cmonex' mobilecustom_cabs.zip?

p.s. There is also some linkage from the exe to a DLL that contains tokens relating to the format of the files found in your "Catalog Data" folder you sent me. I think what happens is it parses catalog.xml for the links to those .dat/.png/.txt files and goes out and gets those to populate the catalog. So, it's also possible that the problem with my file is I'm using dummy values.

Looking at this more now I'm thinking the "Description" "Preview" "EULA" and "Name" are supposed to be the default names of the files corresponding to the ones currently named "descript" "License" "Name" and "preview" in the "Customize Data" folders, not fields in the XML file.

Being a Japanese, I think they didn’t use UTF-8 back then in the XML. I might be wrong, but we’ve used Shift_JIS a lot. Especially in Windows environment.

Edited by stingraze 2023-08-26 3:35 PM

Oh! Thanks, great point

Good news. I think I found the schema.


Date=2003-05-28
Size=673000
Name=Auto Web Recorder
URL=http://www.pdabiz.jp/mobileCustom/Catalog/CE.NET/XSC/3001/awebrecsig3.CAB
URL=http://www.pdabiz.jp/mobileCustom/Catalog/CE.NET/XSC/3001/License.txt
Author=http://www.aicon.co.jp/
Extend1=version="1.0"
EndItem=mobileCustom

I think that is the schema, located in
~/Default/Catalog Data/AppInst


Each .dat has this file structure, so if we can convert it to XML that will be cool.
(Not all .dat numbered as 3xxx seem to have the data in txt for some reason though)

-stingraze

Edited by stingraze 2023-08-26 11:45 PM

Unfortunately I think that is the schema of the files that are supposed to be pointed to by catalog.xml. If you look up thread, I discovered that the catMENU.exe links to a DLL that will read that exact format as is (no XML) with the brackets and everything. I'm almost 100% sure that the schema is as I posted earlier in the thread, I'm just not sure of the data types, order, etc.

p.s. Try this experiment: create catalog.xml. Put something like

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="Shift_JIS"?>
<RandomXML>Woohoo random!</RandomXML>
<EndItem>mobileCustom</EndItem>

Point mobileCustom at it and hit "Download Catalog". It will download this fine and not complain because it's IGNORING "RandomXML" tag.

Now try the same experiment but change RandomXML to "Item". It will throw an error!

If I had an armv4 disassembler I could figure this out in a second. :-/

Ok.
You could try this armv4 disassembler.

https://github.com/jsmolka/disarmv4t

Maybe I'll try strings command on the .exe file if I'm able to extract it from the ROM.

I also noticed that there is the "Size" (File Size) in the Mobile Custom after proceeding from Open Catalog. I think it indeed points to that .dat file or else it has to compute the size each time, which I think couldn't or wouldn't be done with a device with 64MB of RAM. But I don't know... maybe the OS already calculates it? haha

https://www.quora.com/Why-does-Windows-calculate-file-sizes-twice-Getting-properties-on-a-folder-calculates-its-size-the-first-time-then-deleting-the-folder-it-inefficiently-does-so-a-second-time-Why-not-leave-a-breadcrumb-file-of-the

-stingraze

Edited by stingraze 2023-08-27 12:16 AM

I ended up getting radare (https://github.com/radareorg/radare2/releases)! Seems pretty awesome.

I found this:

0x000185c0 hit5_0 .ItemModeExtend3Extend2Extend.
0x000185c8 hit5_1 .ModeExtend3Extend2Extend1Author.
0x000185d0 hit5_2 .Extend3Extend2Extend1AuthorURL\.

So that looks like Item, Mode, Extend3, Extend2, Extend1, Author, URL.

Cool. Nice work!

-stingraze

Update 8/27/2023 9:22AM JST: Running strings on the catMENU.exe produced these strings:



Edited by stingraze 2023-08-27 1:24 AM

The strings with all the W's and 0's are japanese messages from the dialogs etc

I think there is a function called "XML_Parse" that parses the XML.
If we could look into that, maybe more clues.

-stingraze

Edited by stingraze 2023-08-27 2:35 AM

OK a few advances here-

1. After studying the disassembly, I have determined that the format is actually this:

<Item type="" uid="" size="" date="" href="" />

2. Part of the earlier confusion is because in the middle of reading the catalog.xml, the program jumps over to read in the .dat file so linked from the "href" tag; so just looking at the strings you see a jumble of the two! Also note that there is no "EndItem" tag in the catalog.xml as I previously believed, that is just part of the .dat file reading process. In fact there is nothing but <Item... as indicated above.

3. Here is a working-ish example:

<Item type="CAB" uid="3001" size="673000" date="2003-05-28" href="http://thenzerogames.com/Default/CatalogData/AppInst/3001.dat" />

I say "ish" because even though mobileCustom correctly parses this file now with no errors, it's still not actually showing anything in the catalog after it loads which leads me to....

4. This copy of the mobilecustom archive appears to be from an older or newer version of mobileCustom than the executable that I have. I say that because the executable appears to be looking for a "EULA" tag and a file called "EULA.eul" in the dat file, but what we have is a "URL" tag pointed at a "License.txt". So I think we're going to have to fix that somehow, by updating the .dat files and changing the name of the license file, maybe.

Edit: I have confirmed that with the above format, mobileCustom is now pulling the .dat file from my webserver instead of just the single file it's pointed to as before! Progress.

Edited by thenzero 2023-08-27 5:43 AM

The thought just occurred to me that type is probably supposed to be AppInst but I'll check further tomorrow.

Confirmed. Type should be "AppInst" or "DeskTheme". Looking in the \Download Data folder, I'm now seeing your original folder structure being re-created! Must be where this archival copy came from in the first place.

p.s. Gonna try just copying your folders into that Download Data folder to see if mobileCustom will pick it up that way...

Edited by thenzero 2023-08-27 7:16 PM

Haha that did work :-D