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#Post#: 17--------------------------------------------------
[TUTORIAL] Create your own Custom Firmware!
By: abhitheracer Date: October 24, 2011, 4:29 am
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I decided to compile a tutorial for those people who want to do
something adventurous. How about making your own custom
firmware? It definitely isn’t Rocket Science. To begin with,
we’ll learn some terminology.
OFW - Official/Original FirmWare
CFW - Custom/Cooked FirmWare
Cooking - Customizing
MCU - It is the core part of your firmware. Maximum stuff is
included in it if it's not repartitioned. Most CFWs would be
repartitioned. Repartitioning gives us more space to put in our
stuff in the section of the firmware we can easily modify.
PPM - It consists of the ROFS files. They are the ones that can
be modified without causing much damage to the phone.
APE - It is the UDA file of the firmware. It goes to the C:
drive (Phone Memory) of your phone. Thus it's better to leave it
untouched if you want sufficient free phone memory.
Mods - Modifications. Any ready made file, which on adding to
your ROFS files will bear an impact on the phone. eg. A speed
mod might help you increase your phone's speed.
Brick - Death of your phone due to improper modification of
files.
Note: Should you need any more help, leave a comment.
Firmware Tools
Navifirm
HTML http://www.symbian-toys.com/download.aspx?file=NaviFirmPlus_1.4.zip<br
/>– Download all your OFWs
Nokia Firmware Editor (NFE 0.3)
HTML http://www.multiupload.com/ORDLCVNAB1
– ROFS2 editor
Nokia Cooker
HTML http://www.symbian-toys.com/download.aspx?file=nokiacooker_1.1.zip<br
/>– Lets you edit UDA directly
Nokia Editor Beta 7
HTML http://www.4shared.com/file/cgLxjSF9/Nokia_Editor_Beta7.html
–
ROFS2, UDA editor (requires 3rd party software) Very slow (for
me atleast)
Nokia Firmware Cleaner
HTML http://forum.dailymobile.se/index.php?topic=34481.0
– Lets you
remove certain components from your CFW to free space.
SisContents
HTML http://symstuff.com/downloads/siscontents174.zip
- Will help you
integrate an app in your CFW.
Basics
First of all, modifying the Core file is extremely dangerous.
The core undergoes a hash check which will fail if we modify it.
Ofcourse there are new tools to modify core too, but I prefer
modifying ROFS. Safest way. Now, ROFS is of two types. ROFS2 and
ROFS3. The core file contains another type - the ROFS1. In some
older phones, you might find ROFX too.
When we deal with CFWs, we mostly prefer repartitioned ones. The
reason was explained above. In repartitioned CFWs, there exists
no ROFS3. Instead, the ROFS3 is put into Core. To repartition,
we needed to modify core. Then hash check would fail, so we
added an unmodified ROFS3 which has a valid hash, into Core. The
ROFS1 in the repartitioned files in in ROFS2 itself.
So, we'll we talking basically about editing ROFS2, and UDA.
Whatever we edit in the ROFS2 goes to drive Z: of your phone.
This is a hidden drive that is Read-Only. You can't change it
from the phone itself. To modify it, you have to modify the
files in ROFS2 and then reflash your phone.
Changes in UDA go to C: (Phone Memory). Hard resetting might
wipe away all your C: files. But, if you want that they
shouldn't, add all the files you don't want to be wiped off to
100059c9/exludelist.txt in the UDA.
The ROFS2 of the OFW has a maximum size of ~ 33 MB. The
repartitioned one has a maximum size (partition size of Z:) of
~110 MB. But then, even it's contents are more. By default you
have some 10 MB free on the repartitioned ROFS2. The size if
exceeds the partition size, will brick your phone. Thus we have
tools like Nokia Firmware Cleaner to remove off the junk.
All the files in the .C00 (core) are first flashed to Z: drive.
Don’t try to edit it. You may end up bricking your phone. Then
ROFS2 is also flashed to Z: drive but no files except for some
bookmarks and some other txt files are overwritten. If anything
is overwritten, it results in a brick. So, we do not add mods to
Core so that our files do not clash. ROFS3 does the same but is
not used in repartitioned files (including C6 and N97 ports).
The reason has been explained above. The default theme in OFW is
in ROFS3. Since, it has become a part of core, it can not be
removed, though hidden.
I personally use Nokia Firmware Editor (NFE 0.3) for editing
ROFS2. So I’ll be explaining how to use it in this tutorial.
Having a base for your CFW
A stable codebase is extremely important. So I recommend that
you decide whether you want your CFW to be based on OFW, C6, or
N97. Each has its advantages and disadvantages. The OFW has the
best RAM management. C6 has widgetized homescreen with new
features like smart dialer and many more. N97 has widgetized
homescreen. Some say it's better than C6 in RAM management. Not
my opinion, though.
If you want it to be based on C6 or N97 port, download your
files from here
HTML http://forum.gizmolord.com/symbian1-modding/c6v40-cores/
first.
If you want to base it on OFW, then download the OFW files from
NaviFirm. At some places, repartitioned OFW files are also
available. It's recommended to use those.
Starting the REAL business
Once you are done with downloading the files, we can start off
the REAL deal.
Analyze your files.
The .Vxx file is your ROFS2. It may have a name like
“RM-356_52.0.007_prd.rofs2.V01”. Size ~ 100 MB. We’ll be editing
it. Follow the steps below.
1)
[img width=554
height=420]
HTML https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-TzSuua2tJAo/TmDuhS78bOI/AAAAAAAAAE8/xH678E3KksY/s640/NFE.PNG[/img]
2)
are located. Select it.
[img width=560
height=420]
HTML https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-V-8xf_1am_s/TmDuhNzRFFI/AAAAAAAAAE0/a7qTvDswqu8/s800/NFE2.PNG[/img]
3)
[img width=554
height=420]
HTML https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-9lHC6oabiuA/TmDuh86HspI/AAAAAAAAAFA/GkYLiJT6Db8/s640/Nfe3.PNG[/img]
4)
bottom left corner.
5)
6)
found in the folder where NFE exe was located. In my case, the
folder is “RM-356_52.0.101_PRD.ROFS2”
7)
you have all the files extracted.
[img width=561
height=420]
HTML https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-HIxuYEsVhMc/TmDuiQqJUvI/AAAAAAAAAFI/qEJ5e8MmzKw/s640/NFE5.PNG[/img]
8 )
9)
10)
[img width=554
height=420]
HTML https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-yFjsHYYOwjo/TmDuhVU6jTI/AAAAAAAAAE4/ECOP7ssNE-w/s640/NFE%252520-%252520Copy.PNG[/img]<br
/>
11)
[img width=554
height=420]
HTML https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-gM1D4eojupw/TmDuiIL8asI/AAAAAAAAAFE/mTUKGYk5bV0/s640/NFE4.PNG[/img]
12)
good RAM and CPU. If the process rb.exe gets a good CPU usage
for itself and 200-300 MB free RAM, it takes 5 seconds. Beware!
On 1 GB RAM, Windows 7, it took 30 minutes! If your ROFS2 size
is greater than partition size, then you will be warned not to
flash it to your phone.
13)
directory with a _Rebuilt appended to its name. In my case its
RM-356_52.0.007_prd.rofs2_Rebuilt.V01. Remove the _Rebuilt by
renaming. Now you have your new CFW! Flash it to your phone and
enjoy!
Nokia Cooker
Usually we keep UDA empty so that we may get maximum free phone
memory. But should you need to add something to it, there it is.
The functionality is almost same as NFE.
I'll soon explain that too.
Other modding tools
You might want to integrate an app in your CFW. It’s simple! Use
SisContents to do that.
SisContents
1)
window looks like this.
[img width=512
height=420]
HTML https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-2kP9EFe7Ipk/TmDuijHiOqI/AAAAAAAAAFM/5-T07LwjZss/s640/sis.PNG[/img]
2)
3)
the file. The Window looks like this now.
[img width=512
height=420]
HTML https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-hg0pKgUKeGM/TmDui6ehGUI/AAAAAAAAAFQ/bHpQIWhGJg8/s640/sis2.PNG[/img]
4)
5)
folder automatically gets opened. You have many files with some
folders.
[img width=561
height=420]
HTML https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-zoNJ-DxXWhY/TmDujoQGB0I/AAAAAAAAAFY/A9KXqzwcZrw/s640/sis3.PNG[/img]
6)
C_sys) You have to use Nokia Cooker to paste the contents of
these folders in the respective folders in UDA. Had there been
no C_ appended, you could have pasted them in ROFS2.
7)
Using SisContents to extract resources (MIF)
How about using siscontents to extract files from almost
unopenable nokia FW files? For that, Click on New, Select the
device for which the FW is meant.
Click on the contents icon.
[img width=512
height=420]
HTML https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-WHvEvd7R2iU/TmDuju68hqI/AAAAAAAAAFU/9wNaoEMmh2w/s640/sis4.PNG[/img]<br
/>
Now click on add entry – add file entry. Add the FW mif file you
want to edit. Say “Series60Skin.mif”
A resource will appear added to the list. When you double click
it, it shows all entries inside the resource files (like
images). You can Extract the image, edit it and replace the
original image with it. Just click on extract in the left pane,
and then make any changes to the image. Now, click on your
image. Replace resource in the left pane. Viola!
Using FW Cleaner
1) Open FW Cleaner. Enter the path to your ROFS2
[img]
HTML https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-QGm-NTOZLKE/TmD6U6L_oMI/AAAAAAAAAFk/OYaVrkyZNi0/s800/clean.PNG[/img]
2) A new window opens. Click on the components you want to
REMOVE. Next, click on Backup if you want to be on the safer
side. Then click on the green plus sign.
[img]
HTML https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-p5tRsQs9uwc/TmD6VWiYDuI/AAAAAAAAAFo/WIFJqfQMvRM/s640/clean2.PNG[/img]
3) Click on the Red cross on the right hand side. You'll see a
message "Done!"
It's done!
Now you have more free space.
After you are done, flash it to your phone. :)
P.S. IMPORTANT NOTE!
Never try to downgrade your phone. You might PERMANENTLY kill
it. More to be added soon!
#Post#: 38--------------------------------------------------
Re: [TUTORIAL] Create your own Custom Firmware!
By: AmanVishnani Date: October 24, 2011, 7:39 am
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WOW!!!!!gr8 Job bro!!impressed!!
#Post#: 109--------------------------------------------------
Re: [TUTORIAL] Create your own Custom Firmware!
By: anuragsins1991 Date: October 25, 2011, 11:26 am
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wow good guide bro
currently i know how to flash my phone bit wud really like to
create my cfw
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