Guide to Modding

[rasputin007]

How to edit the CG43 and CG52 of the V8.

First of all there are only 2 CG's that can be edited and turned into working reflashes because these 2 CG's do not have a digital signature and therefore can be modified. All other CG's have a digital signature and as soon as they are changed the reflash will start the V8 only in bootloader.
Those CG's that can be changed are:
CG43, which holds a lot of configurations files and one of them is the "ezx_flexbit.cfg" which can be edited with Meiner Einer's Flexbit-Editor. and
CG52, which contains all the "preloaded stuff" like the skins, ringtones, wallpapers, screensavers, startup and shutdown animation, Java apps and a few more things. These "preloaded stuff" can not be deleted from the phone!!!



Now what you need to edit a CG and repack it

1.) SBF Recalc 1.2.8 to split the firmware into its seperate CG's, also later to rebuild a reflash from the repacked CG you have created.
2.) A Linux distro that supports squashfs, as it is still not part of the kernel yet. Debian "Lenny" has a 2.6.22 kernel with squashfs support that works (use Synaptic Package Manager to install), otherwise Mandrivia Spring 2007 and Fedora Core 7 also have squashfs already build in, there might be more that have it build in as well. You need one of those Linux distros because you have to mount the CG.smg file as a file system in order to access the files you want to change. I have not been able to get that part working under Cygwin, but more to that later.
3.) squashfs-tools 2.1, now even thou some Linux distros have squashfs build in it is the wrong version, it is usually squashfs 3.2, which is fine for mounting the CG.smg, but no use whatsoever if you want to repack the CG. The reason for this is that Motorola or MontaVista have used the squashfs version 2.1 to create the firmware and anything other then squashfs 2.1 will just not work. So you have to complie the squashfs-tools 2.1 yourself which is quite easy, but you might have to install the gcc compiler (and its dependencies!) first, since it is not part of the standard Linux installation.



The steps on how to get a proper file system from a firmware CG

1.) You have to split the firmware with SBF Recalc 1.2.8 in Windows or use the SBF Recalc 1.2.9 Linux version to split the firmware under Linux, which ever way you choose you have to split the firmware into its CG's and please rename them to something less long, e.g. CG52.smg and CG43.smg.
2.) Now you have to be in Linux, this step will not work under Windows!!!
Usually it is not recommende to be logged in as the "root" user, but it certainly could save a lot of trouble with permission problems (especially for Linux noobies). If you are experienced in Linux then log in as your normal user and when needed do "su" or "sudo". I assume that you are logged in a "root".
OK, you are logged in as "root". First thing you do is go into your home-directory "/root" and create a new folder called "V8", then inside that you create 3 new folders, one called "CG43", another is called "CG52" and the third folder is called "test". Now copy the file "CG52.smg" and "CG43.smg" into the "/root" folder, when that is done open a terminal/konsole (2 words for the same thing - command line) and enter the following command - if you have choosen different folder names and/or locations, then please adjust this accordingly.
"mount /root/CG43.smg /root/V8/CG43 -o loop -t squashfs"
and press enter/return (again 2 words for the same thing), you should see another command line prompt if everything went OK, otherwise you will have seen a message telling you what went wrong, might be just a spelling mistake. Now do the same with the CG52
"mount /root/CG52.smg /root/V8/CG52 -o loop -t squashfs"
Now you can go into "/root/V8/CG43" and "/root/V8/CG52" and look at all the files, but you can not edit them yet because they are still squashfs filesystem and therefore read-only filesystem.
So select both folders "/root/V8/CG43" and "/root/V8/CG52" and "drag-drop" them into the "/root/V8/test" folder (when ask what to do select "copy", not link or move because then they still would be read-only filesystem!!!). Now you can edit the files in the "/root/V8/test/CG43" and "/root/V8/test/CG52" folders, but before you do that please unmount the smg file, you will not need then again. The command for that is, entered in the terminal : "umount /root/V8/CG43" and then "umount /root/V8/CG52".

Now you can edit the content of those two CG's to your taste, or even copy the whole folders into a partition that Windows can see if you want to use the software under Windows.



How to repack the "edited" filesystem into a CG

Once you have finished "messing around" it is time to repack the file system back into a CG.smg file and that is when you need the squashfs-tools version 2.1.
Here is how to install them, this desription works in both Linux and "Cygwin under Windows"
Copy the "squashfs-tools.rar" file into the "/root" folder and extract it into the "squashfs-tools" folder, now enter that folder and open a terminal - you should be now in "/root/squashfs-tools". In the command line in the terminal enter the following command "make" and press enter, provided you have the gcc compiler and its dependency-files installed you will now find a "mksquashfs" executable file in the "/root/squashfs-tools" folder. Copy this "mksquashfs" executable file into "/usr/bin", most likely you will be asked if you want to overwrite the existing "mksquashfs" file, say YES. The existing "mksquashfs" file is version 3.2 and therefore no good for our purpose and needs to be replaced with the 2.1 version. If all this went smooth you are ready to repack the CG's.
Open a terminal and enter this command:
"mksquashfs /root/V8/test/CG43/* /root/V8/test/My_CG43.smg -le" (-le stands for little endian file system) and press enter, you will see some messages and the My_CG43.smg has been created.
For the CG52 you do the same. "mksquashfs /root/V8/test/CG52/* /root/V8/test/My_CG52.smg -le". Now you should have 2 new files in "/root/V8/test", My_CG43.smg and My_CG52.smg. You can call them what you want, e.g. CG43-test39.smg - sometimes helps if you have lots of them flying around, just make sure you enter that name you want into the command line when doing the mksquashfs thing.
Now that you have the "new" CG43.smg and CG52.smg, you can create a reflash by using the *hmg (Header file) and the *RAMDLD.smg file (Ram Downloader) and one or both CG.smg files. Make sure that the name of the files are the same, e.g. 80.42.0FR_my_own.hmg, 80.42.0FR_my_ownCG43.smg, 80.42.0FR_my_ownCG52.smg and 80.42.0FR_my_ownRAMDLD.smg, all in the same folder. Open SBF Recalc and select "open folder", navigate to that folder, open it, press "Recalc Checksum" - now you find out if you have overdone it and the CG is too big, then back to editing the CG, otherwise press "Create sbf Flash" and in a new folder you find your "80.42.0FR_my_own.sbf" reflash. Use RSD to flash it and if you have done everything right your V8 will startup normally with the new changes in place.
One word please, you might have to try this a few times because there are quite a few steps you have to take and it is easy to make a little mistake somewhere. So if it does not work the first time, keep trying and with each time you do this you will become more confident.
Good luck and enjoy the modding!

[InsecureSpike]

Flashing your RAZR2 V8 with RSD Lite

The BEST way to flash the Linux Motorola's is to use RSD Lite 3.9, or higher

This is the way i Flash my Linux Motorola's
i would not recommend using Flash&Back up 3

(try to avoid RSD Lite 4.1)
Find the different versions of RSDLite HERE


Next, install the NEWEST Motorola Drivers from MotoDev



Flashing,

Once you have the above 3 your ready to Flash your Motorola, and your Battery is FULLY charged.

Connect the phone to the PC with the USB cable, making sure the phone is in Modem Mode,
(this can be checked by going, Main Menu> Settings> Connections> USB Settings> then select Modem.)

Now start RSD Lite.
wait for it to find your Phone,




Now you need to choose the file you want to flash,




Once you've selected the right flash, you can press Start,
Let RSD Lite go through the Flashing cycle,











Your Phone will Re-Start, DON'T disconnect until the Result is PASS.

Congratulations, You've Flashed Your Phone

Regards Spike

this guide is not to be reposted with out my permission

[InsecureSpike]

Adding New custom skins for the 512MB V8

Adding New custom skins to a V8 is Very simple once a suitable ReFlash has been flashed,


First download a skin you'd like to have/use, un-rar/zip the files,
and place into a named folder.

Next set your phone into Memory Device,
(this can be done by going, Main Menu> Settings> Connections> USB Settings> then select Memory Device.)



Guide for the 512mb V8


Now connect the V8 to he PC, via the USB cable,
a series of click clacks will be heard,
and a window will pop-up which is the user partition,

here you will see a number of folders and files,




Open the skins folder, in here you'll see,
10 new empty folders,




Open one of the folders,




Now open the folder with the Skin files you downloaded earlier,




select all and drag n drop them into the empty folder,




Navigate back to the My Computer window, and Eject the external drive.





Now disconnect the v8 from the cable,
then follow,

Main Menu> Settings> Themes> Options> and press Create New,
in here you can select any of the following;

Name the New skin

Ringtones & Alerts,
Wallpapers, ScreenSavers,
Start-Up & Shut-Downs
and most importantly the Skin you just added,

Once you have everything the way you like, press save.

And now select the new skin.
but i do recommend after selecting a new skin, you restart the V8,
so as all the new features can be applied,

And lastly Enjoy the Skins available Here to Download

this guide is not to be reposted with out my permission


Just please remember when connecting your Phone to the PC,
One of the Default Skins must be selected,
Otherwise your V8 will hang it's self,
and you'll have to remove the battery to get it going again.

Enjoy

Spike

[InsecureSpike]

Adding New custom skins for the 2gb V8


Adding New custom skins to a V8 is Very simple once a suitable ReFlash has been flashed,


First download a skin you'd like to have/use, un-rar/zip the files,
and place into a named folder.

Next set your phone into Memory Device,
(this can be done by going, Main Menu> Settings> Connections> USB Settings> then select Memory Device.)



Guide for the 2gb V8


Now connect the V8 to he PC, via the USB cable,
a series of click clacks will be heard,
and 2 windows will pop-up which are the Small & Big user partitions,
In both you will see a number of folders and files,




Open both Skin folders, and you'll see,

10 Skin folders in the 2GB memory, 3 Skin folders in the small partition,




Open one of the folders,




Now open the folder with the Skin files you downloaded earlier,
select all and drag n drop them into the empty folder,




Navigate back to the My Computer window, and Eject both external drives.





Now disconnect the v8 from the cable,
then follow,

Main Menu> Settings> Themes> Options> and press Create New,
in here you can select any of the following;

Name the New skin

Ringtones & Alerts,
Wallpapers, ScreenSavers,
Start-Up & Shut-Downs
and most importantly the Skin you just added,

Once you have everything the way you like, press save.

And now select the new skin.
but i do recommend after selecting a new skin, you restart the V8,
so as all the new features can be applied,

And lastly Enjoy the Skins available Here to Download


Just please remember when connecting your Phone to the PC,
One of the Default Skins must be selected,
Otherwise your V8 will hang it's self,
and you'll have to remove the battery to get it going again.

this guide is not to be reposted with out my permission

thanks to Stephuhnator for the Screen Shots

Enjoy

Spike

[InsecureSpike]

Menu Back-Up Guide

Here's a mini guide to backing up the menu order of you V8,
because most of us have a set way of how our menu has to look,
As everytime a NEW LinuxMod Flash is flashed, the order is reset.

Menu Back-Up can only be done if you have FTP access on the V8.

Before you do any thing you'll need FileZilla, Download Here


1. Connect the the V8 (in Modem mode) to the PC, next press the ScreenShot, FTP & USB Lan, menu button,
Once pressed you'll hear a few "click clacks",
next start FileZilla.

Enter the Following Login Details.

FTP server name: 192.168.16.2 (as in picture 1)

Port: 21 (usual FTP port)

username: root

password: root

Now press Connect.




2. The root menu will appear in the window,





3. Follow this path, /ezxlocal/download/appwrite/am/




4. Next back up the following Items, which are the user copies of the,
SysMenuTree & SysRegistry, which are part of the CG52, which are Read Only.
so anything you change on the default setup will be stored in these,

UserConfig
UserMenuTree
UserMime

and if it's there the

UserRegistry

The UserRegistry, ONLY appears if you have created NEW folders!!




5. thats it, your menu settings have been backed up,

then close


6. So next time you Flash, a MP, that has FTP access,
youll be able to have your prefered menu set up,
without all the hassle of moving all the menu item around,

By following the same path, but just replacing the backed up files.

remember to restart the V8 so the changes can take effect!!!

Big Thanks to Rasputin007 for telling me how to do this

Enjoy

Spike


this guide is not to be reposted with out my permission

[InsecureSpike]

How to take ScreenShots of your V8

you need a v8 LinuxMod Version firmware on yer V8,
connect yer V8 to the pc, in modem mode,
find & press the screenshot, ftp & usblan menu button in the tweaks menu.
you'll hear some click clacks, but nothing will seam to happen,
now open yer web browser and go to address, http://192.168.16.2/

and you should see this page,



hit the screenshot button then this page opens....


when you navigate to a menu you want to capture the screen of press refresh,
the right click and save as,

this guide is not to be reposted with out my permission

thank you Rasputin007

Spike