I have found that it is possible to use Icon Extracting software.
You are able to extract icons and images from all files, be it *.exe, *.dll, etc.
The next step is customizing the graphics.
(Yes you can even get that pesky Video Telephony button) :lol:
Once you have done that, re-apply the graphics.
I have gotten this far. I have not actually tested a ROM with the customized skins, but theoretically it should work, right?
Thoughts?
There's quite a bit more to it...
Are you talking about skinning the phone app, particular applications, the whole system or just icons?
For resource editing and injecting new icons, unfortunately because of certificate signing, sytem apps have to be re-signed inorder to run successfully. However, some apps can't even be run like that if they are quite low level, in my experience. We often resorted to creating new resource mui files to allow use of hacked/resource edited files.
For phone skin editing, have a look through the VJBigPhone thread to see some info on how the phone skin was edited (and Buzz's site for even more info), including the video call button. There were some definitive threads on debranding the tmobile systems, which had specific discussions about the video call button.
V
The whole system
Also, what stops you from re-signing the certificates, especially when you're cooking up yor own ROM?
Related
Whenever an application appeals to us we just go ahead and fooooooo install it :!:
Very few research and at least view those files within the .cab file and know exactly how does the insallation work and what files get trfd to the device!!
Apparently some .cab files after get installed don't have an "Uninstall" string within the registry -which sucks huh :?:
Some apps could be removed by editing few lines within the registry under [HKLM\SOFTWARE\MICROSOFT\APPS\....] (the dots are for the various apps)
Even if some files do get uninstalled, the remaining files should be MANUALLY removed and some reg clean-up should be carried out for a stream lined system :wink:
Win CE needs some enhancement and if not we need to override.
I say to all those brillient programers, whenever coming up with new apps or even developing existing ones, please consider the "Uninstallation" part and a perfect clean-up :wink:
Thumbs up for all wince programers...
(originally posted here)
I would like to propose the open-source development of a new program for Windows Mobile theme changing.
Themes are very popular. People love to personalize their mobile devices. Many ROM cookers will create their own themes that are implemented across a variety of included applications. Unfortunately, themes for third party applications cannot be defined or changed from within Windows Mobile’s native “Today” Control Panel Appearance tab. There are completely different methods of changing the Today screen theme, Media Player theme, and Phone dialer theme. Then if you’ve got some HTC applications in your ROM, there are yet other methods of changing the HTC Home Plug-in theme, TouchFLO Cube theme, Comm Manager theme, SIP keyboard themes, etc. The possibilities are endless.
I would like to propose a standard unified way of changing the look on all of these applications as well as future applications.
The program could be similar to the HTC Home Customizer where users would select named themes to be applied to specific programs, and the software would copy the proper images/files to the proper locations. The difference would be that there would need to be a way for users and 3rd party developers to interface with the program in order to let it know where its new theme files are supposed to go. Maybe there’s a master XML file that lists application specific XML files which include image/file location information.
Anyway, I think this type of program would be extremely useful both for power users and beginners who want to easily customize the look of their device and apply different themes to their applications from a central location. However, I’m not much of a programmer at all, so I am seeking help from the community.
I’ve started a project on Popfly called “WM6ProThemeChanger”. If you search for that name using the Popfly explorer, you’ll find it. Also, you can add me as a friend using “Adamz1977”. I'm not sure if that's the right way to do this, so if anyone else has any thoughts, feel free to post 'em.
I guess we should start be creating a central list of locations and filenames for various theme-changing image files for the variety of applications we all use. Any thoughts??
**reserved**
**reserved**
**reserved 3**
That's a great idea!
I have installed Poorlyduck's vista theme for the cube and if you look at his thread, not only did he worked hard at making the theme but he had to help out a really big bunch of people who had a hard time installing it.
Hope this works out!
Are you looking for this to somehow have one file type that contains all of the necessary files, or some sort of "it reads what it can from a folder and copies them where they need to go" style? I guess I can't picture what your goal is...
xd1936 said:
Are you looking for this to somehow have one file type that contains all of the necessary files, or some sort of "it reads what it can from a folder and copies them where they need to go" style? I guess I can't picture what your goal is...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The "it reads what it can from a folder and copies them where they need to go" style would probably be easiest, right? That's what the HTC Home Customizer does I think. Plus, a lot of applications might need text files, GIF, PNG images, and maybe even a DLL to be placed somewhere in order for the theme/skin design to work. The Media Player skins need a SKN text file. I think the phone dialer needs a DLL sometimes in order to change its skin.
I just think it's too difficult for us users to figure out how to change the theme/skins of all these great programs. If you know any one who might be able to help with this, please send them to this thread.
Hello everyone ..
I've been here for a while, and been using alot of apps from the great team of developers here. And been using a lot of great ROMs, thanks to all cooks!
I did something, and it showed me we do need a special program.
I tried to install an app, then uninstall it, and a very funny thing happened,
for example, it asked for 1536 kB to install , but it installed on more than that, and after uninstalling it freed less than what it already took, and even less than what it saied it will take.
I guess it's because of the registry and some un-removed files.
and here comes the idea of the program
AN INSTALLER/UNINSTALLER app
i think it should do the following
1- browse for the cab
2- i think it might need to use the builtin installer, but it should keep track of all the files and registery entries that the program will take
3- keep record of all the installed apps
4- allows the user to uninstall the app, again, it might need to use the builtin unistaller, but after it is removed, it ensures that all the registery values are removed and all the files are deleted
so what do you think? is this possible? any one can do it for us?
If this is a request of an Application, PLease Modify Your Title with some thing like this :
[REQ]Windows Mobile UnInstaller
Short answer: Forget it.
Middle answer : There are slightly improved uninstallers available, e.g. in SKTools
Long answer: The default installation routine keeps a pretty good track of what is installed with the default setup routines, and usually uninstalls it just fine (only exceptions: fonts and sometimes Today plugins. Which belongs to the things SKTools' uninstaller does better.).
The trouble is with those files and registry entries that aren't created by default installation itself. There are two ways for that to happen. Either there's a "setup.dll", which allows user extentions wherever the default routines wouldn't be flexible enough, usually used for setting migrations (updates) or selections immediately after installation (like which language packs should remain resp. extracted from an common archive). Or the application creates them on first run resp. whenever required (like when the user modifies settings, a game is saved, entries are created, ...). For both of them, any unistall helper has a really bad job to relate them to the program. The best it could do would be to remain in background, look for changes (which would take a lot of resources because WM doesn't offer as nice system hooks for e.g. new registry entries as the desktop Windows) and assign them to the currently active program. Which might be wrong whenever a program in background creates/modifies something. And then there's the problem "What to remove?" when it comes to uninstall. You wouldn't be that happy when it deletes all text documents, contacts, registry tweaks, ... you created with a program, would you? And sometimes you even want to keep the settings, e.g. when updating (since WM5, the old version is always removed before the new one is installed).
A developer can create special uninstall actions in the setup.dll, which usually are way better than any uninstall tool could try to be. You often experience that when there's a query like "Keep settings for update?" appears on uninstall. But that's up to the developers...
thank you guys very much for answering ..
as a result .. i get that if i want something better .. go buy a sktools license
and there is nothing better than that ...
right?
try Pocket Mechanic too
MemMaid is the best!
I vote for SKTools. Has the best uninstall function ever.
This application helps ROM building, by automating some tasks. The idea behind it is that a lot of tasks involving erasing applications from the ROM can be automated (like delete some files, erase some keys from the registry and from the initflashfiles.dat). So I've build a tool that helps automating these tasks.
The advantages of this solution are:
* Create a custom ROM which suit your needs, and leave out everything else (even drivers, and other things, that you'll never use)
* If you have automated tasks, they may be ported easily to newer ROM versions, so you don't have to do everything multiple times
Disadvantages:
* Creating scripts are sometimes harder than simply deleting files (but they may worth the time)
* It is impossible to predict whether a specific task configuration will work, or not (there may be questions like: will the Widgets work, when I delete the FM radio or not?)
Although this tool is made for the Samsung Omnia kitchen (I own an omnia, so I can only test on it) it should work with any other kitchen availalable. Some of the "easier" tasks (like "Remove Office", "Update .NET to 3.5", etc.) will work on any WM6.1 kitchen, which extracts the SYS part in the SYS folder in the root of the kitchen. If you happen to make some tasks for your device, I'll help port some device-specific parts of SYAKR to your device (which is the ROM version handling part)
DL link: http://winmo.sztupy.hu/syakr.html
HowTo for Omnia: http://www.modaco.com/index.php?s=&showtopic=277641
Omnia kitchen: http://winmo.sztupy.hu/syok.html
0.9
version 0.9 is out with more robust registry editing/cleaning support.
Get it from here: http://www.modaco.com/index.php?s=&showtopic=277390&view=findpost&p=949837
nice app! anyone have tried with htc rom????
I don't think so. I only have an omnia, so I can't try it out either. If the kitchen is mostly the same (and I think they are) then it should work though.
Yes Sztupy!!
I looking for CAB to OEM stuff, i used the ones you pointed me at, but it rarely works and i do not like the unstability of it.
Can you not build this function into your app. The reverse of what you are doing?
I wondering if the CAB stuff these guys use would work in our kitchen? Or Sztupy, you know of any other packages that i can use?
Been looking for a while now, i need to do this so i don't have to install all my apps & M2D after flashes (not all, depends how hot the stove is..).
Nice to see you here anyways. Take care.
Just to confirm to non Omnia people here (which will be most of you), Sztupy's app works perfectly and quickly. It hasn't let me down at all. It is very easy to use and does what it is supposed.
I now cook my own ROMs because of Sztupy, he kind of persuaded me to do it and his app makes life so much better.
I just need to get my own apps in there to cook up some tasty ROMs.
I think people at XDA use the same packages-creator app I pointed at (it's on the xda wiki). It simply extracts the cab, and then creates the appropriate registry and initff files. Unfortunately a lot of appllications have a setup.dll part, which modify a lot of things during setup, and it cannot be extracted (it's a separate program). the only way to crack it, is to install the application on your phone, and track down the changes the installation did (like registry changes, file changes, etc.). It's a slow process, but I don't think there is a better alternative (except for of course use an emulator, but applications like M2D would not work on an emulator I think)
Homepage is up: http://winmo.sztupy.hu/syakr.html
1.0 RC1
1.0 RC1 is out.
Updates
- New actions: simple delete and move
- Change base directory for simple actions
Get it here: http://winmo.sztupy.hu/syakr.html
Or if you're an omnia user try the all-in-one kitchen with auto-update feature:
http://winmo.sztupy.hu/syok.html
You are the MAN!!!
I grip this and use for my next set of ROMs. I gonna try some customisation stuff that ParleyP (from this forum) helped me with.
Don't know if it can be built into your APP, would be nice if it could.
Keep em coming Sztupy!
I'm not sure you even know how amazing your are
thanks dude
Hello,
Earlier today, I copied a file named AVATOR.PNG into the \Windows folder of my HTC Touch HD (running Grzegorz10s custom Dusk ROM). The file was meant to replace an existing Avator.png file. (The graphics file is part of a skinned Manila 2.5 installation, but that's beside the point.) I ended up with two separate files in \Windows; one named AVATOR.PNG and the other named Avator.png.
At this point, I can't remove either file, nor can I change their file properties. A few days ago (before doing a task 29 and reflashing the ROM to improve device performance), I could replace the packaged file without problem. The procedure at that time was simply to stop HTC Sense from the list of Home Screen items, remove the read only attribute of Avator.png, and overwrite it with another graphic with the same name.
This time, I apparently didn't pay enough attention to upper and lower case characters.... To view the symptoms and issue, please refer to this YouTube video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UMQkgENs0DA
Can anybody help me out? I could always reflash the ROM but it seems like too much work for something this "simple."
Thanks,
Svein
ok, you already wrote, you will care for case sentitivity next time, so no lecturing there
these might sound stupid, but have you tried, either renaming AVATOR.png (the one you copied there, if i'm not mistaking) to Avator.png (should either ask to overwrite or at least give another error) or something completely unrelated (to get rid of the conflict)?
can you maybe move that file to, say, my documents\ and delete it there?
the only other things, that would come to mind would be to write a script to delete that one file and run it in startup, before anything else starts, or in a UC environment, where also nearly everything else is stopped, but to be honest, you should rather perform a hard reset, much faster.
Chef_Tony said:
ok, you already wrote, you will care for case sentitivity next time, so no lecturing there
these might sound stupid, but have you tried, either renaming AVATOR.png (the one you copied there, if i'm not mistaking) to Avator.png (should either ask to overwrite or at least give another error) or something completely unrelated (to get rid of the conflict)?
can you maybe move that file to, say, my documents\ and delete it there?
the only other things, that would come to mind would be to write a script to delete that one file and run it in startup, before anything else starts, or in a UC environment, where also nearly everything else is stopped, but to be honest, you should rather perform a hard reset, much faster.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks, Tony. Yeah, the case sensitivity is a given - my bad. And I will likely opt for a hard reset. I had *really* looked forward to not having to reconfigure my device again, now that I finally found a ROM that I thoroughly enjoy, but alas... The files are locked (can't move, delete, or change attributes no matter what...)
Googled "UC environment" with both HTC and windows mobile as keywords and came up with Unified Communication. Is that the right way to go or did I just blow my cover and will get tossed outta here as the functional, non-techie user that I just professed to be?
by UC, i was referring to the automatic customizations (formerly known as EXTROM), run after a hard reset or through an automatic installer integrated in many roms, i saw it as XDA_UC or Cloudy AutoInstall. Because the purpose of these automatic customizations are to install settings (mms, internet) or skins and wallpapers, usually done by your carrier, when running this setup, all connections are cut, all apps are shut down and only a basic windows mobile is running (also sense is shut down).
these autoinstallers can use cab or xml or mortscript files, but setting up a mortscript to try and delete a file, when you've never done it before, probably takes longer than hard resetting and setting up your device again. yet, you can make use of autoinstallers to get all your programs up and running, sync with myphone, and all that is left to do is make some basic settings like owner information. usually that should take less than an hour, that way, being much faster than searching solutions for several days
This software worked for me - dublicatefilesdeleter.com