From Guides

The Beginner's Guide to Seem Editing

The basics of understanding what seems are and how to change them.

By Danation

I realize that this is a bit of a long guide, but seem editing is one of the most important modding methods. I've tried to put in everything I wish I knew when I was new.

What is seem editing?

Well, if you've read a few things about modding, seem editing may sound confusing. Honestly, though, it just comes down to this: Seems contain settings. It's a like a big wall of light switches. All of the "hex" and "offsets" and "bits" you hear about are just telling you which switch to flip.

Your phone has tens of thousands of settings, so in order to organize them, the phone developers put them into groups of bytes, which we interpret as tables of hexadecimal values (like I said, it's like a wall of switches.) We call these tables “seems” (I think SEEM is an acronym, but I can't find what they all stand for.)

In any case, once you understand the purpose of specific values, you can then make exciting changes to customize your phone.

There are a variety of programs and methods that effectively change values in seems. Use which ever one you're most comfortable with. As long as it get the job done right, it doesn't matter what method you used.

However, some ways are easier than others, so I'm going to show you the cleanest, easiest, and simplest way I've found to seem edit. This example's specifics are for the v3re or the v3r, but the method itself will work for any P2k or P2k_05 phone.

In the following example, a v3re (or v3r) user can edit a seem that will allow them to store text messages on the phone, rather than on the SIM card (allowing you to store 2-5 times as many texts.)

Programs needed:

The latest P2kTools (I currently use P2kTools v3.0.8.864)

Getting Started

Make sure you followed the Get Connected guide

Make sure you back up your phone with Flash & Backup 3 (use this guide.)

Seem editing with P2kTools

Connect your phone and open P2kTools. Click on the Seem editor. Type in the seem you want to edit. Today we're looking at seem 0032_0001. Click “Load from phone” and then click “Save to file” (so you have a backup in case something goes wrong.)

Then find the offset (which means the location) of the value you need to change.

Offsets: An offset is a location, that's all there is to it. In P2kTools, they are listed like coordinates in Battleship (A1,B4, etc.) except the values are in hexadecimal format. It's really easy: offset 41 is row 4, column 1. In this example, we need offset 9A (row 9 column A. In P2kTools, it looks funny, but you should be able to figure it out: The row would be 0x090 and the column would be x0A.)

Click on the offset. Notice at the bottom of the screen there are a bunch of check boxes. Those are the individual bits of the offset. Often seem edits only require one bit being changed. In our example, we need Seem 0032_0001 offset 9A bit 1 set to 1 (“checked”) instead of 0 (“unchecked.”) So go ahead and click the check box under the number 1.

Click "Save to phone." Then click the picture of the phone and select “Restart phone.” Congratulations, you just edited a seem!

To finish the mod, open your phone and go to the "Message Center." Push the menu button and select "Inbox Setup." Select "Text Msg Setup." It will say “Store to:SIM” (Our seem edit allowed us to see this menu item.) Push your middle button and select “Phone.” Your text messages will now be stored to your phone.

Direct Hex Editing: As a side note (for future seem editing,) if you wanted to change the entire value of an offset, not just one bit, it's simple: Click on the offset (to select it.) Then double click it (to select the contents), hit the backspace button (to clear the previous value,) and type in the desired hex value. Then save it to the phone and restart the phone, as described above.

Text values stored in seems

Programs needed:

   P2kTools

   XVI32

Sometimes text such as filepaths and/or words are stored in seems. To view and edit the text, you will need the program XVI32. Open P2kTools and save the desired seem to your computer. Then open it in XVI32. The text values for the offsets are shown on the right side of the screen. To change them, click on the right screen section and type. Whatever is currently there will be replaced by what you're typing.

You can modify it to be whatever you need it to be (for ideas, see these two guides: “Remapping Keys for the v3re” and "Change cl.gif on the Go”) Then click save. In P2kTools, click Load from File, select the file you just edited, save it to your phone, and restart your phone.

Regular seem editing with XVI32

Many people prefer to edit seems with XVI32, not with P2kTools. The process is similar.

One major difference lies in finding offsets. To find the offset you need to hit Ctrl-g on your keyboard. Select the "hexadecimal" radio button rather than the "decimal" one and type in the hex offset you're looking for. Click ok and it will take you to that offset.

Direct Hex Editing: To change the entire value of the offset, called "direct hex editing," select the offset on the left screen section and type in the desired value (it will overwrite what was there.)

Bit Editing: To change specific bits, click the Tools menu and select Bit Manipulation.

When you're finished, click "Save." Open up P2kTools, type in the desired seem, click Load from File, find the file you just edited, click Save to Phone, and restart your phone.

If you have any questions, feel free to PM me or post in the V3re forum. If you have found an error in this guide or feel that something needs to be changed, I would prefer it if you PM me before editing this guide.

Guarantee and Disclaimer: I have used all of the methods and modifications listed above, and my guarantee is that they work on my phone exactly how I described. It is my belief that the above modifications will work on any Motorola RAZR v3re, but I cannot guarantee that they will work on all phones, even phones of the previously mentioned model. I cannot take any responsibility for any damage caused by phone modification, even if it is by my instruction. Modify your phone at your own risk. Please make sure to back up your phone and do careful research before making any modifications.

--Danation 00:53, 30 November 2008 (CST)