenced libraries of my app. However i cant figure out what to do past there. Is what i am attempting even possible?
Thanks for your help.
There's a couple threads in this forum from folks like me who want to do this. Perhaps you can help us figure it out
Step one is I think to get an java compiler running on the phone. Then to make a version of DX that can run on the phone to convert the class to .apk
Thanks. in normal java programs you can use "com.sun.tools.javac.Main.compile( new String[] {args} );" found in the "<sdk>/lib/tools.jar" to compile a program. And dx.jar is what is used to covert it to android, however i do not know what to call in it.
We just need to find a way to get these jars to work on android.
Greets all,
I am looking for a person who understand on how to create an apk for android, and if they can create one for me. I have tried and tried and I cannot get the last half of the apk because I dont understand programming and am truly clueless. I had someone who was going to help me, but then disappeared, so I come here for help.
I would think it would not be that hard for someone who knows what they are doing. If anyone would be so kind and willing please PM me, or reply. I would like to finish this project but I'm at a standstill.
The details will be provided in PM.
Thank you.
AngelDeath
Want do you want the apk to do?
Create just an apk is easy...but without any programming skills and some code in it it will do nothing .
An APK is just a simple ZIP file, nothing more.
Thats true, its a simple zip, but when you need it to make changes or copy files, thats where I am clueless.
I have already made the gui, and the menus, I got that all covered, but the problem I have run across or the clueless programming idiot part of me is that when you make a selection, for it to impliment what you selected, also since the selection would make changes to a file, how would I got about having all the different combinations, saved in the apk so that when you make a selection it would know what to pick and either copy the settings, or to overwrite the existing file with the selection chosen?
When I tell you I am a programming idiot, take it seriously I am.
sorry, i don't have a solution to your inquiry (have tried and tried to build apks and no success beyond themes...)
and i think your skills are quite beyond mine as a chef, but in all of my reading i felt that this guide seemed to help. maybe can help, but if not good luck!
http://www.vogella.de/articles/AndroidLiveWallpaper/article.html
Thanks for the link I bookmarked it, but one of the things its lacking in the tut for wallpapers is the way to overwrite an existing file. But I'll look at it as with my android books, but I am more a visual learner first then read, if that makes sense.
interesting idea. i would think that if possible, might run into problems a la metamorph with apks not being able to updated once their initial integrity is altered. though if a rom file, don't think that would be a problem. another angle would be to see if it is redirectable - like what themechooser for tmo/ cm7 roms does. those themes don't replace per se, though can redirect most things. just waxing philosophically. best of luck. if i ever venture out of cm7, your roms are looking very interesting! keep up the great work.
cheers.
A place where to make apps
I know this webpage where you can make apps whithout programing.
The webpage is: Called "Andromo" Since I'm new I cant paste the link but I think that you can put "www" and at the end "com"
Greetings,
Mister-Android.rs Team
Would anyone be willing and able to create a dump of a clean Windows 10 for Phones system image and share it with me? I searched around in the installation for non-supported devices threads, but did not see a reference to anything.
An FFU image extracted from the updater would also work, thanks in advance!
Why is that?
I see.
But at least it's possible, even if not very probable.
Although, we should check if we can use WinRAR, since it's possible to edit the images without breaking the signiture.
Assuming we have a signed image.
Not possible. There are many threads trying to achieve what you're hoping to do with cabs and such, and it's not possible when the bootloaders are signed and damn near everything in the system requires a signed cert.
But how does that prevent us from opening and modifying them with WinRAR?
Even if we can't boot the new files, it's still a step.
So open it with WinRAR, if possible.
At least to get an idea of the structure of the OTA, that peice of information may help us form an idea as to at least part of the structure of the system.
It's better to have (theoretical) partial read access, than no access at all.
feherneoh said:
FFU is not OTA
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Alright, but can you open it inside WinRAR?
Now we're talking, what we need now is someone to examine the partitions and their layouts.
Unfortunately , I'm not at that level but at least I can understand these things, so I would like to hear the results.
Is anyone exporting the partitions yet?
Unfortunately, I don't know the partition layout in Windows 10 Mobile, but perhaps they should all be exported and examined?
Not for myself, however I had thought that it may help others attempting to port Windows 10 Mobile in the future.
you can try to download MI4 rom
http://en.miui.com/thread-189556-1-1.html