Instructions to create and load EVO splash screen

Instructions to create and load EVO splash screen - Android Themes

I know there are other methods out there for achieving the same thing. And I have touched on a few "after thoughts" in the actual process of loading the image to the phone. If these can be confirmed, please feel free to update these instructions. After browsing many, many pages in forum after forum I was unsuccessful in finding anything detailed enough from start to finish. So I decided to write this up!
These instructions work for anyone who rooted using the "UnrEVOked" method such as that given at HTCEvoHacks.com. I have not tested these instructions with any other root method out there.
With a bit of practice, this method can be mastered and done in about 20 minutes (depending on how long you spend creating your splash image in PhotoShop)
For the sake of these instructions, all references and instructions dealing with PhotoShop are assuming you are using PhotoShop CS5. Commands may be slightly different on older versions of PhotoShop, so it may take a few extra clicks to find what you're looking for.
1. You can download custom boot images from the web, or create your own in PhotoShop using ANY sort of photo, graphics, text, or combination. You MUST make sure that the image size is set as the same for the EVO's screen resolution (480x800). For this reason, I would double check any image file you try to use prior to converting it for use with your phone.
2. Open your image file in Photoshop and make whatever tweaks or enhancements you like. Remember to "flatten" the image prior to saving it out if you have multiple layers in your file. You can use the next step to re-size the image first if you like, but depending on your current settings in PS it should not matter.
3. Right click the file window (the one that contains your image) and set the "Image Size" settings to a width of 480, and the height to 800. These measurements MUST be in pixels as well. If you have the "Constrain Proportions" box checked, you may not be able to tweak these individually without affecting the other. So uncheck that box and change the size settings. Click ok to close the box and the image will re-size within Photoshop.
4. After you have finished creating your custom image, flattening the image, and resizing it to fit on your phone's screen, it is time to save the file. Navigate to the "file" menu and click "save as". Here, you can choose where to save it, name it, and choose the file format. It's probably easier to go ahead and save it as "splash" now, so that you wont have to rename it later. Either way, this file MUST be named "splash" when we are in the final stages. Save it as the "BMP" format, and you will get a pop-up window for the BMP options. "File Format" should be set to Windows... and choose the depth option of 24 Bit. The "compress" and "Flip row order" boxes should be unchecked, and you do not need to go into any advanced settings. Once you have saved the file, You can close PhotoShop.
Now the File needs to be converted from the BMP format into an IMG file. This is so that the boot loader in your phone will see it when you flash it to your phone.
There are a few conversion tools out there, but I have found Splash Screen Creator to be the EASIEST way to convert the file with a few clicks.
The link to download this small program is here... http://www.addictivetips.com/?attachment_id=43073 ... and it is FREE!!! (I did not create this program)
1. Download the .zip package from the link above.
2. Extract the files. I found that creating a folder on my desktop to secure these files (and these files only) to be less of a headache.
3. After you have extracted the files, you are ready to convert your "splash.bmp" file. You MUST move this file into the same directory that you unzipped the Splash Screen Creator to. It will only find the bmp file in the same directory, which is why having its own folder is easier. Move your "splash.bmp" file to the same folder and open "RUN THIS ONE". This will open the program in a command prompt.
4. Choose option 1 to convert your existing .bmp file into the required .img file. The next option will ask if you would like to flash the file to your phone. This option is not necessary for these instructions, but I have read of others being successful. You can try this option, but if it fails, go on to the remaining steps.
5. Go ahead and close the program by pressing another key to exit. You should see your new "Splash.img" file in this same directory. Rename this as "splash1.img"
Now that I think of it, naming the BMP file to "splash1" prior to converting to the .img format may solve the error when trying to flash the file to the phone
within Splash Screen Creator. The img file MUST be name "splash1" prior to updating it in the boot loader in the next steps so it makes sense that the program would come up with an error at this point. I have not tested this theory at this time, but you are welcome to. If someone does test this, please update these instructions
to save from many unnecessary steps below!
Your next steps require access to your original "PC36IMG.zip" file that you used during your root process. If you do not have your original "PC36IMG.zip" file, you
can try to download one here... http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=8913849&postcount=156 ... I have not tested this file yet, but worth a shot if you dont have it.
1. Make a COPY of your "PC36IMG.zip" file and move it to your directory where you have worked with the custom splash files. This saves from getting confused between files and flashing the wrong one to your phone. You're also making a copy so that your original "PC36IMG.zip" file is NOT altered.
2. DO NOT unzip the file! Simply drag your "splash1.img" file over to your zipped "PC36IMG.zip" folder and copy it in there. If you get a prompt to overwrite an existing "splash" file, go ahead. Afterall, you are working with a copy of the PC36IMG.zip.
3. After you have added the "splash1.img" file into the "PC36IMG.zip" folder, you can now move the zipped folder over to your sd card. Make sure that it is the ONLY copy on your sd card, and that you have not placed it in any other directories. BOOT LOADER WILL NOT FIND IT IF IT IS IN ANOTHER FOLDER!!!
4. AT THIS POINT YOU WANT TO BE SURE YOU HAVE BACKED UP YOUR ROM!!!! YOU WILL LOSE YOUR CURRENT ROM AND DATA AFTER THE NEXT STEP!!!!
5. Reboot the phone into Boot loader by holding the volume down button and pressing power. The boot loader will find your "PC36IMG.zip" and ask you if you want to update. Press the volume up button to say YES! Grab a coffee, chug a beer, or take a piss, cause this step takes a few minutes.
6. Once the boot loader has finished it's update, reboot your phone. it will now display your new custom splash screen!!! (but you're not done yet)
Because you updated your "PC36IMG.zip" files in the boot loader, you have in effect re-flashed the stock rom (rooted of course) back to your phone.
Allow a few minutes for your phone to boot up, log into your g-mail account (so that you have access to the market), and download Rom Manager (or your favorite backup manager), and restore back to your rom!
Like I said before, I have only done this on the HTC EVO that has been rooted using UnrEVOked through the process explained on HTCEVOHacks.com. I have no idea if this process will work with other configurations, and I accept no responsibility for the outcome of your actions!!!!

cool bro thanks

Thanks very helpful

Related

[HOW TO] Manuals for creating a theme

In the following 3 manuals, you will be shown/told how too create a theme.
Thank you to the authors. Most of all to Stericson for he is the first to figure out HOW to create a theme for your phones.
Thank You Again
Restore your G1 back to it's original theme and fonts!

To create themes, or to edit themes to your liking, you will need a working knowledge of android, adb, how to resign apk's, knowledge of your own O/S.
Things you will need:
The rom you intent to create a theme for... Now a days there are so many to choose from so none of this will be rom specific.
You will also want to get the latest and greatest bootloader installed on your phone and to HIGHLY suggest everyone trying your theme to install it as well.
You'll find this on Android Development
You will also need the latest SDK and java:
Link to Java: http://java.sun.com/javase/downloads/index.jsp
Downloading SDK: http://code.google.com/android/intro/installing.html
You can also use any zipping archive to extract files from and to the update.zips. I believe there are links below to some of these.
Very Important!
You do not usually need to resign every apk that you change! Usually you only need to resign the update.zip! However there may be times that you may need to resign an apk. So dont sign the apks...if you have problems with the update then try to resign the apks.
JesusFreke was kind enough to build a custom signing tool for me that would allow me to right click on an apk and resign it from there. I am posting it here for others to use as well. Note that this is a courtesy of JF, so thank him for it. I cannot stress how much time this has saved me and will save you.
Automatic version!
Do not use this to sign APK files in Vista or windows 7! It will cause your theme to loop phones when placed on a device. Only use this to sign update files if your using those O/S's
Note, this will not work if your SDK or the path that you place this in has any spaces in the dir name!
An Example of this is c:\users\Nikki and Stephen\sdk\tools
Try to put the SDK and the contents of the zip in a dir where the names are all together and not like the one above.
I have made a batch file that will automate the entire process of setting up to use the signing tool made by JF. This batch file will set the CLASSPATH, set the PATH, install the registries, and will even allow you to sign files manually if you wish. I plan on building onto this batch file to include other things. However, for the moment, it will only include what you see here.
In order to use this you should have downloaded the sdk already. Simply extract all of the files into the tools dir of your sdk, and run autosign.bat follow the instructions and go through the options one by one, starting with 1 working through 4. You can however, put the contents of this zip anywhere on your computer and it will work. It is just better to put them into the tools dir of your SDK. Especially for the consideration of future versions.
Autosign .zip: https://docs.google.com/leaf?id=0B5...MTEyMi00NzI4LWJkMDQtZTUzNjBjMTZlMWNj&hl=en_US
Want to set up the signing tool manually?
Before using this you need to know how to set this up:
Now you will need to add the tools dir of your sdk to the environment variable CLASSPATH.
FOR XP:
Right click on My Computer click properties, then choose the tab that says advanced.
Click the button that says environmental variables.
Go to system variables find the one that says CLASSPATH
double click it
go to the end of variable value.
There should be a semicolon ; at the end, type in the path to the testsign.jar located in the tools directory of your SDK
for example the path to my testsign.jar was c:\sdk\android-sdk-windows-1.0_r1\tools\testsign.jar
If CLASSPATH is not in your system variables then create it.
Secondly, Find the system variable called PATH and add to the end of it, the full path to your sdk directory.
For example, mine was c:\sdk\android-sdk-windows-1.0_r2\tools
FOR VISTA:
Open a cmd prompt.
Replace THEEXACTPATHTO-TESTSIGN with the path to the dir that holds the file testsign.jar.
Type:
echo %CLASSPATH%
If it is returns %CLASSPATH%
Type the following:
set CLASSPATH=THEXACTPATHTO-TESTSIGN\testsign.jar
If it comes back with something else then
Type the following:
set CLASSPATH=%CLASSPATH%;.;THEXACTPATHTO-TESTSIGN\testsign.jar
For Example, when I type this it looks like:
set CLASSPATH=%CLASSPATH%;.;c:\Android\SDK\tools\tests ign.jar
To set the PATH
Replace THEEXACTPATHTO-SDK with the path to the tools dir of your SDK.
Now type:
set PATH=%PATH%;.;THEXACTPATHTO-SDK\tools
For example, when I type this out it looks like this:
path-%PATH%;.;c:\Android\SDK\tools
Now through doing this you have done two things, first off you have made the resigning process extremely easy, secondly you will not have to cd to the tools dir of the sdk to use adb or any other tool in the sdk.
Signing the Files:
Now right click the reg file that you extracted and choose to install it, or merge.
Now, right click an apk, do you see an option that says ResignApk? That's how you will resign your .apks and .zips.
When you choose it a cmd window should open for a few seconds and then close. the file you signed will be overwritten with the new resigned file.
If you find the right click menu not working for some reason you can type the following in cmd to sign your files: java testsign whateverfiletosign
General Info:
You will need to be specific in addressing what version your theme is for, RC8, RC30, or ADP1. Make sure you test the update.zip before you release it.
Every .apk contains the images relating to itself. However, every apk has the ability to use the images in framework-res.apk. The images for every apk is located inside of itself. To find these images open up the apk, you can rename it to .zip or open it with an archiver of your choice, winrar, winace, etc. Then after opening the apk open the folder called res and inside of that there are folders that are named Drawable, drawable-land, drawable-port, etc. This is where the images are stored.
There are some things you cannot edit unless you rebuild the entire apk from source, which we will not go into here.(another tutorial, another time) Just know that at this time you SHOULD NOT edit, or even open images with the extension .9.png doing so will corrupt the .9.png and cause the image to distort. You can however compile the images with eclipse.
Editing .9.png's - http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=487001
Be aware, messing with .9.png's can cause problems if they are not done correctly.
If your going to build your own update.zip from scratch:
To simplify this process for you though, most rom devs provide a theme template with their roms now. You can also download someone elses theme and use their files, since they are resigned already. It may also be easier to see what files do what and go where since they have already been edited and are easy to point out.
Now, your ready to start changing things up.
You will now need to open the apk, which you can do by adding .zip after .apk, effectively changing it to a zip. or you can use your favorite archive opener.
I dont use the archive process because it can lead to very aggravating problems such as things not getting signed correctly and have heard reports of it interfering with the signing tool above. Anyways I just add zip and it works great for me.
For those renaming the .apk's to .zips
Note that if you are using windows you will need to unhide known file extension types. you can also use your favorite archiver such as winrar, winzip, etc.
See here to unhide known file extension types for Xp: http://www.mediacollege.com/microsof...on-change.html
See here to unhide file extension types for Vista: http://maximumpcguides.com/windows-v...ile-extension/
Tips:
After opening the apk copy the folder called res.
Go to your desktop, or wherever, create a new folder called Images, or whatever.
Open the folder, paste the res in there.
Now you can see what the files look like without opening them, by using thumbnails to see what they are.
Btw, you may also want to add -frame, or -launcher, to the end of the res folder you copy over to keep them separated from others.
Almost Done
So now your theme is done and your ready to make an update.zip for others to install your theme.
Update script
The update script is in a Unix format, while you do not need linux you must save it in a Unix format. I suggest using Textpad to edit this script and saving it in the Unix format.
Link to Textpad: ftp://download.textpad.com/pub/textpad5.2/txpeng520.exe
XML Edits
I have provided some additional support for the process of hex editing xml files to change things like text color, size, and more things not easily changeable.
You can find this thread here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=479019
Final Notes:

Editing market apps
With market apps, if you make changes you usually need to make sure you dont resign their apk because you will overwrite their signature keys with the test keys.
If anyone has any questions please try asking for help in this thread before emailing me for help Usually I will respond to questions in this forum.
I hope this Tutorial has been helpful. I will add on to it as needed.
Any questions can be directed to me at [email protected]
Stericson
Links of interest:
Using ADB: http://code.google.com/android/reference/adb.html

How To Theme Develop for Windows For Dummies in 10 easy steps (( no your really not a dummy its just an easy name for a how to lol))
well i'm going to give this a shot in the dark on how to create this how to be as easy as possible
1st
download these files if you don't already have them
JAVA
http://java.sun.com/javase/downloads/index.jsp
download the JDK
Winrar
http://rarlabs.com/rar/wrar380.exe
and Auto-sign.zip
http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?uwzjjydnm2r
2nd
Download my included Auto-sign files.
what it contains.
the Test keys file..
and an update.zip file
and a batch file i created called auto-sign to make things easier to sign
3rd
after you have downloaded my Auto-sign
then you extract it to where ever you want.
4th.
use the update.zip included if your a Beginner it includes my windows 7 theme .. i edit so many files that it's easier to tell what does what and whats goiing to go where. now open that zip file DON'T EXTRACT just open it using winrar..
5th
When it is open go to Framework.. and open Framework-res.apk
NOW IF THE APK. POPS UP AND SAYS IT CANT OPEN BLAH BLAH SELECT A PROGRAM AND THEN SELECT WINRAR.
6th
Once you open Framework-res.apk KEEP THIS WINDOW AND UPDATE.ZIP WINDOW OPEN!!
then just extract the whole Res Folder to where ever you like this makes it easier to see what files you wish to edit.. most of the files will be in the folder called Drawable
7th
open up your favorite photo editor .. i use photoshop along with 90% of the people who Graphic Design... Edit your pictures Remember a file with a .9 can mess up your phone so edit those carefully.. and save what ever pictures you have
8th
Now drag the whole Res Folder .. back into the Framework-res.apk
now your update.zip file is going to say files has been changed to framework-res blah blah do you wish to save it . click yes .. now your framework has been updated you can close everything out
9th
go to the Auto-sign folder.. and open Auto-sign this will now sign your update.zip .. and rename it to update_sign.zip .. now just delete your old update.zip.. rename update_signed.zip to update.zip
10th
put it on the root of your memory card.. reset using green call + menu + end
then hold home and end .. until the recovery mode shows up .. then press Alt+S and hope your device isn't bricked
Disclaimers
I'm not responsible if your brick your device.. but i will help to the best of my abilty and if i can't help i'm sure XDA will
i don't sign every file in my update.zip i just sign update.zip .. and hey it works lol..
For ADP or RC 8 versions .. just download your favortie ADP theme or RC 8
put it in the Auto-sign folder.. and rename it to update.zip if it isn't already then just follow my steps

ToDo:
1. Explain about the files that make up themes
a. Explain update.zip and folder structure
b. Explain about pngs and apks
2. Explain the tools
a. WinRaR
b. Auto-sign
c. Java JRE and JDK
d. Draw9patch tool
e. Editing tool
3. Setting up your phone for themes
a. Choosing which JF firmware to use
b. Using the Eng Boot Loader and why
4. Explain the process to get the files
5. Explain which files to edit
6. Explain how to import modified files
7. Explain about auto-sign and how to use it - I am building a program that will making signing files easier. check it out as i build it! here
1. When you download a theme it comes in the form of an update.zip file. Basically the same as the full update looks, but it is a watered down version. All of the operating system, boot loader and radio files have been removed.
a. If you check the file size of JF’s RC30 1.31 and compare it to any of the themes, you will notice that the theme file is about a 3rd the size. JF’s update.zip contains data, META-INF and system folders it also contains a boot.img file. Where as a theme update.zip contains app, framework and META-INF folders. The theme update.zip only contains the folders and files that are necessary for changing the Android theme. If you were to dig deeper into JF’s RC30 1.31 update.zip you will find the folders that are in the theme’s update.zip. For example, double click the system folder and you will see 11 folders and 2 files. The only ones we are concerned about are app and framework. So when you flash a theme it doesn’t bother rewriting all of the OS and boot loader, but only the app and framework folders.
b. Inside the app and framework folders are apk files, apk files are like zip files or containers. There are many folders and files inside the update.zip but we are only going to cover a few for now.
(app folder) - This folder contains all of the apps that will be installed during an update or wipe. You will need to extract only the apks of the apps you wish to change the icon and graphics for.
(Launcher.apk) - This file is in the app folder and contains the menu launcher tab, clock, Google search widget, wallpapers and a few other things.
(framework) - This folder contains framework-res.apk, this is where the bulk of your editing will take place.
When you open a apk you will see:
(assets) - This will contain images, sounds and other content used by the programs. Not always used!
(META-INF) - This contains the encryption data for the update.zip.
(res) - This folder contains all of the png and xml files. The xml files are used to format the UI, these can be used to change the locations of things on the screen. They need to be unencrypted first.
Depending on the apk there can be a bunch of folders under the res folder but we will only concentrate on the drawable ones.
-drawable - The png files in this folder are displayed wheather the keyboard is open or closed. The majority of the files are here.
-drawable-land - These are the files that will show when the keyboard is open. There won't be as many files in these folders. Most of the time the programmer will re-organize the layout with an xml file.
Basically the interface of Android is a bunch of pictures; the programmer links these to certain actions. As someone making themes you do not have to worry about any programming, in the future when people start unlocking the xml files to change the way things look. Then you will have to learn some basic programming, but for now we will only talk about changing the picture files.
2. The tools you use for creating themes are very basic and you might already have 3 out of 4 installed.
a. WinRaR is a must have for everyone, it allows you to create and open compressed files (i.e. Zips, RaRs and about 25 other file types) It would best if you associate WinRaR with zips and apks, the zips can be associated during the install of WinRaR. To associate apks you can right click on an apk and choose “Open With…” make sure to check off the box that says “Always use this program to open this kind of file”
b. Auto-Sign was released by Dave da illest 1, to make signing the apks and update.zip an easier process. Before you can flash an update or theme the phone checks to make sure the update.zip is signed by google or by JesusFreake. I will explain this more in Section 3.
c. Android apps are built on Java, hence the need for JRE and JDK, You will not be working directly with these apps but part of the signing process uses Java. You can get both files here: http://java.sun.com/javase/downloads/index.jsp you will want to grab the first and second downloads.
d. The draw9Patch tool comes with the Android SDK, it is located in the tools folder. This tool is used to edit stretchable images. There is still a lot of research that needs to be done on using this tool. So for now let’s just say do not touch any files with .9.png as an extension. Dave da illest 1 has changed a few of these .9.png files without issue so maybe we can get him to explain them better. I have also edited some of these files but it made some of the images stretch weirdly.
e. I am not sure what other photo editors you can use, but everyone I have spoken to about modding the theme uses Adobe Photoshop. I am sure you can use other programs. But I am not aware of any at the time of this writing.
3. Before changing the theme on your phone you will need to gain root access which is explain here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=442480
a. As you look through all of the different themes, you will notice some say they are for RC30, RC8 or ADP1.
i. RC30 – Is the US version
ii. RC8 – is the UK version
iii. ADP1 – Stands for Android Developers Phone and was produced for programmers. This version is completely unlocked and does not have any of T-Mobile’s software or locks.
b. So your phone is rooted and you’re wondering why you should have the engineering boot loader. Well one reason is because of the 3 Androids on skateboards, the other reason is if your phone bricks during a flash you can fully recover your OS with the fastboot option. More about this can be found here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=455860
4. You have a few options here, you can either get the files from RC30 update.zip, one of the other theme’s update.zip or you can use the themes template at the bottom of this thread. All 3 methods you will need to open the update.zip go into the framework folder (if you get it from RC30 you will need to go into system\framework) Extract the framework-res.apk to a folder of your choosing. Most of your editing will take place on the files from this apk. When you are looking at these files in Windows explorer it is best to change the view to Thumbnails and look at all of the images and see if you can figure out where they are placed on your phone’s screen.
::TIP1:: Your best bet is to create a Themes folder on your desktop or in My Documents, somewhere simple to find. You will be dealing with a lot of files and it can get very confusing quickly.
The other file you will want to change is Launcher.apk; this file is in the app folder and contains the menu launcher tab, clock, Google search widget, wallpapers and some other things.
::TIP2:: When you open Launcher.apk from inside the update.zip file, WinRaR may default to a temp folder...(i.e. C:\Documents and Settings\bobbyd\Local Settings\Temp\Rar$DI71.579\framework-res) double check the location of where WinRaR wants to extract the files, this is how I ended up flashing the original files after spending a decent amount of time photoshopping.
5. Now the only files you will want to edit are png image files. There are also xml files, they are used to format the UI, you can change the locations of things on the screen but the xmls need to be unencrypted before you can edit them. I have not done this process yet and will update more information later.
6. Importing the files is very simple, as long as you know the layout of the update.zip. Once you have edited all of the files you plan to or just want to test to see how your theme looks. Open the update.zip in WinRaR and go to the location of the files (i.e. Say you changed the 3G icons, you would go to the framework folder and double click on framework-res.apk. This will open another WinRaR window, open Windows Explorer where your edited files are and hold the Ctrl key while clicking the files you want to copy. Now drag them onto the open WinRaR window from the framework-res.apk. When it asks to replace the files choose “Yes” or Yes to All”. Close that WinRaR window and the one from update.zip will tell you “Files have changed would you like to save this file now” click “Yes” again and now your update.zip will contain your modified files.
7. Download and install Stericson's auto-signing tool here.
I have been slacking on this guide, I will update soon again.

[HOW TO] Easy steps for creating a theme
I know there are a million and 1 walkthroughs on here for creating themes but after doing it for a while I have really refined my process and made it as easy as possible. Im just hoping to clear up some of the confusion so after you know how to sign your files you will know how to finish making them into your own custom theme.
First you need to get signing setup properly. This topic is covered in many places and my recommendation is to use the Stericson walkthrough or the Stericson auto-signing setup tool. Once you can click on any zip or apk file and get the option to Resign it you are ready to proceed with making your own theme.
1. Download an archive manager that allows you to open archives inside of archives without creating new windows. My recommendation for this is the application 7-zip. It is tiny, free, easy to use, and on all my computers it has replaced winzip and winrar.
2. Now take a blank theme from Stericson to use as your starting point, in my case I use the ADP1.1h version since I am building for JFv1.43 which uses ADP1.1h this will be the minimum needed to change your theme and will contain all the original artwork.
3. Open the update.zip and inside are typically 3 files, framework, system or app, and META-INF. Leave META-INF alone, you wont be touching that. Inside framework and system/app is where the files are that you can change. In this case we will open update.zip, then double click framework and then double click framework-res.apk (this is where the next archive will open inside the same window, your life just got a little easier).
4. Now you are looking at assets, META-INF, res, and a couple other random files, the resources.arsc can be edited but I will show you that in another tutorial. Now open up the folder res and you will see the treasure we are searching for, folders with the name drawable. All of the folders that start with the name drawable are where we can edit the themes, this includes drawable, drawable-land, drawable-port, and drawable-finger.
5. Now drag and drop the folders drawable and drawable-land onto the desktop. Once they are on the desktop you can edit the .png files in those folders until you are ready to put your theme together.
6. Now in your still open window at \framework\framework-res.apk\res\ you will open the drawable folders one at a time and drag and drop your edited files into the archive, only dragging and dropping the files you edited and not just everything inside the folder.
7. Once you have your new images copied into the archive in the correct place you can just hit the close button or browse up a couple directories and find other files to edit. Any time you edit an apk and browse out of it or close it you will be prompted to update it in the archive by 7-zip (this is my secret shortcut), always press ok.
8. Now you have a freshly created theme ready to install, all you have to do is right click, chose to Resign the file, and once its done you can copy it to your SDcard, make sure its named update.zip, and flash your new theme.
Its literally that easy! And you use this same technique in the system/app folder to edit the apk files for the individual apps on the phone. Explore around in the update.zip and see what you can find, I only told you about the major items but there is plenty more to find and change. You can always copy a folder out of the archive and if you cant edit anything just toss it but if you can find something to edit, do so and throw it back in the archive. You guys now have all the info I had when I started plus all my tricks to making that process 10x easier.

I Just Want To Change My Clock. I want everything else stock. Sorry for asking but when i search so much comes up. I know its really simple to do. If anyone can just point me in the right direction or give me a quick how to that would me AMAZING!

Read:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=482205

notifi
jut want to change notification to white on statusbar

Before I tried to setup the autosign tool, when I double clicked on zip files it opened them up, which was how I wanted it. After trying to setup the autosign, when I double click on zip files nothing happens, except a java command prompt window pops up, same happens when I right click and hit resign zip, how can I fix this?
Edit: I reinstalled Java which fixed my issue

i got this tryin to update
E:No digest for framework-res.apk
i edited someone else theme, did not edit no .9 file.. i right click on the update.zip and resigned it. what went wrong?
EDIT: nevermind i got it.. i followed the one for dummies, guess i am dumb lol

What the image file for the tab on the bottom of the screen called? I couldn't find it searchin throguh the framework-res.apk

its in launcher.apk. Check in drawable portrait and drawable landscape.
Stericson

thanks i should of explore more before posting

Hi,
I've got 99% of my theme done although I can't find where the bottom of the notification bar is and the white bit where the notifications would be.
I've done a little picture below to help me explain.
Bottom notification bar is the arrow.
The white bit where the notifications would be is the hatched.
{
"lightbox_close": "Close",
"lightbox_next": "Next",
"lightbox_previous": "Previous",
"lightbox_error": "The requested content cannot be loaded. Please try again later.",
"lightbox_start_slideshow": "Start slideshow",
"lightbox_stop_slideshow": "Stop slideshow",
"lightbox_full_screen": "Full screen",
"lightbox_thumbnails": "Thumbnails",
"lightbox_download": "Download",
"lightbox_share": "Share",
"lightbox_zoom": "Zoom",
"lightbox_new_window": "New window",
"lightbox_toggle_sidebar": "Toggle sidebar"
}
Thanks for help in advance.

Also could someone tell me how to put icons in for well know apps from the market. At the moment I have put the full apk in the update and change the icon. But this increases the theme size. Thanks again!

NO DIGEST? Failed?
what does it mean when I try to flash the new update.zip and it fails because it says NO DIGEST? What does this mean? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

parmenti said:
what does it mean when I try to flash the new update.zip and it fails because it says NO DIGEST? What does this mean? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
means it hasn't been properly resigned.

thanks, that's what I thought. Can't seem to get it right. Does the image, the apk, and the zip all have to be resigned? Or just one or the other? THanks for your help.

parmenti said:
thanks, that's what I thought. Can't seem to get it right. Does the image, the apk, and the zip all have to be resigned? Or just one or the other? THanks for your help.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just the update.zip needs to be resigned.

[Ref] NBH Files for Splash Screens

I followed all the instructions on how to create but when I create the NBH file I cannot find it all my computer where I placed it...Then I search for it then I find it but the flash utility wont open the file and I can only see .nb files in the folder where I place everything.
Also what program should I use to resize my pictures to 400x640
And I've read many post on this so did get mad at me..... Because you wouldn't want to see me mad.... Hulk SMASH!!!!!!!!!!

Might as well delete this since nobody will give any pointers.....and I meant to put help and not [ref]

hopefully someone will respond cause I actually have the same problem...hahaha..put the file on my network --- somewhere --- and now can't recall where...haha

Sparkz914 said:
I followed all the instructions on how to create but when I create the NBH file I cannot find it all my computer where I placed it...Then I search for it then I find it but the flash utility wont open the file and I can only see .nb files in the folder where I place everything.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
are you trying to change the bootsplash (1st screen) or the regular (2nd screen, non animated one)??? if your just trying to change the regular splash screen you dont need to convert to .nbh...just change the name to welcomehead.192.png...and put in windows...
Also what program should I use to resize my pictures to 400x640
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i use gimp...great program and free!!
*hope this helps*

Thank you so very much JDM, but i'm trying to change the first screen when you first turn the phone on when it shows your rom and radio info....I've been able to make and find the .nbh files but I am lost on how to use PatchSplash so that the bottom portion of the screen isn't black....Any help would be Very Helpful from anyone, so much that I may let someone buy me dinner lol but no fooling around on the first date

jdmsleepr said:
are you trying to change the bootsplash (1st screen) or the regular (2nd screen, non animated one)??? if your just trying to change the regular splash screen you dont need to convert to .nbh...just change the name to welcomehead.192.png...and put in windows...
i use gimp...great program and free!!
*hope this helps*
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm actually trying to do both. I simply lost the software required to do the first one.....

Here are the programs to do the first boot screen

JDM i got that program Gimp but when I try to scale the photo to 480x640 but it changes it to its own dimensions which is like 480x247....Any insight on how to make it the right size....Thanks in advance

Sparkz914 said:
Here are the programs to do the first boot screen
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
kewl thanks...

Ok JDM I found out how to size the picture but im still lost on how to use patchsplash, now when I flash the image to my phone its fuzzy and distorted making it unviewable(if thats even a word) and 10% of the screen on the bottom is black.....?

TechnoHippie said:
kewl thanks...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No problem man, and you'll also need this

Sparkz914 said:
Ok JDM I found out how to size the picture but im still lost on how to use patchsplash, now when I flash the image to my phone its fuzzy and distorted making it unviewable(if thats even a word) and 10% of the screen on the bottom is black.....?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ok i have figured out how to use the patchsplash program...if you want i can make the file for you and send it back...

JDM that would be cool man
and do you think you could give me a brief description on how to use patchsplash
Which ever one is easier for you to create...thanks in advance
and if possible can you PM me the final product or can i give you my email

Ok JDM i've sort of learned how to use Patchsplash but not fully...this is where the program is located on my computer
Users\Seymore Cake\Documents\Phone ****\Splash Screens\
What should I put following this or what steps should I do next
Sorry for being some what of a pain for all the questions I ask of you

once your in the folder where patchsplash.exe is...
type: patchsplash.exe R example.nb output.nb
i made the .nbh for ya and tested...good to go...

JDM your the man

Maybe this will help....
Code:
[b]Download the attached zip file.
Extract it to (wherever you like) then follow the instructions below.[/b]
==============================================================================
Step by Step instructions on how to create your custom splash screen
for the Diamond and Rafael windows mobile.
==============================================================================
Step 1: Create your image
-
Choose, find or create the image you would like to have as your splash screen.
Use your image editor (photoshop is my choice) to adjust your image.
The size of the picture needed for the splash is 640x480 72dpi.
Save it as (24 Bit) (bmp) in folder (2-bmp to rsb to bmp).
goto Step 2.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Step 2: Convert your image from *.bmp to *.rsb
-
Run rsbbmp.exe in folder (2-bmp to rsb to bmp).
Click on [Add Files] and choose your bmp.
Click on [Convert All]
Your image has now been cloned and converted to rsb format.
Move or copy your rsb file to folder (3-rsb to nb).
goto Step 3.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Step 3: Convert your image from *.rsb to *.nb
-
Run Splash-RSB Converter.exe in folder (3-rsb to nb)
Choose VGA (640x480) then press [Convert].
Choose your rsb and save it in folder (4-patchsplashv0.1) click on [Done]
goto Step 4.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Step 4: Patch your image file.
-
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Remember, patchsplash.exe is a command line tool. If you run the program by double
clicking on it a cmd window will open showing you examples of the command line you
will need to type to patch your *.nb that is all.
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
First, open the folder (4-patchsplashv0.1) in Windows file explorer. Copy the
address found at the top of the explorer window.
example: D:\PDA\HTC\splash\4-patchsplashv0.1
On Windows, Start Menu->Run... Click on Run then paste the address you copied
from win explorer then type the rest of the line needed for patching.
My example:
D:\PDA\HTC\splash\4-patchsplashv0.1\patchsplash R YOURFILENAME.nb YOURFILENAME_P.nb
\patchsplash R YOURFILENAME.nb YOURFILENAME_P.nb -> Rafael
\patchsplash D YOURFILENAME.nb YOURFILENAME_P.nb -> Diamond
Press enter and you're done!
A cmd.exe window will pop up telling you the process is complete.
REMEMBER
The first part of my example "D:\PDA\HTC\splash\4-patchsplashv0.1\"
is what I copied from win explorer.
"I" then move the new "_P.nb" file to the folder (5-nb to nbh) so not to
confuse it with the unpatched file.
goto Step 5.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Step 5: Create the *.nbh for flashing
-
Run NBHutil.exe in the (5-nb to nbh) folder.
Note: (the NBHUtil.xml file has to be in the same folder as NBHUtil.exe).
On first tab 'Build NBH', in the 'Target Device' list, choose "Diamond" or "Rafael"
located ad the bottom of the list.
On the right side, you have the "NBH Items". Click on the [...] button for "Splash".
An "Open" window pops up. Locate and select the .nb file that you just created.
Press [Build NBH!]
Type a file name and save!
This will create a .nbh file in the location you chosen. ((5-nb to nbh) folder by default)
goto Step 6.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Step 6: Flash your NEW Splash Screen!!!
-
I personally like to create a new folder for my newly created .nbh files.
In each folder I have my (*.nbh) and a copy of (RaphaelCustomRUU.exe).
In this way I can quickly flash which ever splash screen I want without any extra effort.
Create a folder. Place your new .nbh and a copy of RaphaelCustomRUU.exe in the folder.
Run RaphaelCustomRUU.exe, follow the instructions and you will have a new splash screen!
Enjoy! ;)
HueMann
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

thanks HueMann very helpfull

cheers!

[HOW TO] Make your own bootscreen and create signed zip

Here's a tutorial for those wanting to make their own (animated) bootscreen for the HTC Hero. Decided to write it after I'd seen a couple of posts from people asking about this, and some encouragement from yet another. I've tried to write this in greatest detail possible, so everyone can have a go at doing this.
Tools
It's really quite simple, if you have the proper tools for the job:
SignAPK.jar + testkey.pk8 + testkey.x509.pem
SignAPK.cmd (batch file written by me to facilitate signapk.jar use)
Graphics editor that can work with animated GIF files (Adobe Photoshop or Fireworks recommended)
a plain text editor capable of editing UNIX files (if you're unsure about this, use the free, and open source Notepad++. You can get the Installer.exe here.)
These aren't required, but make things easier:
Android SDK Tools installed (working adb.exe at the very least)
Hero's stock bootscreen to start from)
I have attached two stock Hero bootscreens (one with and one without the HTC startup sound), as well a zip file with the signapk files.
Setting up SignAPK
First, make sure you have Java installed. If not go to www.java.com to install it.
Second, I recommend to unzip the SignAPK_xda.zip file to C:\SignAPK.
Lastly, add the signapk folder to your PATH environment variable:
[*]Go to Control Panel, System
[*]Click on "Advanced" (or "Advanced System Settings")
[*]Click the button "Environment Variables..."
[*]Locate the PATH variable under "User Variables" (or "System variables" if you want to use SignAPK under other user accounts) and double-click it to edit
[*]In the "Variable Value" field, at the end of the line, type a semi-colon and the path to the signapk files ;C:\SignAPK
[*]You could also add the path to your java.exe file here if you have troubles with running signapk.
A note on signapk.CMD
I wrote this batch file so it's possible to sign a zip file from a command line with the least amount of typing (saves time and less chance of a typo). It will check for java.exe and if it doesn't find it in your %PATH% it will let you know and try anyway. It will also prompt you to overwrite or not, if it finds the signed destination file already exists. Open in notepad to find out more.
Contents of bootscreen_stock.zip
You can delete the following three files, as they are created by the signing process:
META-INF\CERT.RSA
META-INF\CERT.SF
META-INF\MANIFEST.MF
This file contains the command to copy the files to the SYSTEM: volume on your device - you never need to edit this:
META-INF\com\google\android\update-script
This file tells Android how and which files to display - open in Notepad++:
system\media\bootscreen\boot_animation.xml
Then we have the actual bootscreen files:
system\media\bootscreen\boot1.gif - shown first, and plays only once
system\media\bootscreen\boot2.gif - shown after first ends, and loops forever (i.e. until end of boot sequence)
system\media\bootscreen\boot_bg.gif - optional file, this file is used as background during entire boot sequence if the 2 aforementioned files are smaller than Hero's screen
system\media\bootscreen\boot.mp3 - optional sound file, played once during boot
boot_animation.xml file contents
Code:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<!--
* Copyright (C) 2008 HTC Inc.
*
-->
[COLOR="Red"]<!-- For new bootup animation
<BootConfiguration>
<BootAnimation
image="/system/media/bootscreen/boot.gif"
audio="/system/media/bootscreen/boot.mp3"
image2="/system/media/bootscreen/boot2.gif" (optional)
image3="/system/media/bootscreen/boot3.gif" (optional)
screenX="100" (optional)
screenY="130" (optional)
image_bg = "/system/media/bootscreen/boot_bg.gif" (optional)
useAudio="1" // 1: true ; 0:false (optional)
/>
</BootConfiguration>
-->
[/COLOR]
[COLOR="Green"]<!-- For cropped version -->
<BootConfiguration>
<BootAnimation
image="/system/media/bootscreen/boot.gif"
image2="/system/media/bootscreen/boot2.gif"
image3="/system/media/bootscreen/boot2.gif"
loopimage="/system/media/bootscreen/boot2.gif"
image_bg="/system/media/bootscreen/boot_bg.gif"
audio="/system/media/bootscreen/boot.mp3"
screenX="10"
screenY="180"
useAudio="1"
/>
</BootConfiguration>
[/COLOR]
[COLOR="Red"]<!-- For full screen version -->
<!--BootConfiguration>
<BootAnimation
image="/system/media/bootscreen/boot.gif"
audio="/system/media/bootscreen/boot.mp3"
useAudio="1"
/>
</BootConfiguration-->[/COLOR]
This is the file included with the stock bootscreen. This file actually contains 3(!) configurations, however the first and third (red-colored) have been commented out. In short, edit the middle (green-colored) "BootConfiguration" section.
Delete the line that begins with image3= as you won't need it.
If you do not wish to include a startup sound, delete lines starting with:
audio=
useaudio=
Alternatively, simply set useAudio=0
If you boot1.gif and boot2.gif files are both 320x480 pixels, delete lines starting with:
image_bg=
screenX=
screenY=
Alternatively, simply set screenX=0 and screenY=0
If you delete the audio= and image_bg= lines, you can ofcourse delete the files audio.mp3 and image_bg.gif to keep the update.zip as small as possible.
ScreenX and ScreenY are coordinates in pixels, that tell Android where to place the GIF files on the screen. Top-left of the screen would be ScreenX=0 and ScreenY=0; bottom-right would be ScreenX=320 and ScreenY=480. This means that if you make a GIF file that is 200 px wide and 180px high and you wish to center this on the screen, you'd use ScreenX=60 and ScreenY=150 (i.e. ScreenX=320-200=120/2=60 and ScreenY=480-180=300/2=150). If your GIF files are exactly 320x480 pixels, you can set ScreenX and ScreenY both to 0, or leave those two lines out entirely.
Creating a GIF animation from scratch
(boot1.gif and boot2.gif)
Using Adobe Photoshop CS4 (cannot speak for older versions, I think you'd need the now discontinued Adobe ImageReady instead):
Create a layer for each frame of your animation (yes, I didn't say creating an animation from scratch wouldn't be a lot of work)
Click Window -> Animation to show the Animation panel
Click the panel menu (top right icon in panel) and choose "Make Frames from Layers"
If the frames are loaded in reverse from what you intended, choose "Reverse Frames" from the Animation panel menu
From the panel menu, choose "Optimize Animation" and UNtick both "Bounding Box" and "Redundant Pixel Removal"
Finally, go to File -> Save for Web & Devices, UNtick "Transparency" and play with some of the options to reduce file size.
To (re-)open an animated GIF file in Photoshop CS4, go to File -> Import -> Video Frames to Layers and type in the file name box *.gif then hit the Enter key so you can see GIF files, browse to it, select and click Load.
Using Adobe Fireworks CS4:
Make sure the "States" panel is visible, via Window -> States
Create a new "State" for each frame of your animation
To set frame delays, or basically set how long each frame will be shown for, in 100ths of a second, select one or more states and right-click, choose "Properties"
Make sure you do not use transparency (this gave me problems)
To save, go to File -> Save As, set "Save as Type" to "Animated GIF (*.gif)" and "click Options"
Do check "Dither" for better looking gradients and transitions
Play with the options on the first tab to reduce file size
On the "Animation" tab, UNcheck "Crop each state" (don't do this and get some crazy glitchy results in your bootscreen)
Creating a GIF animation by converting a G1 bootscreen animation to Hero format
(boot1.gif and boot2.gif)
You can also import a bunch of PNG files as layers (and subsequently frames) from, for example, a G1 bootscreen.
The fastest way in my experience is simply using Fireworks' File -> Open dialog, make sure all files are in one directory, select them all, do check the "Open as Animation" checkbox and click "Open". This will open each file into its own state in one big file. Then use instructions above to set frame delays and proceed to save as animated GIF.
You can also do it in Photoshop, but this method is very slow, via File -> Scripts -> Load Files into Stack (UNtick "Create Smart Object after loading layers"). Then follow the steps above to create an animated GIF file.
Compiling your bootscreen
If you have the files you want, it's time to zip them and then sign the zip file.
Make a folder "mybootscreen" and unzip the stock bootscreen into that, so it looks like this:
META-INF\CERT.RSA
META-INF\CERT.SF
META-INF\MANIFEST.MF
META-INF\com\google\android\update-script
system\media\bootscreen\boot_animation.xml
system\media\bootscreen\boot1.gif
system\media\bootscreen\boot2.gif
system\media\bootscreen\boot_bg.gif
system\media\bootscreen\boot.mp3
Delete those first 3 files, edit the XML file as needed and replace the GIF files with your own (see my explanations above).
Use for example 7-zip to select the 2 folders META-INF and system and click "Add" (to create new archive)
Make sure you set "Archive Format" to ZIP
Open a Command Prompt window (click Start, Run, type cmd and click OK, or if you have Vista or Windows 7, click Start, type cmd and hit Enter key)
Use this command to go to the directory with your zip file: CD /D C:\path\to\your\file
Type signapk mybootscreen.zip and hit Enter key
Barring any typo's you should now have a file named mybootscreen_signed.zip. You can copy that to the root of your SDCARD and flash it via your recovery image, or use DroidExplorer's flash function.
If this tutorial was of any use to you, or you have ideas to make it better, please reply and let me know. Thanks for reading!
EDIT (2010-04-11): updated SignApk_xda_v20100411.zip. Fixed a couple of forgotten quotes in signapk.cmd that made signing files with spaces in their filenames impossible. New zipfile attached.

wooooo THANKS!
THANKS A LOT! I have made the animated gifs and the sound, but I was insure how to sign and create the signed zip. I'll be trying this ASAP when Ive finished work. Ill keep you posted....
Thanks again m8.

Great guide, I have made my own bootscreen for the Villain rom, but for some reason, when i flash it to my hero, on boot, it plays less than a second of it, ad then messes up completely and displays random static like on an old tv, and then just a black screen for the remainder of the boot time
Help!! my gifs are not that big, i made sure of that (only slightly more than the stock) and i made them in photoshop CS4 with the animations panel, and followed your instructions to the letter.
Gifs are bellow, please help, as i would really like to release these, as i think they are really nice.
Boot1
{
"lightbox_close": "Close",
"lightbox_next": "Next",
"lightbox_previous": "Previous",
"lightbox_error": "The requested content cannot be loaded. Please try again later.",
"lightbox_start_slideshow": "Start slideshow",
"lightbox_stop_slideshow": "Stop slideshow",
"lightbox_full_screen": "Full screen",
"lightbox_thumbnails": "Thumbnails",
"lightbox_download": "Download",
"lightbox_share": "Share",
"lightbox_zoom": "Zoom",
"lightbox_new_window": "New window",
"lightbox_toggle_sidebar": "Toggle sidebar"
}
Boot2

Hey, very nice work! Try the zip I've attached. I think it came out great.
It boils down to a few small problems. Here are some steps I took to correct them:
Imported your files into PS as I described in the tutorial using "Video frames to Layers"
Edit -> Convert to Profile -> sRGB IEC61966-2.1 (UNcheck "Flatten Image")
For just boot1.gif in Animation Panel, bottom left, set looping to "Once"
For just boot1.gif via Image -> Image Size... -> Width:320px, Height:480px, Resolution:72dpi, Check Resample Image and set to "Bicubic"
File -> Save for Web & Devices, with these settings: Selective, Diffusion, UNcheck transparency, UNcheck interlaced, Colors:64 (as this is a grayscale animation, it looks fine), Dither:100%, Matte:none, Web snap:0%, Lossy:0, Metadata:none.
The end result is bigger files, but they work. The XML was fine.

Great! thanks a lot for your help, and your original guide, I might do a few more boot screens now as it looks really good (in my opinion)

mattyyey said:
THANKS A LOT! I have made the animated gifs and the sound, but I was insure how to sign and create the signed zip. I'll be trying this ASAP when Ive finished work. Ill keep you posted....
Thanks again m8.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How'd it come out? Would love to see your results!

Really interessant, this is exactly what I was looking for! Thanks for this How-To!
For the signing process I haven't use your "signapk.cmd" (since I'm a linux user)But I have a question: testkey.x509.pem & testkey.pk8 you provied are only to sign app for the Hero? or is it a standard Android singning process? I mean... where are those key from?
For now i've just "resign" the stockbootscreen for "educational purpose", soon I'll try to create something, I hope
EDIT: Okay I was able to resign the original one correctly since I was able to flash it, BUT my bootscreen is still this nexus one animated. So maybe I don't understand wich bootscreen we actually modifing. I know this is not the really first one (this one is fine: spend one day to find that we need a custom SPL to change my ex horrible T-mobile first bootscreen to a Hero one) So why can't I remove the nexus one coming with aHero ROM?
EDIT2: using
Code:
./adb pull /system/media/bootscreen/boot.gif ./Desktop
I get the right image... that mean the files are correctly flashed on my ROM but nothing change so that mean aHero is using a different path for the 2nd bootscreen ???
Thanks for any hint

carbonyle said:
Really interessant, this is exactly what I was looking for! Thanks for this How-To!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You're most welcome!
carbonyle said:
For the signing process I haven't use your "signapk.cmd" (since I'm a linux user)But I have a question: testkey.x509.pem & testkey.pk8 you provied are only to sign app for the Hero? or is it a standard Android singning process? I mean... where are those key from?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The signapk files (except signapk.cmd) came from a 5MB file named "AndroidMod.zip" that floats around the internet, so to speak. It also contains 3 img files, part of a tutorial I guess, which are not needed for signing. The testkey certificates were created by whomever made that zipfile. The credentials for those files are quite anonymous ("Android" and "[email protected]", etc), so they should be fine to use. You could use openssl to generate your own key files. I tried, and they generated okay, but zips signed with my own certificate wouldn't flash. Recovery (Amon RA) kept saying the files weren't signed. So if you figure out how to properly generate your own certificates, I'd love to hear it.
carbonyle said:
For now i've just "resign" the stockbootscreen for "educational purpose", soon I'll try to create something, I hope
EDIT: Okay I was able to resign the original one correctly since I was able to flash it, BUT my bootscreen is still this nexus one animated. So maybe I don't understand wich bootscreen we actually modifing. I know this is not the really first one (this one is fine: spend one day to find that we need a custom SPL to change my ex horrible T-mobile first bootscreen to a Hero one) So why can't I remove the nexus one coming with aHero ROM?
EDIT2: using
Code:
./adb pull /system/media/bootscreen/boot.gif ./Desktop
I get the right image... that mean the files are correctly flashed on my ROM but nothing change so that mean aHero is using a different path for the 2nd bootscreen ???
Thanks for any hint
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't know I'll download aHero and have a look.
EDIT: Okay, just had a quick look in "aHero07-signed.zip" and it appears Android 2.1 uses a different bootscreen format. Do this:
adb shell
cd /system/media
ls
Instead of a bootscreen directory you'll see a file "bootanimation.zip". Instead of 2 animated GIFs, it contains 2 directories. Each directory is an animation, with a bunch of PNG files for frames. A text file describes which dir is what animation (order of playback) and the delay between frames. If you want to convert a 1.5/1.6 bootscreen from GIFs to seperate PNGs for use in this new format, just open the GIF file in Photoshop (or GIMP I guess) as described and save each frame as a seperate file (Photoshop has a function or script for that, maybe GIMP does too).
Maybe you'll find more information in this thread. I got the Supernova bootscreen graphics (see my sig) from there, which I converted into a bootscreen for Cupcake.

Well, my experience from running 2.1, you can use the bootanimation.zip, or if you delete it and create the bootscreen folder, it also works.
I have the same problem though, when I load up my gif, using the old method, it looks like hells just got unleashed on the gif. Nothing in place, static, etc... I followed your tutorial, tried a couple things, nothing has been working so far...
EDIT: Nvm, found another program to remove the transparency, works now! Got bored, haven't seen any terminal style logins - this works great for my phone, the timing might be different for others though.
To get it working, just delete your bootanimation.zip and flash the zip as usual.
Boot1
Boot2
http://groups.google.com/group/admin-panel-dev/web/terminal_signed.zip

Great tutorial! And nice work that one is Warhawk
I have a problem. I made one by screen capturing some video. Converted it to .gif fine. I can play it in windows fine, but when flashing to android the image just gives a black screen (its only the gif area of the screen cos the animation is only 300x120.
I have provided the .gif above, if anyone can help.
Thanks

I went ahead and removed the transparency from the gif, it showed up on my Hero just fine when I zip/signed it.

Aaah Thanks so much buddy. I swear i tried that though (maybe i made a mistake)
Cheers so much!

I am getting an error after flashing. My installation aborts.
...
Verifying update package...
Installing update...
E:Can't find update script
Installation aborted.
...
Can you help??

quan_one said:
I am getting an error after flashing. My installation aborts.
...
Verifying update package...
Installing update...
E:Can't find update script
Installation aborted.
...
Can you help??
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Upload your update.zip. Some-one should be able to help.

Did you include the update-script to: \META-INF\com\google\android

Hey guys I created my own boot screen but I am failing to see why my gif will not display on my hero. I have created it from scratch being careful not to include any transparent images or layers but it still displays as a black screen. I am not sure what would cause my gif not to play on my phone other than a transparency issue.
Any help would be more than welcome.
(I am able to sign my zip and flash it no problem)
(edit: The image was my actual .gif but after upload it turn into a jpeg. I will host the file and upload from there.)
My stuff can be found here at mediafire : http://www.mediafire.com/?sharekey=43b651ad9cd91774e7c82ed4b8f0c380e53d1e35008d24d5d8c7c6998cb4ca21
.psd
signed zip
Thanks again!

rejectedkid said:
Hey guys I created my own boot screen but I am failing to see why my gif will not display on my hero. ...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You need to go into mybootanimation_signed.zip\system\media\bootscreen and edit your boot_animation.xml.
phaelox said:
...ScreenX and ScreenY are coordinates in pixels, that tell Android where to place the GIF files on the screen. Top-left of the screen would be ScreenX=0 and ScreenY=0; bottom-right would be ScreenX=320 and ScreenY=480. This means that if you make a GIF file that is 200 px wide and 180px high and you wish to center this on the screen, you'd use ScreenX=60 and ScreenY=150 (i.e. ScreenX=320-200=120/2=60 and ScreenY=480-180=300/2=150). If your GIF files are exactly 320x480 pixels, you can set ScreenX and ScreenY both to 0, or leave those two lines out entirely...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The difficult thing is that you have two .gifs that are diff sizes so not too sure what to do.
On the one I made, my .gifs are both the same resolution so the value I set for ScreenX and ScreenY work for both.
Look at some other people's .xml files and hope you find someone elses that also uses two different resolution .gifs.

ah. thanks for your input
Sent from my HERO200 using the XDA mobile application powered by Tapatalk

And just because there are no transparent images that you can see or know you put in, doesn't mean that they aren't in there. For some reason, even if I untick Transparent layers in PS, I still get them. I went and got Animation Shop 3, optimized the gif after making it in PS, then re-wrote the file, and everything works fine.
Hope everything is working

Hi !
I have 2 questions :
First one :
To ddotpatel : Your bootscreen is really nice ! Is it working on any 2.1 rom or do I have to change it ? On which rom did you create it ?
And the second one, that tuto is working on 1.5 and 2.1 roms ? Because I heard that it was different to make an 1.5 bootscreen and an 2.1 one...
Thanks for your answers

[HOW TO] Do it yourself guide for theme editing

To get started, read the posts below by tsachi.
Then give this a glance - Do it yourself guide for theme editing
More Resources:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=982300
https://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=0AcdxIJRSH9ypZGZzc2pxNDlfMjdnazk4OHNxZA&hl=en
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=916814
Info on how to edit the items in notification bar:
+ http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=11158662&postcount=3
All credit belongs to the original authors. I am simply gathering all this information to make it easier.
For any help or support, post in this thread and we will try to help you the best we can.

Expanded Information
Introduction
The link in OP gives you instructions on how to replace images, but it lacks information for the inexperienced themer. Here is some background information and some more details on the steps before and after you insert new images in your framework.
System Icons and background images sit in two main files: framework-res.apk and twframework-res.apk. Within these files there is a res directory, and under that you have the folders containing data. Google has guidelines on icon design, although themers usually ignore those in order to get a different from stock look. One thing you would notice is that there are a lot of repeated icons. For example, framework-res.apk has both drawable-hdpi and drawable-hdpi-v4. The first is there for compatibility with older APIs (anroid 1.6 or older) so I am not sure why it is still there, but if you remove it your phone will not like it.
Each application has its own res folder where the launcher icon and other visuals are kept. There are, however, a lot of applications that reference the framework.apk for visuals. An example is the dialer that calls on some background images from both framework-res and twframework-res.
There are 2 types of images that you would encounter. Normal icons and images are non-scalable. They take a certain amount of real estate on the phone, and that’s it. Example of these are the battery levels and notification icons. The other type is the .9 images. These are images that are going to be stretched to fit whatever space is needed. An example of that are the menu backgrounds. The .9 images have a special format. The one pixel border around them defines how they stretch and how content is displayed in them. It is highly recommended to follow the standards in order to get repeatable and consistent look. Android SDK has a tool to help with .9 file design: draw9patch.bat.
Important note: The .9 files show the borders ONLY when de-compiled. If you grab a file from the framework directly you will not see that line. It is therefore required to compile the .9 files after you make them. You can use apk manager or ThemePro-JAVA to recompile the framework apk after modifying the files.
Definitions for which image is used where sit in the xml files under the drawable folder. These are compiled xml files, you can’t edit them with a text editor. For this introduction I will not go into modifying xml files. Each apk also has a resources file that describes what is in there. If you add, remove, or rename files in the apk you will have discrepancy with the resource file and the theme will not work (more likely you will be stuck in an infinite bootup loop)
Before you start:
Warning: frameworks are highly linked with other files. You can’t just take a framework from one ROM and put it in another. Always keep a backup of the original files ready to be installed (see below), otherwise you may need to re-flash the ROM. Frameworks are also sensitive to compression. DO NOT use winzip to handle the files, it can cause problems with the final apk file.
There are several things you would need before you start
A rooted phone
SDK installed on the computer
A zip handling software other than winzip (winRAR and 7-zip are both good options)
Auto-sign (http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=471634) or signing tool (http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=473580)
Create a backup
Grab the framewor
k-res.apk and twframework-res.apk from your phone. They are located in the system/framework folder. You would need them as a starting point for your modification and you need them for a backup
Create a clockwork installation file of the original files (see post below)
Name the installation framework-original.zip, or something else that would be easily recognized in
case of trouble, and then copy it to your internal sd card.
After you are done modifying files
Create an installation file (see post below)
Give the file a name that is easy to recognize and copy it to your internal sd card
Reboot into recovery
Select install zip from card -> choose zip from sdcard
Select the installation of the new framework and confirm the installation
Reboot
If you are stuck in an infinite boot-up cycle
Take the battery out
Using 3-key combination boot into recovery (up-down volume + power. Hold until the AT&T screen cycles back, then release)
Install your original framework backup and reboot

Creating clockwork installation
After you have finished modifying the files, the best way to get them to the phone is through clockwork installation. Make sure that you have the original update.zip file on the sdcard. If you have a rooted phone, you probably have that already, but if not you can install ROM manager from the market and run it to get the update in place.
To create the installation file follow these steps:
Create a folder \framework
Place your modified framework files in that folder
Back in the main folder, create the following folder tree: \META-INF\com\google\android
In the android folder create a text file named update-script
WARNING: Do not name your framework file "update.zip"! You need both the original update.zip and the framework one for the installation.
Note: Although copying of the framework files may be possible, it is highly risky. In my experience installation from clockwork is the easiest

Puzzle Lock Screen Mod
Here is information for people who want to modify the look of the puzzle lock screen. It is only the list of images to replace, not the coding to change functionality.
The files sit in framework-res.apk under res\drawable-hdpi. The files are zzz_unlock_puzzle...
puzzle pieces
zzz_unlock_puzzle_noti_icon_call.png : Missed call piece in the floating state
zzz_unlock_puzzle_noti_icon_call_fit.png : Missed call when it gets to the unlock spot
zzz_unlock_puzzle_noti_icon_unlock.png : General unlock floating
zzz_unlock_puzzle_noti_icon_unlock_fit.png : General unlock at the unlock spot
Same for messages and voicemail.
Background
zzz_unlock_puzzle_bg.png : The image that shows on the lock screen. This should be semi-transparent if you want to show the regular screen background
zzz_unlock_puzzle_bg_pressed.png : Image that shows while dragging the puzzle pieces. Usually a slight modification of the regular background
zzz_unlock_puzzle_bg_land.png : The landscape version
Music player
zzz_unlock_disk... and zzz_unlock_ctr_pr... are the files related to the player.
zzz_unlock_ctr_bg.9.png is the background for the music controls
Text background
Overlaying the unlock image is text. That text can have background that is more opaque than the rest of the unlock screen.
The attached image shows the three regions. These regions also apply to the glass unlock.
Note: These are .9 files and should be done right to ensure correct stretching and text boundries.
Other files
There are some extra background files in the frameworks but I haven't been able to find where they go. There are also some files to control the clock numbers zzz_unlock_clock_...

Working with APK manager
What is APK manager?
APK manager is a tool for decompiling / recompiling apk files. If you want to change anything other than images, it is a must have.
The basics
The basic flow when using APK manager is
Place apk file in place-apk-here-for-modding folder
run the Script.bat file
Type 22 and select the file you want to work with
Type 9 and wait for it to finish decompiling
Modify the items you want modified (they will be in the projects folder)
type 11 to recompile
Sounds easy? It is, and it isn't. There are several places where things can go wrong. Here are a few of the things to watch for:
Bad starting file
This is mostly true for framework files that went through several cycles of modifications. The framework is forgiving to having extra items, or having bad .9 images (see post above about .9 images). Some people may have replaced images without recompiling the framework in a way that breaks internal links. If this happens you will very likely see error messages during the decompile stage. If that happens check the log file and correct things. One of the most common errors is .9 files replaced with regular images. See this post for how to solve this.
Things may not always be "fixable", so the best approach is to get the original framework that is the base for the one you need. Having a clean start can save a lot of headaches later on.
Overwriting your changes
When you recompile, assuming everything worked ok, you are prompted if this is a system file. Most likely you want to say yes. This ensures that the original signature is copied over. You will also be prompted if you want to copy some files over from the original. BE CAREFUL!. There are people who say you reduce the risk of errors if you copy things that didn't change. Personally, if I changed anything that required recompilation (mostly added new images or modified xml files) I always choose not to copy extra files. If you do choose to copy some files over, pay attention to the next step. Do not hit any key until you remove the modified files. You will need to go to the newly created "keep" folder (in the top apk manager directory) and remove any image that you changed and any xml that you modified. Also, if you modified xml files to add new images you need to delete "resources.arsc".
Failed rebuild
APK manager is trying to minimize work by only compiling newly changed items. If you built an apk and realized you have an error, or want to add more changes, I recommend removing the cached build. Go to the projects folder and delete the "build" folder. I've had cases where the new items didn't catch.
Removed items
I highly recommend to leave icons that you do not need. I've had occasions where I removed things that I thought had no more reference, but then ended with endless boot-loops. For example, if you modify the xml to only show 6 out of the 101 battery charge animations, leave the remaining icons in your project.
If you're stuck
Look at the log file. That would usually give you an answer. Also, if you are working on a recent GB ROM you probably need to get the beta 5 version. Version 4.9 will have problems compiling the newer files.

Thanks for the info!!! I have been wanting to play with themes for a while. Now I gots the knowledge.
sent from my Cap using the app.

Thanks for this post...I'll be looking into this for sure.

tsachi said:
After you have finished modifying the files, the best way to get them to the phone is through clockwork installation. Make sure that you have the original update.zip file on the sdcard. If you have a rooted phone, you probably have that already, but if not you can install ROM manager from the market and run it to get the update in place.
To create the installation file follow these steps:
Create a folder \framework
Place your modified framework files in that folder
Back in the main folder, create the following folder tree: \META-INF\com\google\android
In the android folder create a text file named update-script
WARNING: Do not name your framework file "update.zip"! You need both the original update.zip and the framework one for the installation.
Note: Although copying of the framework files may be possible, it is highly risky. In my experience installation from clockwork is the easiest
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for this.. Question In #4 above the text file in the android folder. Is that an empty file? no extension? Thanks for your help.

TorqueWrench001 said:
Thanks for this.. Question In #4 above the text file in the android folder. Is that an empty file? no extension? Thanks for your help.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The file has no extension but it isn't empty. It contains the installation instructions. Typical instructions would be:
copy_dir PACKAGE:framework SYSTEM:framework
which copies everything in the frameworks folder in the zip file to the system/framework folder on the phone
Sent from a captivate running phoenix using XDA app

https://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=0AcdxIJRSH9ypZGZzc2pxNDlfMjdnazk4OHNxZA&hl=en
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=916814
Good info

Thanks, been wanting to play with themes for a while now!!!!!

This needs a bump for all those requesting themes to be made.

This needs to be a sticky. I detailed guide is just what was needed. I been wanting to play around with themes but always end up doing something stupid so it never works. Now I have some more knowledge and hopefully can avoid that mistake.

Thank you, one of the links has the info I need to fix my text color issue in my notification/menu window!
Sent from a phone using an app.

Why it's not pinned it's beyond me. We have a thread pinned for must have apps that aren't even must have apps, but not this.

That was do to some how me missing this thread for the post few months. It is corrected now. Stuck

Since the thread is getting more life, I just added info on lock screen (fourth post)
Sent from my captivate running the latest firefly

Resorce dump
Well now that this is not going to fall to the depths of page 500, ill unload some rubbish into it.
http://android.modaco.com/content/zte-blade-themes-and-design-customisation/328510/guide-theme-editing-and-related-things/
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=9066440&postcount=1
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=593932
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=695701
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=8105110&postcount=2
http://developerlife.com/tutorials/?p=309
http://www.droidforums.net/forum/team-inversion-conversion/116419-so-you-want-edit-xmls-more-adb-apk-manager-how-basics.html
http://www.colorschemer.com/online.html
http://www.colorsontheweb.com/colorwizard.asp
Edit: I purposefully did not include descriptions in the links. If you dont know what your doing reading all but the last two links in there entirety will help get you on your way.

whiteguypl said:
Well now that this is not going to fall to the depths of page 500, ill unload some rubbish into it.
http://android.modaco.com/content/zte-blade-themes-and-design-customisation/328510/guide-theme-editing-and-related-things/
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=9066440&postcount=1
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=593932
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=695701
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=8105110&postcount=2
http://developerlife.com/tutorials/?p=309
http://www.droidforums.net/forum/team-inversion-conversion/116419-so-you-want-edit-xmls-more-adb-apk-manager-how-basics.html
http://www.colorschemer.com/online.html
http://www.colorsontheweb.com/colorwizard.asp
Edit: I purposefully did not include descriptions in the links. If you dont know what your doing reading all but the last two links in there entirety will help get you on your way.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Very nice, I will add these to OP with details about each link.

I'm quite happy that this has been pinned finally. Now to get to work. I haven't decided on which ROM I want to do, or even if I wanna port another theme or make my own. SO MANY CHOICES!!

Boot Sounds?

I'm on 2 different AHD. 1 has CM 10.1 RC2/4.2.2 & the other has CM 10.2/4.3. I got the same custom boot animation on both. Its the red umbrella. Any way to add sound?
Sent from my MB886 using xda premium

cmdru1980 said:
I'm on 2 different AHD. 1 has CM 10.1 RC2/4.2.2 & the other has CM 10.2/4.3. I got the same custom boot animation on both. Its the red umbrella. Any way to add sound?
Sent from my MB886 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(Credit Goes to Infantry667)
The apps:
First you will need a couple apps. You will need absolute system, root explorer and file converter. You can get them from the android market, just do a search for them. They're not free but if you know anything about root you probably already have root explorer and maybe even absolute system, but you will need file converter by ice cold apps.
The programs:
Again if you know anything or a decent amount about root you probably already have these programs but if not then download them. You will need 7Zip (preferably 7Zip) because as far as I know it is one of the only if not the only program that can zip files correctly WITHOUT compression which is mandatory because if there is any compression applied to the bootanimatiom.zip file OT WILL NOT WORK! You will also need either GVIM or Editor++ in order to properly edit the desc.txt file in the bootanimation.zip which we all know is what makes the boot animation work and if that is not configured correctly then, well, you're gonna be throwing things.
The method:
1.
Find the boot animation you want and download it using absolute system or from whatever source, whether it be from a forum thread or whatever. If you download it from a source other than absolute system you have to make sure before applying it you have to place it on the root of your sd card and make sure it is not named bootanimation.zip if there are other boot animations on your sd card because if they are named the same, obviously, they will overwrite eachother so name them however you want.
2.
Find the sound you want to use, it can be any sound file as long as it's short enough (or not) to play completely on boot. Download it, place it in your sd card and open the file converter app. Use file converter to find the file and once you've found and selected it select to convert it to .ogg. It MUST be converted to .ogg or it WILL NOT work. Once it is converted find the converted version ("sound".ogg or "whatever you named it".ogg) and use root explorer to move it to /sytem/media and leave it there for now.
3.
Plug your phone in to your computer, make sure USB debugging is enabled, and put your phone into USB mass storage mode once your phone is connected. Open up the files from your sd card on your computer and find the boot animation .zip you are going to change and move it to your computer. Next open up 7Zip and find the boot animation .zip file you just moved. Select the file and extract it to wherever you want to on your computer. Once you have extracted the .zip files with 7Zip go to the extracted files on your computer.
Note: (This next part will save the edited version as the orginal version so if you want to make a backup before you edit it just rename however you want or copy it into a separate folder named desc backup.)
4.
Right click on the extracted desc.txt file from the boot animation amd right click on it. Once you right click you will see an option that says either "edit with Editor++" or "edit with VIM" depending on which program you decided on (I prefer Editor++). Select the option and it will open up the desc.txt in your editor of choice. There may be a lost of guidelines in the desc.txt file for editing parts of the desc.txt but this is usually only in stock boot animations. Decide where you want the sound file to play and comment in the sound file you want to use by adding a line under the part you choose it to play at by typing "s 'sound'.ogg" DO NOT type what I wrote verbatim, the name 'sound' is just to give an example. Here is an example of a desc.txt file that has been edited to have sound:
(The red part is the sound line)
Quote:
# 540 wide, 960 tall 10 frames per second
540 960 10
# p means we're defining a part
# first number is repeat count, 0 means infinite
# second number is delay in frames before performing the next part
# so if you are playing 15 frames a second 15 would be... one second
# string defines the directory to load files from
# files will be loaded in order but names don't matter
# s defines a sound for a part
# sounds will be loaded from /system/media
# oggs with loop points will loop automatically
# only one sound will play at a time
# timing is driven by the part, not the sounds
# if you want no sound, leave blank
# droid
p 1 0 01_droid
s Fusion.ogg
# fusion
p 1 0 02_fusion
# mobility
p 1 0 03_mobility
# loop
p 0 0 04_loop
Notice the name of the sound in the desc.txt file is the same as the one I want to use. I hate to sound like I'm trying to make you feel stupid, which I am most definitely not, I just want to make sure this is detailed enough for anyone to follow.
4. Continued:
Once you have commented in the sound line, and you can add as many as you want just make sure you read the guidelines in the example desc.txt file above, save the file and exit your editor.
5. Open 7Zip and find the extracted boot animation files again with the edited desc.txt file. Make sure that the only files showing up in 7Zip are the boot animation files you extracted including the original desc.txt file that was edited and only that edited one, not the backup if you made one. In the menu bar on the 7Zip program click on "edit" and click on "select all" in the drop down menu that pops up. Next click "file" in the menu bar, move your cursor to the 7Zip option and when the drop down menu pops up click on "add to archive..." Then when the window pops up just change the name to whatever you want, select "zip" in the Archive format drop down menu, select "store" in the compression level drop down menu (you must select store or the boot animation .zip file you are creating will be compressed and as I mentioned above it won't work with compression) and then click "OK" to create the .zip file. Once it is created go ahead and move it onto the root of your sd card.
6. Unplug your phone from your computer and once the sd card is mounted open up absolute system. Go to boot animations and press menu and selct "boot animation editor." Press menu again and select "import from sd card." Find the boot animation you edited and slect it. Pres menu once it brings up the window with all the .png images and select "import" and when the window pops up prompting you to name the bootanimatiom just name it however you want and select "import." In order for the boot animation you edited to show up in your list of downloaded boot animations in absolute system you must first close absolute system and reopen it, go into boot animation editor again and it should be there. Select your edited boot animation and when it opens up the window with all the .png images press menu and select "desc.txt editor" which will open up the desc.txt file in absolute systems own editor. Scroll down untill you see the "s" line you commented in and press on it, this will open up a small window prompting you to choose the file from either /data/local or /system/media. Selct to choos from /system/media and there will be a list of .ogg files to choose from (if there are more than one you put in there). Select which one you want to play for that line. This is just to make sure the bootanimation.zip is using the right .ogg file and so your phone knows where to play it from on boot. You can change these if you want but you cannot comment lines in or out using absolute system. Once you have finished making changes or confirming the sound files press menu and select "save changes." Once it's done saving the changes press back.
NOTE: THIS NEXT PART IS VERY IMPORTANT AND MUST BE DONE EXACTLY AS I HAVE WRITTEN, IN THE EXACT SAME SEQUENCE I AM GIVING YOU.
7.Sorry for yelling hehe. Once absolute system is done saving the desc.txt file and you have pressed back to re-enter the .png images window in absolute system press home and open up root explorer. In root explorer go to /system/media where you placed your .ogg files and move them again into /system/media/audio/notifications and press home key again. Open absolute system and install the boot animation to /data/local by selecting change install location and selecting "/data/local" and reboot your phone. If the sound does not play, which it should, install the boot animation in BOTH /data/local AND /system/media using absolute system.
You should now have sound along with your boot animation. I hope you all have fun adding crazy sounds to your boot animations. The thanks button is always happy when you press it!

Rick1488 said:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(Credit Goes to Infantry667)
The apps:
First you will need a couple apps. You will need absolute system, root explorer and file converter. You can get them from the android market, just do a search for them. They're not free but if you know anything about root you probably already have root explorer and maybe even absolute system, but you will need file converter by ice cold apps.
The programs:
Again if you know anything or a decent amount about root you probably already have these programs but if not then download them. You will need 7Zip (preferably 7Zip) because as far as I know it is one of the only if not the only program that can zip files correctly WITHOUT compression which is mandatory because if there is any compression applied to the bootanimatiom.zip file OT WILL NOT WORK! You will also need either GVIM or Editor++ in order to properly edit the desc.txt file in the bootanimation.zip which we all know is what makes the boot animation work and if that is not configured correctly then, well, you're gonna be throwing things.
The method:
1.
Find the boot animation you want and download it using absolute system or from whatever source, whether it be from a forum thread or whatever. If you download it from a source other than absolute system you have to make sure before applying it you have to place it on the root of your sd card and make sure it is not named bootanimation.zip if there are other boot animations on your sd card because if they are named the same, obviously, they will overwrite eachother so name them however you want.
2.
Find the sound you want to use, it can be any sound file as long as it's short enough (or not) to play completely on boot. Download it, place it in your sd card and open the file converter app. Use file converter to find the file and once you've found and selected it select to convert it to .ogg. It MUST be converted to .ogg or it WILL NOT work. Once it is converted find the converted version ("sound".ogg or "whatever you named it".ogg) and use root explorer to move it to /sytem/media and leave it there for now.
3.
Plug your phone in to your computer, make sure USB debugging is enabled, and put your phone into USB mass storage mode once your phone is connected. Open up the files from your sd card on your computer and find the boot animation .zip you are going to change and move it to your computer. Next open up 7Zip and find the boot animation .zip file you just moved. Select the file and extract it to wherever you want to on your computer. Once you have extracted the .zip files with 7Zip go to the extracted files on your computer.
Note: (This next part will save the edited version as the orginal version so if you want to make a backup before you edit it just rename however you want or copy it into a separate folder named desc backup.)
4.
Right click on the extracted desc.txt file from the boot animation amd right click on it. Once you right click you will see an option that says either "edit with Editor++" or "edit with VIM" depending on which program you decided on (I prefer Editor++). Select the option and it will open up the desc.txt in your editor of choice. There may be a lost of guidelines in the desc.txt file for editing parts of the desc.txt but this is usually only in stock boot animations. Decide where you want the sound file to play and comment in the sound file you want to use by adding a line under the part you choose it to play at by typing "s 'sound'.ogg" DO NOT type what I wrote verbatim, the name 'sound' is just to give an example. Here is an example of a desc.txt file that has been edited to have sound:
(The red part is the sound line)
Quote:
# 540 wide, 960 tall 10 frames per second
540 960 10
# p means we're defining a part
# first number is repeat count, 0 means infinite
# second number is delay in frames before performing the next part
# so if you are playing 15 frames a second 15 would be... one second
# string defines the directory to load files from
# files will be loaded in order but names don't matter
# s defines a sound for a part
# sounds will be loaded from /system/media
# oggs with loop points will loop automatically
# only one sound will play at a time
# timing is driven by the part, not the sounds
# if you want no sound, leave blank
# droid
p 1 0 01_droid
s Fusion.ogg
# fusion
p 1 0 02_fusion
# mobility
p 1 0 03_mobility
# loop
p 0 0 04_loop
Notice the name of the sound in the desc.txt file is the same as the one I want to use. I hate to sound like I'm trying to make you feel stupid, which I am most definitely not, I just want to make sure this is detailed enough for anyone to follow.
4. Continued:
Once you have commented in the sound line, and you can add as many as you want just make sure you read the guidelines in the example desc.txt file above, save the file and exit your editor.
5. Open 7Zip and find the extracted boot animation files again with the edited desc.txt file. Make sure that the only files showing up in 7Zip are the boot animation files you extracted including the original desc.txt file that was edited and only that edited one, not the backup if you made one. In the menu bar on the 7Zip program click on "edit" and click on "select all" in the drop down menu that pops up. Next click "file" in the menu bar, move your cursor to the 7Zip option and when the drop down menu pops up click on "add to archive..." Then when the window pops up just change the name to whatever you want, select "zip" in the Archive format drop down menu, select "store" in the compression level drop down menu (you must select store or the boot animation .zip file you are creating will be compressed and as I mentioned above it won't work with compression) and then click "OK" to create the .zip file. Once it is created go ahead and move it onto the root of your sd card.
6. Unplug your phone from your computer and once the sd card is mounted open up absolute system. Go to boot animations and press menu and selct "boot animation editor." Press menu again and select "import from sd card." Find the boot animation you edited and slect it. Pres menu once it brings up the window with all the .png images and select "import" and when the window pops up prompting you to name the bootanimatiom just name it however you want and select "import." In order for the boot animation you edited to show up in your list of downloaded boot animations in absolute system you must first close absolute system and reopen it, go into boot animation editor again and it should be there. Select your edited boot animation and when it opens up the window with all the .png images press menu and select "desc.txt editor" which will open up the desc.txt file in absolute systems own editor. Scroll down untill you see the "s" line you commented in and press on it, this will open up a small window prompting you to choose the file from either /data/local or /system/media. Selct to choos from /system/media and there will be a list of .ogg files to choose from (if there are more than one you put in there). Select which one you want to play for that line. This is just to make sure the bootanimation.zip is using the right .ogg file and so your phone knows where to play it from on boot. You can change these if you want but you cannot comment lines in or out using absolute system. Once you have finished making changes or confirming the sound files press menu and select "save changes." Once it's done saving the changes press back.
NOTE: THIS NEXT PART IS VERY IMPORTANT AND MUST BE DONE EXACTLY AS I HAVE WRITTEN, IN THE EXACT SAME SEQUENCE I AM GIVING YOU.
7.Sorry for yelling hehe. Once absolute system is done saving the desc.txt file and you have pressed back to re-enter the .png images window in absolute system press home and open up root explorer. In root explorer go to /system/media where you placed your .ogg files and move them again into /system/media/audio/notifications and press home key again. Open absolute system and install the boot animation to /data/local by selecting change install location and selecting "/data/local" and reboot your phone. If the sound does not play, which it should, install the boot animation in BOTH /data/local AND /system/media using absolute system.
You should now have sound along with your boot animation. I hope you all have fun adding crazy sounds to your boot animations. The thanks button is always happy when you press it!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For some reason when i try and use bootanimation editor with absolute system, it force closes and unroots my phone so, I gotta go to recovery and erase & restore. I've just been business ES for a explorer cause it does everything I need it to, I think but as far as 7-zip & store on a PC and put it back on card, I got that down.

Did you get it working? I know you don't have to use the programs they are requesting as I used what works for me so you can do the same. I will however say the boot sound annoyed me so In the end I removed it.

Rick1488 said:
Did you get it working? I know you don't have to use the programs they are requesting as I used what works for me so you can do the same. I will however say the boot sound annoyed me so In the end I removed it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Naw. Never got it. I love music. I have 50,000 songs on a hard drive and I like to theme my phones to a certain artist, including splash and boot. I've got two AHD and was gonna do 2 different ones but, without the sound.....
Sent from my MB886 using xda premium

Rick1488 said:
Did you get it working? I know you don't have to use the programs they are requesting as I used what works for me so you can do the same. I will however say the boot sound annoyed me so In the end I removed it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How'd you do it?
Sent from my MB886 using xda premium

Rick1488 said:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(Credit Goes to Infantry667)
The apps:
First you will need a couple apps. You will need absolute system, root explorer and file converter. You can get them from the android market, just do a search for them. They're not free but if you know anything about root you probably already have root explorer and maybe even absolute system, but you will need file converter by ice cold apps.
The programs:
Again if you know anything or a decent amount about root you probably already have these programs but if not then download them. You will need 7Zip (preferably 7Zip) because as far as I know it is one of the only if not the only program that can zip files correctly WITHOUT compression which is mandatory because if there is any compression applied to the bootanimatiom.zip file OT WILL NOT WORK! You will also need either GVIM or Editor++ in order to properly edit the desc.txt file in the bootanimation.zip which we all know is what makes the boot animation work and if that is not configured correctly then, well, you're gonna be throwing things.
The method:
1.
Find the boot animation you want and download it using absolute system or from whatever source, whether it be from a forum thread or whatever. If you download it from a source other than absolute system you have to make sure before applying it you have to place it on the root of your sd card and make sure it is not named bootanimation.zip if there are other boot animations on your sd card because if they are named the same, obviously, they will overwrite eachother so name them however you want.
2.
Find the sound you want to use, it can be any sound file as long as it's short enough (or not) to play completely on boot. Download it, place it in your sd card and open the file converter app. Use file converter to find the file and once you've found and selected it select to convert it to .ogg. It MUST be converted to .ogg or it WILL NOT work. Once it is converted find the converted version ("sound".ogg or "whatever you named it".ogg) and use root explorer to move it to /sytem/media and leave it there for now.
3.
Plug your phone in to your computer, make sure USB debugging is enabled, and put your phone into USB mass storage mode once your phone is connected. Open up the files from your sd card on your computer and find the boot animation .zip you are going to change and move it to your computer. Next open up 7Zip and find the boot animation .zip file you just moved. Select the file and extract it to wherever you want to on your computer. Once you have extracted the .zip files with 7Zip go to the extracted files on your computer.
Note: (This next part will save the edited version as the orginal version so if you want to make a backup before you edit it just rename however you want or copy it into a separate folder named desc backup.)
4.
Right click on the extracted desc.txt file from the boot animation amd right click on it. Once you right click you will see an option that says either "edit with Editor++" or "edit with VIM" depending on which program you decided on (I prefer Editor++). Select the option and it will open up the desc.txt in your editor of choice. There may be a lost of guidelines in the desc.txt file for editing parts of the desc.txt but this is usually only in stock boot animations. Decide where you want the sound file to play and comment in the sound file you want to use by adding a line under the part you choose it to play at by typing "s 'sound'.ogg" DO NOT type what I wrote verbatim, the name 'sound' is just to give an example. Here is an example of a desc.txt file that has been edited to have sound:
(The red part is the sound line)
Quote:
# 540 wide, 960 tall 10 frames per second
540 960 10
# p means we're defining a part
# first number is repeat count, 0 means infinite
# second number is delay in frames before performing the next part
# so if you are playing 15 frames a second 15 would be... one second
# string defines the directory to load files from
# files will be loaded in order but names don't matter
# s defines a sound for a part
# sounds will be loaded from /system/media
# oggs with loop points will loop automatically
# only one sound will play at a time
# timing is driven by the part, not the sounds
# if you want no sound, leave blank
# droid
p 1 0 01_droid
s Fusion.ogg
# fusion
p 1 0 02_fusion
# mobility
p 1 0 03_mobility
# loop
p 0 0 04_loop
Notice the name of the sound in the desc.txt file is the same as the one I want to use. I hate to sound like I'm trying to make you feel stupid, which I am most definitely not, I just want to make sure this is detailed enough for anyone to follow.
4. Continued:
Once you have commented in the sound line, and you can add as many as you want just make sure you read the guidelines in the example desc.txt file above, save the file and exit your editor.
5. Open 7Zip and find the extracted boot animation files again with the edited desc.txt file. Make sure that the only files showing up in 7Zip are the boot animation files you extracted including the original desc.txt file that was edited and only that edited one, not the backup if you made one. In the menu bar on the 7Zip program click on "edit" and click on "select all" in the drop down menu that pops up. Next click "file" in the menu bar, move your cursor to the 7Zip option and when the drop down menu pops up click on "add to archive..." Then when the window pops up just change the name to whatever you want, select "zip" in the Archive format drop down menu, select "store" in the compression level drop down menu (you must select store or the boot animation .zip file you are creating will be compressed and as I mentioned above it won't work with compression) and then click "OK" to create the .zip file. Once it is created go ahead and move it onto the root of your sd card.
6. Unplug your phone from your computer and once the sd card is mounted open up absolute system. Go to boot animations and press menu and selct "boot animation editor." Press menu again and select "import from sd card." Find the boot animation you edited and slect it. Pres menu once it brings up the window with all the .png images and select "import" and when the window pops up prompting you to name the bootanimatiom just name it however you want and select "import." In order for the boot animation you edited to show up in your list of downloaded boot animations in absolute system you must first close absolute system and reopen it, go into boot animation editor again and it should be there. Select your edited boot animation and when it opens up the window with all the .png images press menu and select "desc.txt editor" which will open up the desc.txt file in absolute systems own editor. Scroll down untill you see the "s" line you commented in and press on it, this will open up a small window prompting you to choose the file from either /data/local or /system/media. Selct to choos from /system/media and there will be a list of .ogg files to choose from (if there are more than one you put in there). Select which one you want to play for that line. This is just to make sure the bootanimation.zip is using the right .ogg file and so your phone knows where to play it from on boot. You can change these if you want but you cannot comment lines in or out using absolute system. Once you have finished making changes or confirming the sound files press menu and select "save changes." Once it's done saving the changes press back.
NOTE: THIS NEXT PART IS VERY IMPORTANT AND MUST BE DONE EXACTLY AS I HAVE WRITTEN, IN THE EXACT SAME SEQUENCE I AM GIVING YOU.
7.Sorry for yelling hehe. Once absolute system is done saving the desc.txt file and you have pressed back to re-enter the .png images window in absolute system press home and open up root explorer. In root explorer go to /system/media where you placed your .ogg files and move them again into /system/media/audio/notifications and press home key again. Open absolute system and install the boot animation to /data/local by selecting change install location and selecting "/data/local" and reboot your phone. If the sound does not play, which it should, install the boot animation in BOTH /data/local AND /system/media using absolute system.
You should now have sound along with your boot animation. I hope you all have fun adding crazy sounds to your boot animations. The thanks button is always happy when you press it!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
what if i use notepad++?
what i got using notepad++ in dsc.txt file was just these things
320 480 12
p 1 0 part0
p 0 0 part1
what is that?
please help..i really like to have sound with bootanimation.

the hellboy said:
what if i use notepad++?
what i got using notepad++ in dsc.txt file was just these things
320 480 12
p 1 0 part0
p 0 0 part1
what is that?
please help..i really like to have sound with bootanimation.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Notepad ++ is perfect for this job.
The P means we're defining a part
S defines a sound for a part.
So, what you have there is a boot logo with no sound.
I wish I could help you further, but you need to read the tutorial and post your issue if any and I'll help...
Let me give you a tip 4.11 stock rom's boot logo comes with sound so all I did was edit it with a new boot logo and my own sound. I guess this might be lazy, but it was fast and simple and I ended up dumping the sound about a week later. Annoying!

Rick1488 said:
Notepad ++ is perfect for this job.
The P means we're defining a part
S defines a sound for a part.
So, what you have there is a boot logo with no sound.
I wish I could help you further, but you need to read the tutorial and post your issue if any and I'll help...
Let me give you a tip 4.11 stock rom's boot logo comes with sound so all I did was edit it with a new boot logo and my own sound. I guess this might be lazy, but it was fast and simple and I ended up dumping the sound about a week later. Annoying!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thanks for the reply bro..
yes i did go through the tutorial and i ended up with that i quoted before..
i want to have sony make.believe bootanimation with sound..
but i failed..
so where in desc.txt file edit or put sound?
i mean how do i need to edit those parts..if i wanted to put the audio named bootanim?
please help?
and at last is this just for stock roms or even can work in aosp based roms..
i am running 4.3 legacy xperia latese nightly build right now..
any suggestions or help would be appreciated from bottom of the heart..

Hellboy, if you want you could upload your failed boot animation and I'll fix it for you. Sound good? Oh and for your other question this works for all rooted ROMs.
Sent from my MB886 using Tapatalk 4

I did all that and still no sound AND blank screen during part1. I was just using a 2 part bootanimation.
Sent from my MB886 using xda premium

OK, I'm using OSE ROM now and I did everything except for using absolute system. Mine goes
p 0 0 part0
s att_pu.ogg
att_pu.ogg is what I named my sound and both bootanimation.zip & att_pu.ogg are in /system/media/. Still no sound.
Sent from my MB886 using xda premium

Database Develop

welcome