Database Users

battery mod

Hello,
I found this thread :
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=765419
and I have some questions about this :
1) Is it possible to "tweak" our framework-res.apk with this battery mod.
2) Can I use this method to "tweak my framework-res.apk : http://circle.glx.nl/
3) When I download my new framework-res.apk, how to boot on recover mode on the phone to put the framework-res.apk on the system ?
4) Do you know an other easylier method to tweak icons on the HD2 under android ?
Thanks a lot !

+1 I asked myself to but no time to seach forum

@Karlichon
What is with this batmod? Are you done with them?

karlichon said:
1) Is it possible to "tweak" our framework-res.apk with this battery mod.
2) Can I use this method to "tweak my framework-res.apk : http://circle.glx.nl/
3) When I download my new framework-res.apk, how to boot on recover mode on the phone to put the framework-res.apk on the system ?
Thanks a lot !
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok I think I'll answer this, but bear with me as it's NOT easy or for the faint of heart. If you read this and you DO NOT feel comfortable I would recommend you not giving this a go.
Before you start ANY of these steps below, MAKE SURE YOU BACKUP YOUR FILES BEFORE REPLACING THEM. I WILL NOT BE HELD RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY DAMAGE CAUSED FOLLOWING THESE STEPS! You have been warned.
1) Visit the website above and run through the steps to get the battery images you want. For the purposes of this tutorial/howto I am not covering how to change anything else (KISS: Keep It Simple, Stupid).
2) The easiest ones to change are the Version A-I ones, just choose which battery set would work best for you on your phone and click "Next"
3) Choose "Do not include icons" and click next. The icons it is talking about here are the signal, wifi, usb etc notification bar icons and as I mentioned I will not cover how to change those here.
4) Leave "Do not change notification status bar" selected and click next. Again I'm not covering that here.
5) You can choose a different boot anim if you want, they are very easy to upload to your phone and you can figure out where they have to be put yourself with no problems. IMPORTANT: If you do change the boot animation, make sure you choose the correct type of rom you have from the dropdown selection.
6) Upload your existing framework-res.apk (using something like DroidExplorer, navigate to /system/framework and paste it onto your desktop, then upload here). This will update the relevant files in your framework-res.apk automatically. (If you cannot obtain your existing framework-res.apk I cannot guarantee method 2 will work, sorry but feel free to try)
7) Replace your framework-res.apk (via DroidExplorer or your chosen ADB browser) on your phone and reboot. Voila!
This worked for me on shubcraft 2.0 drop mode but obviously I cannot guarantee it will work for everyone. Please remember my warnings above that this is not guranteed.

hello, thanks for your quick help, but it doesn't work for hyperdroid rom V1.7
any idea ?

karlichon said:
hello, thanks for your quick help, but it doesn't work for hyperdroid rom V1.7
any idea ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
there is another far more complicated way around it, but it really does take about half an hour to work out.
Basically, you need to get your framework-res.apk and extract it with winrar or something similar (an apk is basically just a zip file) and find the folder called res/drawable-HDPI. this is where all the icons for things like your battery icons live.
Copy and paste the new icons from someone elses framework-res or even one you download from the website above into this folder and replace the drawable-HDPI folder into your framework-res.apk, replace it onto your phone and reboot.
Again, this is a quick description of a much lengthier way of doing it but it does work. Also, my disclaimer in the post I made before still stands, do this AT YOUR OWN RISK and do NOT complain to me if something breaks. If you don't fully understand, don't do anything.

I tried the kitchen method, but I receive a huge error log after uploading the framework apk

is the page currently partly down?

rafpigna said:
I tried the kitchen method, but I receive a huge error log after uploading the framework apk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It doesn't seem to work all that well with frameworks from our current modded builds. I've tried it with a rooted desire framework (from my gf's desire) and that worked. Evidently all the work that the devs do on our hd2's make them very different to other android builds. the second method I posted (adding the png's to your existing framework) works perfectly.
BlackPit666 said:
is the page currently partly down?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nope, seems up to me.

yes its up again

rafpigna said:
I tried the kitchen method, but I receive a huge error log after uploading the framework apk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
for me the same, desirehd revolution rom of mdj
can anybody help me?

Reno_79 said:
there is another far more complicated way around it, but it really does take about half an hour to work out.
Basically, you need to get your framework-res.apk and extract it with winrar or something similar (an apk is basically just a zip file) and find the folder called res/drawable-HDPI. this is where all the icons for things like your battery icons live.
Copy and paste the new icons from someone elses framework-res or even one you download from the website above into this folder and replace the drawable-HDPI folder into your framework-res.apk, replace it onto your phone and reboot.
Again, this is a quick description of a much lengthier way of doing it but it does work. Also, my disclaimer in the post I made before still stands, do this AT YOUR OWN RISK and do NOT complain to me if something breaks. If you don't fully understand, don't do anything.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
can you tell me which files i need to replace to get another battery icon? only the files which "batt" in it?

Reno_79 said:
there is another far more complicated way around it, but it really does take about half an hour to work out.
Basically, you need to get your framework-res.apk and extract it with winrar or something similar (an apk is basically just a zip file) and find the folder called res/drawable-HDPI. this is where all the icons for things like your battery icons live.
Copy and paste the new icons from someone elses framework-res or even one you download from the website above into this folder and replace the drawable-HDPI folder into your framework-res.apk, replace it onto your phone and reboot.
Again, this is a quick description of a much lengthier way of doing it but it does work. Also, my disclaimer in the post I made before still stands, do this AT YOUR OWN RISK and do NOT complain to me if something breaks. If you don't fully understand, don't do anything.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This method will not work with the battery icons which shows all 100% increments. This method will only work for the standard battery icons, which only involves like 12 battery icons.
In order to add the 1% increment readings in the battery, it involves modifying xml files to read and associate the correct battery icons at each increment.

can you give a tut how to add the version a manually?

nvm, I got it!

Creating 9 patch PNGS for theming!!

Alright, last week or so, I said I was going to try working on themes and after a few days finally got the whole 9 patch PNG jargon figured out!!! It was a pain in the ass figuring out how it all worked and even after searching i was still unclear.
Software you will need:
Adobe Photoshop or equivalent to edit your PNGs, adjust transparency, add effects)
Android SDK Tools and SDK starter package
Xultimate-d9pc.exe and repsective .zip file (this converts the raw .9.png into a working .9.png)
draw9patch (included in the SDK Tools) *I am working on another way to cut this step out since it is what takes the majority of time*
Java JDK (For Android SDK Tools to work)
Android SDK: Click Me! Android SDK r12 Do all the updates for the tool packages.
Xultimate-d9pc: Click Me!! Extract this into the Android SDK Tools Folder!! VERY IMPORTANT!!!
Java JDK: Click.. for 64 bit Windows Click.. for 32 bit Windows
I have uploaded all of these to my website for your convenience. I don't have the quickest server, so be patient with the downloads!!
Sorry for no audio in the video either. I didn't have a Mic hooked up and figured a video tutorial would be enough. Below is a youtube link and the pasted instructions from the youtube video.
WARNING: the steps below look intimidating, but really are quite easy after you grasp the idea.. I created so many steps to keep the total n00b in mind.
Step 1: Send the .apk that you want to modify from your phone to your email (or transfer your way of choice)
Step 2: copy the .apk somewhere on your harddrive (I put all my android stuff including tools and SDK in an 'android' folder as you will see in the video)
Step 3: open up the .apk in 7zip and navigate to the drawable folder (in this case; res >> drawable-hdpi)
Step 4: highlight all the pngs and .9.png's you would like to modify and copy them to a folder (this is where you will make your edits outside the .apk and compile them at a later time)
Step 5: Open the .9.pngs in photoshop and have some fun! (use your creativity to add overlays, borders, glows, etc.) tip: don't get to complicated, because you will need to pick split/stretch points later for the 9 patch conversion.
Step 6: When done modifying the .9.pngs, just save and overwrite the files you would like (in the case of the MMS app, the same image is used for multiple bubble files)
Step 7: Open up ONLY the .9.png's in the draw9patch tool located in your android SDK tools folder. Add the 9 patch data as shown in the video. Tip: some people only add one middle top and middle left split point/pixel, but i find its usually easier to add TWO points for the top and left quadrant as you will be picking your EXTENTS of where you want the content to be.
Step 8: On the right and bottom quadrant, create a solid line connecting the respective pixels together. These two steps will add the information to the PNG of where to split and stretch from, while also giving constraints of where the content can go.
Step 9: After all the 9 patch images are saved in draw9patch, if you open them you will notice the black pixels you just created. Do NOT, DO NOT try and recompile the .apk at this point, thinking you are done.. the bubbles (in this case) will look like crap, because you are not finished yet.
Step 10: Copy (or move) the newly created .9.png's into the ORIGINALS folder for the xultimate.exe software.
Step 11: Run the xultimate.exe. This will take about 2 seconds or less.
Step 12: naviigate through the 'done' folder and you will notice the .9.PNGs no longer contain the black border pixels!!! CONGRATS!!!
Step 13: Copy all modified images back into the open 7zip .apk archive and overwrite all the existing.
Step 14: replace your current .apk on your phone with this 'new' .apk and enjoy!!
and finally...
Tutorial -couldn't get youtube tags to work.
*If anyone is wondering why I Copied to the REV 2 folder but did the tutorial on the REV 1 folder, I was just demonstrating how to copy the files, but was working on my theme in the Rev 1 folder. DONT BE CONFUSED!!*

Thank you kind sir!
-Sent from my Random Epic.

This could be useful enough to move to Themes and be stickied with dreams tutorial.

Only reason I didn't throw it in those forums yet was that I figured a few people could try it and review the process before it became a 'good' tutorial. I know sometimes a tutorial is easy to understand or works for some people, but others have issues or don't understand the directions as well.
I hope this works for everyone and people are less intimidated to mess with this type of stuff!!
Relating to my other thread, I will continue to work on the MMS and Swype theming, I just wanted to get this together so everyone can start theming!

Wow, this looks very "easy"
Maybe I'll finally be able to edit .9.pngs without help
/sig
Avelnan said:
Phones are going to come to life someday. Take note: LG Optimus line. ASUS Transformer. And now the Nexus Prime.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

Why not just use apk manager to decompile, edit the .9.png's leaving the black outer border pixels alone, then recompile the apk, extract the modded png's, then copy them into the source apk?

shane6374 said:
Why not just use apk manager to decompile, edit the .9.png's leaving the black outer border pixels alone, then recompile the apk, extract the modded png's, then copy them into the source apk?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's fine in some instances, but it wouldn't really allow you to create .9pngs that are of a different size....
Also...I would think editing them in say GIMP only would "corrupt" the draw9patch data? It seems to me that it's more than just having a few pixels as borders and guidlines, it's also the files data in relation to those pixels
Sent from my SPH-D700 using xda premium

squshy 7 said:
That's fine in some instances, but it wouldn't really allow you to create .9pngs that are of a different size....
Also...I would think editing them in say GIMP only would "corrupt" the draw9patch data? It seems to me that it's more than just having a few pixels as borders and guidlines, it's also the files data in relation to those pixels
Sent from my SPH-D700 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Editing with gimp wouldn't and doesn't corrupt the image from what I know. That's why your able to compile the image after editing it with gimp without error.
Sent from my SPH-D700

ac16313 said:
Editing with gimp wouldn't and doesn't corrupt the image from what I know. That's why your able to compile the image after editing it with gimp without error.
Sent from my SPH-D700
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Exactly. What I do is cut all but the 1 pixel border into a new layer, edit that layer, merge the layers and save. I understand the concept the op is stating, but all of this can be done with the method I said as well. If you want to completely change, or add png's you will need to also make xml edits to add the image there or change container sizes, which is done by decompiling with apk manager. The only thing you might have to do is run the images throught the draw9 tool, but in most cases you wouldn't even need to do that.
Sent from shane6374's Epic via Tapatalk

also, if you see the black bars, you are dealing with a previously edited rom/apk. when you build from leaks or official google aosp releases you dont have that. very nice work mr. socks

I have a question. How do you create a new 9.png to use, for example with miui lockscreen. I dont really get that. Do I have to create the 9.png as the same as the original 9.png on the lockscreen. just wondering. Any help would be appreciated
thank you

cowsquad said:
I have a question. How do you create a new 9.png to use, for example with miui lockscreen. I dont really get that. Do I have to create the 9.png as the same as the original 9.png on the lockscreen. just wondering. Any help would be appreciated
thank you
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It really depends on what image it is and what you want it to do. Some aspects that you might think are controlled by an image might actually be controlled by a xml file.

shane6374 said:
It really depends on what image it is and what you want it to do. Some aspects that you might think are controlled by an image might actually be controlled by a xml file.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is there a way to find what aspects are controlled by a xml file.
Sent from my Droid using Tapatalk

cowsquad said:
Is there a way to find what aspects are controlled by a xml file.
Sent from my Droid using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sure, you can take the name of the image and search for it in the xml files. Very easy to do with windows explorer. I use it to fine images and color codes all the time. If you know how to read the xml file you can see how it all works.
I don't know what file you're wanting to edit, but that might help. I'd throw up some resources I've used for you but I'm at work right now.

shane6374 said:
Sure, you can take the name of the image and search for it in the xml files. Very easy to do with windows explorer. I use it to fine images and color codes all the time. If you know how to read the xml file you can see how it all works.
I don't know what file you're wanting to edit, but that might help. I'd throw up some resources I've used for you but I'm at work right now.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Whenever you have time, could you email me those resources. That will be appreciated. Pm and I send you my email
Sent from my Droid using Tapatalk

cowsquad said:
Whenever you have time, could you email me those resources. That will be appreciated. Pm and I send you my email
Sent from my Droid using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Start with this one here. If you have sdk and draw9patch in the tools folder, you can use this to help guide you. There was one other site I found when I was starting out themeing, but I'm not finding it right now.
http://developer.android.com/guide/developing/tools/draw9patch.html

i tried to run the ultimate.exe but i get an error, my ant/res doesnt exit. how do i fix that

cowsquad said:
i tried to run the ultimate.exe but i get an error, my ant/res doesnt exit. how do i fix that
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't even know what that is. Do you have sdk installed?
Sent from shane6374's Epic via Tapatalk

shane6374 said:
I don't even know what that is. Do you have sdk installed?
Sent from shane6374's Epic via Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, I do. I have sdk, eclipse and java set up already. I'm gonna reinstall everything now and see the results.

Change lock screen pics on Kindle Fire HDX

Hey everyone,
I recently upgraded from the original Fire to the HDX. I searched high and low on how to change the lock screen pics on the HDX and turned up nothing. However, I did find a different way to change the lock screen on the original Fire and thought it might work on the HDX. After rooting, safe strapping, making a system back up and several hours of searching for the lockscreen pics folder, IT WORKED!! I apologize if this has already been done on the HDX but I wanted to share for those of you who couldn't find it either. I urge you to follow these steps EXACTLY or you could end up with a very expensive door stop.
**Before Starting** Your HDX must be rooted. I would highly advise installing safe strap and making a backup of your system (I boot looped twice before I finally got it right!) Down load 7-zip and install on your PC. Download root explorer from the Amazon market. Credit goes to Josepho1997 for posting this on the original Kindle Fire. I just took his method and tweaked it for the HDX.
1. Using Root Explorer from the Amazon Market, go to: /system/framework and copy (do not move!) framework-res.apk to your SD card.
2. Plug your Kindle into the computer and move the framework-res.apk (from SD card) to your computer and make a back up copy.
3. Use 7-Zip to open the one you intend to modify
4. Open the "res" folder then the "raw-xhdpi" folder.
5. You'll find 22 jpeg images in this folder, 11 images with the "_p_" in the file name.
6. Replace the "_p_" jpegs with the images you want, keeping the names exactly as they are. DO NOT delete any images. You can use 11 different images or the same one over and over again. I highly recommend formatting each picture to 1600x2650 like the originals.
7. Close 7-Zip and the new framework-res.apk will be saved, move this back to your SD card.
8. Open Root Explorer.
9. Copy the framework-res.apk to /system.
10. Long press on the framework-res.apk file and change the permissions to rw-r-r. (This is critical, failure to do this will cause a bootloop)
11. Move framework-res.apk to /system/framework. Overwrite the existing file.
12. The Kindle will automatically reboot and your new wallpapers will appear on the lock screen.
That's it! Good luck :good:

This is awesome! I think I may wait though if you suggest safestrap. It's currently not available for the 8.9.
Sent from my KFAPWI using xda premium

I don't blame you. There is nothing worse than that pucker factor you get when you go into boot loop without a backup. Hopefully, our awesome devs will safe strap your sweet 8.9" machine in no time!

I've only just got mine Kindle Fire HDX 7 to use Google Apps. Playing around with the rest of Amazons interesting design choices is the next step. This looks like a brilliant idea! Time to get my HD space pictures in there.
Thanks!
--- I have just tried this. I can copy the file to a visible directory but then i cant see it in there...
It isn't hidden or anything, thoughts?

There is a check box in Root Explorer preferences that enables you to see hidden files. Make sure this is checked first and then copy the file to the root of your SD card. You should be able to see it.

It's showing up now.
Thanks!

Sweet:fingers-crossed:

Because I am pure awesome, I managed to bootloop it too haha.
I have recovered it though and had another go with much better result haha
For anyone else having a go at this, I can't stress enough cthebadge's point about moving it to "/system" first, changing the permissions, and THEN moving it to "/system/framework"!

My next step is trying to find the gray background pic on the carousel screen. If anyone finds this before me, I'd appreciate the location. I don't see why we couldn't customize this background image as well..?

the lock screen pics doesn't bother me ,but I want to make the nova ;auncher show it's wallpaper.

cthebadge said:
My next step is trying to find the gray background pic on the carousel screen. If anyone finds this before me, I'd appreciate the location. I don't see why we couldn't customize this background image as well..?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
system\app\Launcher-release-signed_81224610\res\drawable-sw600dp-xhdpi/home_bg.png and system\app\Launcher-release-signed_81224610\res\drawable-sw600dp-land-xhdpi\home_bg.png

How to change Kindle Fire HDX carousel wallpaper
ONYXis, you are awesome my friend!
Anyone that would like to change their carousel screen wallpaper, it's basically the same steps as I listed above for changing your lock screen wallpaper, only the pics are in different directories.
Following ONYXis's path, you want to copy the Launcher-released-signed_xxxxxxx.apk from the system/app directory and move it to your SD card. Transfer to the PC and open with 7-zip. Open the res folder and locate the portrait picture in the "drawable-sw600dp-xhdpi" folder named "home_bg.png". The landscape picture is in the "drawable-sw600dp-land-xhdpi" folder listed as "home_bg.png". Take both pics and replace them with the ones of your choice. The resolution for the portrait pic is 1200x1869 and the landscape pic is 1920x1149. **Make sure you save your new pics as .PNG and not .JPEG. Overwrite the old stock pics with your new pics keeping the name exactly the same. Close 7-zip and transfer the .apk file back to your SD card. Move the file to /system and change permissions again to rw-r-r. Move the .apk file to the /system/app directory and overwrite the original .apk file. Your Kindle will reboot on it's own and the new wallpaper appears! Thanks again to ONYXis for finding the pics!

Thanks. BTW this TUT http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2373563 works too.
Notice that new resolution for HDX is 562x562 and 198x198.
My screens http://imgur.com/a/g559a and some icons from me attached (put folder "images" from archive to system/vendor/data with overwrite and reboot).

ONYXis said:
Thanks. BTW this TUT http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2373563 works too.
Notice that new resolution for HDX is 562x562 and 198x198.
My screens http://imgur.com/a/g559a and some icons from me attached (put folder "images" from archive to system/vendor/data with overwrite and reboot).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Those icons look amazing!
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

cthebadge said:
Hey everyone,
I recently upgraded from the original Fire to the HDX. I searched high and low on how to change the lock screen pics on the HDX and turned up nothing. However, I did find a different way to change the lock screen on the original Fire and thought it might work on the HDX. After rooting, safe strapping, making a system back up and several hours of searching for the lockscreen pics folder, IT WORKED!! I apologize if this has already been done on the HDX but I wanted to share for those of you who couldn't find it either. I urge you to follow these steps EXACTLY or you could end up with a very expensive door stop.
**Before Starting** Your HDX must be rooted. I would highly advise installing safe strap and making a backup of your system (I boot looped twice before I finally got it right!) Down load 7-zip and install on your PC. Download root explorer from the Amazon market. Credit goes to Josepho1997 for posting this on the original Kindle Fire. I just took his method and tweaked it for the HDX.
1. Using Root Explorer from the Amazon Market, go to: /system/framework and copy (do not move!) framework-res.apk to your SD card.
2. Plug your Kindle into the computer and move the framework-res.apk (from SD card) to your computer and make a back up copy.
3. Use 7-Zip to open the one you intend to modify
4. Open the "res" folder then the "raw-xhdpi" folder.
5. You'll find 22 jpeg images in this folder, 11 images with the "_p_" in the file name.
6. Replace the "_p_" jpegs with the images you want, keeping the names exactly as they are. DO NOT delete any images. You can use 11 different images or the same one over and over again. I highly recommend formatting each picture to 1600x2650 like the originals.
7. Close 7-Zip and the new framework-res.apk will be saved, move this back to your SD card.
8. Open Root Explorer.
9. Copy the framework-res.apk to /system.
10. Long press on the framework-res.apk file and change the permissions to rw-r-r. (This is critical, failure to do this will cause a bootloop)
11. Move framework-res.apk to /system/framework. Overwrite the existing file.
12. The Kindle will automatically reboot and your new wallpapers will appear on the lock screen.
That's it! Good luck :good:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi,
I've mistakenly skipped step 10 and done step 11 , now, as you've anticpated, my Kindle Fire HDX 8.9 has gone into bootloop at the Kindle Fire logo. Can you help? Many thanks!

You are a braver person than I for trying this hack without safe strap my friend. The have been searching for a fix for your 8.9" boot loop and could find nothing. I am by no means a developer and will only experiment with things if I have safe strap installed. I would recommend posting your question in it's own thread and hope that someone can help. Sorry

cthebadge said:
You are a braver person than I for trying this hack without safe strap my friend. The have been searching for a fix for your 8.9" boot loop and could find nothing. I am by no means a developer and will only experiment with things if I have safe strap installed. I would recommend posting your question in it's own thread and hope that someone can help. Sorry
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is it really that bad? Thanks for your suggestion anyway. I've post it in other thread already. Have my fingers crossed:fingers-crossed:

Well..it's not good! Lol Normally, I won't even attempt root without a fxz or sbf file to flash in case I boot loop. You just changed a system file when you dropped that file in the framework folder. The only way that I can think to fix it would be to somehow be able to access that file via computer and overwrite your modified file with the stock file. You did make a backup of the original file I assume..?

cthebadge said:
Well..it's not good! Lol Normally, I won't even attempt root without a fxz or sbf file to flash in case I boot loop. You just changed a system file when you dropped that file in the framework folder. The only way that I can think to fix it would be to somehow be able to access that file via computer and overwrite your modified file with the stock file. You did make a backup of the original file I assume..?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes I did. I'm also thinking how to reinstall the original file back.

Image "replacement"
cthebadge said:
Hey everyone,
6. Replace the "_p_" jpegs with the images you want, keeping the names exactly as they are. DO NOT delete any images. You can use 11 different images or the same one over and over again. I highly recommend formatting each picture to 1600x2650 like the originals.
...
12. The Kindle will automatically reboot and your new wallpapers will appear on the lock screen.
That's it! Good luck :good:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I followed the directions except I don't know how to "replace" the images in the file without deleting the old image files. I used the same file names for my images and copied my new images into the file after deleting the old image files.
When I moved the .apk into /system/framework several programs shutdown and I thought the tablet was going to reboot but it never rebooted. Eventually I just used the power button and shut it off. When I restarted the system all I got was the grey screen. I shut down by holding the power button for about 10 seconds and then tried a second time.... no joy.
Since I am using safestrap I am up and running, I will rebuild my rom-slot1 from backup. Curious what I may have done wrong or if I am missing some small step...
HDX 8.9 rooted, modified so google playstore works.
The _p_ files are portrait, the _l_ files are the same picture in landscape. I will figure out what the dimensions are for the landscape files and reformat all the pics for a retry.... all are 1600 x 2560 (not 2650!)
Ok, replaced all the _p_ and _l_ files, make sure they are the right dimensions and in portrait or landscape shape. It all worked and now I just need to kill the Amazon advertising.

[SUPER EASY] [ROOT] Change lock screen wallpaper without ANY apps or mods

Ok so I figured out how to change the lock screen wallpapers WITHOUT the use of an app, wallpaper picker or modifying the framework or systemui. It's nothing short of amazing.
PROS:
-NO image quality is lost because of a crappy cropper.
-NO application or modifications to the framework are needed for this to work so you can officially get rid of Amazon Photos
CONS:
-Only one wallpaper at a time
-Requires root. However this is done through /data where it is mounted as R/W. This would't be a problem if you could symlink the /data folder to internal storage or /mnt. I have tried a few ways on the HD 8 with no success.
Instructions:
1. Download your favorite HD wallpaper (as close to 1920x1200 as possible). I have a collection of dozens of stock Android wallpapers from various versions and devices at your disposal.
2. When you have chosen your wallpaper and downloaded it, the file extension should be a .jpg. Please go here and convert it to a .png https://jpg2png.com This should be done for all wallpapers. Changing the file extension is not the same. This web based tool also compresses the file to reduce the loss of image quality.
3. Using a file explorer like Total Commander copy the wallpaper.JPG from your download folder on internal storage to this /data directory:
Code:
/data/securedStorageLocation/com.android.systemui/ls_wallpaper/0
4. Activate your lock screen to see your custom wallpaper. A reboot shouldn't be required.

DragonFire1024 said:
Ok so I figured out how to change the lock screen wallpapers WITHOUT the use of an app, wallpaper picker or modifying the framework or systemui. And it's glorious.
This is done on my rooted HD 10, but there is a huge possibility this does NOT require a rooted tablet. Why? Because it's done through /data where it's writable without root this is so easy I kick myself for not discovering this earlier. So if you have an HD 8, any model or year (NOT on Nougat) I need you test this.
1. Download your favorite HD wallpaper (as close to 1920x1200 as possible). I have a collection of dozens of stock Android wallpapers from various versions and devices at your disposal.
2. Using a file explorer like Total Commander copy the wallpaper.JPG from your download folder on internal storage to this /data directory:
Code:
/data/securedStorageLocation/com.android.systemui/ls_wallpaper/0
3. Activate your lock screen to see your custom wallpaper. A reboot shouldn't be required.
I've only tried this with one wallpaper so you might be able to have several in that directory so it's different every time the lock screen is activated. I look forward to your reports!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Trying right now... brb...!

DragonFire1024 said:
Ok so I figured out how to change the lock screen wallpapers WITHOUT the use of an app, wallpaper picker or modifying the framework or systemui. And it's glorious.
This is done on my rooted HD 10, but there is a huge possibility this does NOT require a rooted tablet. Why? Because it's done through /data where it's writable without root this is so easy I kick myself for not discovering this earlier. So if you have an HD 8, any model or year (NOT on Nougat) I need you test this.
1. Download your favorite HD wallpaper (as close to 1920x1200 as possible). I have a collection of dozens of stock Android wallpapers from various versions and devices at your disposal.
2. Using a file explorer like Total Commander copy the wallpaper.JPG from your download folder on internal storage to this /data directory:
Code:
/data/securedStorageLocation/com.android.systemui/ls_wallpaper/0
3. Activate your lock screen to see your custom wallpaper. A reboot shouldn't be required.
I've only tried this with one wallpaper so you might be able to have several in that directory so it's different every time the lock screen is activated. I look forward to your reports!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry, I was pulled into something for a bit. And then I became distracted making this lovely new lock screen wallpaper, lol...
Unfortunately, it does not seem we are able to access that folder without root. I tried four different file managers. When I finally typed the direct address verbatim as you provided, the device didn't say the folder did not exist, but said I did not have access. I did however notice a different com.android.systemui folder, which was located at /data/data/ , but also did not have access to this folder.
Screenshots of my attempts to locate/access the folder you described are here if you want to see for yourself.
I just bought a new soldering iron today. I'm about to hardmod root this sucker ✔ ??*???

richaardvark said:
Sorry, I was pulled into something for a bit. And then I became distracted making this lovely new lock screen wallpaper, lol...
Unfortunately, it does not seem we are able to access that folder without root. I tried four different file managers. When I finally typed the direct address verbatim as you provided, the device didn't say the folder did not exist, but said I did not have access. I did however notice a different com.android.systemui folder, which was located at /data/data/ , but also did not have access to this folder.
Screenshots of my attempts to locate/access the folder you described are here if you want to see for yourself.
I just bought a new soldering iron today. I'm about to hardmod root this sucker ?*
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My beautiful wallpaper will have to wait for now... :crying:

richaardvark said:
Sorry, I was pulled into something for a bit. And then I became distracted making this lovely new lock screen wallpaper, lol...
Unfortunately, it does not seem we are able to access that folder without root. I tried four different file managers. When I finally typed the direct address verbatim as you provided, the device didn't say the folder did not exist, but said I did not have access. I did however notice a different com.android.systemui folder, which was located at /data/data/ , but also did not have access to this folder.
Screenshots of my attempts to locate/access the folder you described are here if you want to see for yourself.
I just bought a new soldering iron today. I'm about to hardmod root this sucker ?*
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Update: Ultimately however, I was able to set the lock screen wallpaper, using the "Prime Photos" app. This however changed my launcher/home screen wallpaper as well. I then downloaded the standard Google "Wallpapers" app from the Play store and was able to set my wallpaper back to what it had been, and was also able to keep weird cat sweater lady as the lock screen image. So, ultimately same end result, just a tiny bit more effort to make it happen, but not really a big deal.
Updated screenshots in my shared folder.

richaardvark said:
Update: Ultimately however, I was able to set the lock screen wallpaper, using the "Prime Photos" app. This however changed my launcher/home screen wallpaper as well. I then downloaded the standard Google "Wallpapers" app from the Play store and was able to set my wallpaper back to what it had been, and was also able to keep weird cat sweater lady as the lock screen image. So, ultimately same end result, just a tiny bit more effort to make it happen, but not really a big deal.
Updated screenshots in my shared folder.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What a shame. Well at least this is a lot easier now rather than taking the time and effort to mod the systemui.

Ok so this is disappointing. I'll have to post a rewritten guide. This one is tough to explain. But I am pretty sure I did this through the Amazon Device Settings application.

I plugged my HD 8 into my PC and opened ADB in an attempt to access the directory. I was able to cd into /data/securedStorageLocation just fine. However I tried to make the directory com.android.systemui and got an error of 'permission denied', but not because of no root, 'the directory already exists'. So it's there, just not totally accessable.

So this has to be exclusive to Amazon, or a result of or a combination of things. I have literally found only two forum posts that mention the directory perfectly. However the website is in Japanese. Thankfully Google translate helped. The good news is, it looks like you can gain entry by symlinking. When I saw this entry, and sdcard was mentioned, I did realize one thing I did yesterday that I've never done before. Optimized the databases. Specifically I used SDmaid (bought full version but I don't think that mattered). So it occurred to me, it likely 'fixed' whatever Amazon took out of the databases. This is a wild guess though.
Reporting on the rom copied Stock ROM reporting that it was possible to download amazon instant video,
and copied /data/secureStorageLocation/com.amazon.avod to each directory / sdcard
· Then the following So evacuate the original and
　create a symbolic link (su with adb shell and executed). Once done, restart
　cd / data / secureStorageLocation /
　mv com.amazon.avod com.amazon.avod.org
　ln -s /sdcard/com.amazon.avod com.amazon.avod
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

I went ahead and did a little bit of a rewrite to change the title. Just set up flash to stock and just saw the folder had already been there. I honestly cannot believe it's been there this entire time and I honestly can't believe I've missed it this entire time. Unfortunately this requires root access unless somebody can figure out how to symlink the folder to internal or external storage. though it is located in part of the data that is read and write, the folder is not.
Sent from my Galaxy S4 using XDA Labs

Update:
I just want to add, wallpapers can be in .jpg format, but for best compression, least amount of quality loss and if you have the same wallpaper for both lock screen and desktop, convert your .jpg to a .png for both (this should be done regardless of the wallpapers are the same or not). This handy, web based tool does exactly that, and compresses the file at the same time. This has resulted in my wallpapers being 100% in sync. https://jpg2png.com

I have copied my wall paper in png format to the location (with root access). However, it's not used as the wall paper or lock screen background, even after reboot. What am I missing?
In the meantime, I can use an image browser (Quick Pic) to set it as wall paper. However, it does not last. It may revert without reboot.

redhonker said:
I have copied my wall paper in png format to the location (with root access). However, it's not used as the wall paper or lock screen background, even after reboot. What am I missing?
In the meantime, I can use an image browser (Quick Pic) to set it as wall paper. However, it does not last. It may revert without reboot.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Make sure you are in the right directory/folder and all the way to the end of com.android.systemui:
/data/securedStorageLocation/com.android.systemui/ls_wallpaper/0. Your wallpaper goes in the '0' folder. So far as I know no special permissions needed. But it won't hurt to set permissions to:
rw-r--r-- (0644). Make sure you have a lock screen set

# ls /data/securedStorageLocation/com.android.systemui/ls_wallpaper/0
-rw-r--r-- root root 11833019 2018-12-08 16:19 Wallpaper-Florida-Keys.png
So it all looks right. Just not taking effect. I don't know if it depends on some package that might get disabled (I've disabled a bunch).

redhonker said:
# ls /data/securedStorageLocation/com.android.systemui/ls_wallpaper/0
-rw-r--r-- root root 11833019 2018-12-08 16:19 Wallpaper-Florida-Keys.png
So it all looks right. Just not taking effect. I don't know if it depends on some package that might get disabled (I've disabled a bunch).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It very well may have been patched on 5.3 or 5.6.3 (whatever it really is)

The good news is that I can just set it using a image viewer. However, they do revert back though it's not clear what triggers revert.

redhonker said:
The good news is that I can just set it using a image viewer. However, they do revert back though it's not clear what triggers revert.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try disabling com.amazon.kindle.kso and deleting it.

I am on the latest 5.6.3.0, and copying to the '0' folder works for me. I had ads removed when I first got the device, so I don't have com.amazon.kindle.kso. So as Dragon said, maybe disabling and deleting will help.
Note that if the image is subsequently deleted from the '0' folder, the "7 cycling wallpapers" return. I don't know if they would return if some other method of setting the lock screen wallpaper is used, like the Prime Photos app.
---------- Post added at 09:55 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:17 PM ----------
Dragon, with regard to the "7 cycling wallpapers" in your other thread, I was able to use your post 2 to get my own 7 wallpapers to cycle on the lock screen. So even though I wanted your info on how to recover if I screwed up SystemUI.apk, I didn't need it! If you ever get around to it, I'd still like to know how to recover without having to reinstall stock, reroot, etc.
This post really should be put over in that thread, but I didn't know if you were getting notified there, so I continued to write here (and in another thread that I knew you would see). Thanks for your great work!

sga999 said:
I am on the latest 5.6.3.0, and copying to the '0' folder works for me. I had ads removed when I first got the device, so I don't have com.amazon.kindle.kso. So as Dragon said, maybe disabling and deleting will help.
Note that if the image is subsequently deleted from the '0' folder, the "7 cycling wallpapers" return. I don't know if they would return if some other method of setting the lock screen wallpaper is used, like the Prime Photos app.
---------- Post added at 09:55 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:17 PM ----------
Dragon, with regard to the "7 cycling wallpapers" in your other thread, I was able to use your post 2 to get my own 7 wallpapers to cycle on the lock screen. So even though I wanted your info on how to recover if I screwed up SystemUI.apk, I didn't need it! If you ever get around to it, I'd still like to know how to recover without having to reinstall stock, reroot, etc.
This post really should be put over in that thread, but I didn't know if you were getting notified there, so I continued to write here (and in another thread that I knew you would see). Thanks for your great work!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sometimes it's easier to make a new thread and index them into one as you go along...I sorta have one started. Anyways, if the SystemUI fails when you install it, the tablet will still boot...just without any user interface. So you can just push your back up back to the tablet. It's tricky if you come to it because you have to keep your tablet attached to PC while running a few shell commands.

I have copied my wallpaper in png format to the location (with root-access) and used a website like https://convertx2y.com/png-to-jpg/ to convert between the image formats. Is it a good one?

Can't Modify SecContacts_M_OSup_Note_Legacy_USA.apk

Background: Really not loving the default New Contact icons and the random colors. Should be easy enough to change. What I tried (and failed miserably...)
MODest ROM 11 (Twiz/stock 6.01-based)
Flashpoint 5 Kernel
Copied SecContacts_M_OSup_Note_Legacy_USA.apk from
/system/priv-app/SecContacts_M_OSup_Note_Legacy_USA/
to my Win7 PC.
Used 7-Zip to unpack the file to a temporary folder.
Found the .qmg files I didn't like.
Found a .qmg that would be a passable replacement for the ones I didn't dig.
Made 11 copies of that image in a working folder.
Renamed each copy to the exact name of each of the 11 files I wanted to replace.
Dragged those 11 files back into the open .apk in 7-Zip
On the Phone, in Root Explorer:
Made a copy of SecContacts_M_OSup_Note_Legacy_USA.apk in the same folder:
/system/priv-app/SecContacts_M_OSup_Note_Legacy_USA/
deleted the original
Copied my mod'd apk back into this folder and set the perms.
Rebooted.
No Phone or Contacts on home screen or in Apps
Tried to 'install' the apk from Root Explorer.
Wouldn't install
Tried to delete cache & Dalvik from TWRP.
No Joy.
Tried to do a partial Nandroid restore of Contacts and sec.phone from Titanium (nothing there called /systempriv-app/SecContacts_M_OSup_Note_Legacy_USA)
No Joy.
Nandroid restore from TWRP.
Back to normal.
Okay, what did I do wrong, and how can I change the icons?
Should I have used APKTook instead of 7-Zip, created a new signature, etc?
Should my mod'd apk somehow be flashed from recovery rather than copied to a system folder?
Is this some perverted Samsung-ism that would have worked fine on any other phone on the planet?
Thanks for reading.

ForestCat said:
Background: Really not loving the default New Contact icons and the random colors. Should be easy enough to change. What I tried (and failed miserably...)
MODest ROM 11 (Twiz/stock 6.01-based)
Flashpoint 5 Kernel
Copied SecContacts_M_OSup_Note_Legacy_USA.apk from
/system/priv-app/SecContacts_M_OSup_Note_Legacy_USA/
to my Win7 PC.
Used 7-Zip to unpack the file to a temporary folder.
Found the .qmg files I didn't like.
Found a .qmg that would be a passable replacement for the ones I didn't dig.
Made 11 copies of that image in a working folder.
Renamed each copy to the exact name of each of the 11 files I wanted to replace.
Dragged those 11 files back into the open .apk in 7-Zip
On the Phone, in Root Explorer:
Made a copy of SecContacts_M_OSup_Note_Legacy_USA.apk in the same folder:
/system/priv-app/SecContacts_M_OSup_Note_Legacy_USA/
deleted the original
Copied my mod'd apk back into this folder and set the perms.
Rebooted.
No Phone or Contacts on home screen or in Apps
Tried to 'install' the apk from Root Explorer.
Wouldn't install
Tried to delete cache & Dalvik from TWRP.
No Joy.
Tried to do a partial Nandroid restore of Contacts and sec.phone from Titanium (nothing there called /systempriv-app/SecContacts_M_OSup_Note_Legacy_USA)
No Joy.
Nandroid restore from TWRP.
Back to normal.
Okay, what did I do wrong, and how can I change the icons?
Should I have used APKTook instead of 7-Zip, created a new signature, etc?
Should my mod'd apk somehow be flashed from recovery rather than copied to a system folder?
Is this some perverted Samsung-ism that would have worked fine on any other phone on the planet?
Thanks for reading.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That apk took me a long time to figure out too. It's one of the apps you I had to modify for multi dpi. The only way I know of is to change the compression when you're putting the app back together and even then it took a couple tries. There's probably a better way but the compression change seems to work well enough.
I don't know if 7-zip has this option, but with winrar you can change the compression to "store". You should know right away whether or not it worked. You'll see the little phone icon in the bottom left of the lock screen. You may still have to do a factory reset to see your changes (probably not though) but the app should work without it.
By the way, you can swap those image files for .png files if you'd like. Just delete the corresponding .qmg or .pio file.
I saw your post in the rom thread about theming TouchWiz. You should check out @supergrobi94's theming threads. He's put together an impressive collection of options for 6.0.1 and 5.1.1 and there's also a [how to] section that uses the vrtheme zip that will modify the res folder of a specific app without having to break it down. I'm not sure how active he is these days but he's always been very helpful with requests and questions in the past if you need it.
Supergrobi94's theming threads:
This one has all the themes
This is the [how to] thread

kevintm78 said:
That apk took me a long time to figure out too. It's one of the apps you I had to modify for multi dpi. The only way I know of is to change the compression when you're putting the app back together and even then it took a couple tries. There's probably a better way but the compression change seems to work well enough.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ah, that makes perfect sense. But I'd never have figured it out myself, lol.
I'll dig into those theming threads, thanks.
kevintm78 said:
☆☆Edge Panel for ModestRom v11☆☆
DOWNLOAD-This will change your Contacts app to the S6 version and the IncallUI app to the Note 7 version because the people stripe will not work with the N4 contacts.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OK, this is from the MODest ROM thread, but I think it's germain here.
SO.....
If I want to 'try out' that Edge Panel, is there a way to revert back to the stock apps in question other than restoring a nandroid backup or re-flashing the ROM?
I ask because I'm thinking that, at least in the case of the Note 4 and its well known memory problems, 'bulk' memory writes like ROMs, nandroid retores, etc., stress the device, so I'm trying not to do it more than I have to.
During my last episode(see above) putting the stock apk back in its original folder didn't work.
Is there a standard procedure for either android generically, or touchwiz specifically, for safely reverting back to the stock system apps after experimenting w/ custom stuff?
EDIT: Just tried something. In Root Explorer, went into:
/system/priv-app/SecContacts_M_OSup_Note_Legacy_USA/
and simply renamed the .apk to .foo
Rebooted.
No Contacts, as expected, but no Phone either??? Not sure why.
Anyway, back into Root Explorer.
Rename .foo back to .apk
Reboot.
Still no Contacts or Phone, so something bigger at work here.
Before I have to restore Nandroid anyway (unless there's a better way???),
I flashed your EdgePanel.zip in TWRP to see if it would restore the Phone/Contacts apps.
Wiped the cache. Reboot.
Edge Panel is now there, but still no Phone or Contacts. WTF???
Last resort-TWRP- Factory Reset.
Now the Contacts/Phone are back (and all my other stuff is gone, lol)
So is whacking the Data a necessity here?
If so, it makes trying out things related to the phone/contacts a LOT more tedious...
Any workaround???
Thanks again.

ForestCat said:
OK, this is from the MODest ROM thread, but I think it's germain here.
SO.....
If I want to 'try out' that Edge Panel, is there a way to revert back to the stock apps in question other than restoring a nandroid backup or re-flashing the ROM?
I ask because I'm thinking that, at least in the case of the Note 4 and its well known memory problems, 'bulk' memory writes like ROMs, nandroid retores, etc., stress the device, so I'm trying not to do it more than I have to.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, it doesn't look like I ever made an easy way to go back. I had thought I did but I'm either overlooking it or it's not there. Feel free to rifle through my androidfilehost folders if you want to double check. All of my stuff is very organized so it could be buried in there somewhere.
If you still need a recovery zip let me know and I'll get one together. I'm actually going to make one anyway but if you need it right away I can get on it. I didn't realize that there wasn't a way back to stock.
ForestCat said:
During my last episode(see above) putting the stock apk back in its original folder didn't work.
Is there a standard procedure for either android generically, or touchwiz specifically, for safely reverting back to the stock system apps after experimenting w/ custom stuff?
EDIT: Just tried something. In Root Explorer, went into:
/system/priv-app/SecContacts_M_OSup_Note_Legacy_USA/
and simply renamed the .apk to .foo
Rebooted.
No Contacts, as expected, but no Phone either??? Not sure why.
Anyway, back into Root Explorer.
Rename .foo back to .apk
Reboot.
Still no Contacts or Phone, so something bigger at work here.
Before I have to restore Nandroid anyway (unless there's a better way???),
I flashed your EdgePanel.zip in TWRP to see if it would restore the Phone/Contacts apps.
Wiped the cache. Reboot.
Edge Panel is now there, but still no Phone or Contacts. WTF???
Last resort-TWRP- Factory Reset.
Now the Contacts/Phone are back (and all my other stuff is gone, lol)
So is whacking the Data a necessity here?
If so, it makes trying out things related to the phone/contacts a LOT more tedious...
Any workaround???
Thanks again.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That is strange that they are not coming back. You may just want to double check your permissions and that there isn't two of the same apps in your folder. At the time of making that Edge zip I was still using other programs to make zips for me and the major downside to that is having to name the new apps the exact same as the old so it would get overwritten so if it doesn't match you'll end up with two active apps in one folder.
Now I think the best way to do that is to use a binary script (osm0sis has great tutorials for this) to change the app getting replaced to a .bak file and then just copy the new app to the system, set perms, and reboot (dalvik cache/ cache needs to be wiped if it's a framework .jar file). But to each their own. If you can get the job done a better way then I would use what you're comfortable with.
My system to test apps isn't much difference than yours. I think the only thing I do differently is change the app to be replaced to .bak instead of .foo although I can't imagine there's much difference. There's been a few apps like the Contacts app that gave me a bunch of trouble when modifying them but I can't remember ever having trouble bringing back the stock app. I wish I had more insight on that situation for you. If push comes to shove I would reflash the rom zip over factory reset only because the factory reset won't correct the system partition problem, if that's what's going on in this case.

kevintm78 said:
If you still need a recovery zip let me know and I'll get one together..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
First, Merry Christmas!
Thanks very much. No rush on that, I'm OK on the Edge version for the minute.
What would be extremely useful if you have some time/curiousity would be to replicate my steps, ie renaming the untouched apk in a fresh MODest flash (i.e. break the contacts/phone function), and then see if you can get the whole thing working again without a factory reset, or if not, why. I see on xda, you & I are not the first ones to be tripping over this contacts.apk issue.
The other thing that would be telling is after successfully installing the Edge.zip, whether you can modify something (like a picture) within the contacts apk within the zip, reflash the zip and have contacts/phone still working with the change active.
I think there just HAS to be abetter way than Factory Resets.
Thanks so much again for the insights. I really want to become at least minimally competent at hacking my own ROMs together so I don't have to feel like such a noob/mooch on here, but I really do appreciate the help.
What are your weapons/platform of choice, or, if there are better tools for noobs learning the ropes, I'm all ears.
EDIT: Just found this. The last post is interesting...
https://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-s5/devs-only/recompile-seccontacts-apk-t3377142/page2

ForestCat said:
First, Merry Christmas!
Thanks very much. No rush on that, I'm OK on the Edge version for the minute.
What would be extremely useful if you have some time/curiousity would be to replicate my steps, ie renaming the untouched apk in a fresh MODest flash (i.e. break the contacts/phone function), and then see if you can get the whole thing working again without a factory reset, or if not, why. I see on xda, you & I are not the first ones to be tripping over this contacts.apk issue.
The other thing that would be telling is after successfully installing the Edge.zip, whether you can modify something (like a picture) within the contacts apk within the zip, reflash the zip and have contacts/phone still working with the change active.
I think there just HAS to be abetter way than Factory Resets.
Thanks so much again for the insights. I really want to become at least minimally competent at hacking my own ROMs together so I don't have to feel like such a noob/mooch on here, but I really do appreciate the help.
What are your weapons/platform of choice, or, if there are better tools for noobs learning the ropes, I'm all ears.
EDIT: Just found this. The last post is interesting...
https://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-s5/devs-only/recompile-seccontacts-apk-t3377142/page2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not exactly sure what's going on with your contacts app not showing back up. Ever since modestrom v8 (I think) I've been doing the multi dpi on SecContacts_M_OSup_Note_Legacy_USA and every time I would test it doing the same as your way. After a reboot if the modified app was no good, then I would just delete that new app and change the name of the old app back to .apk, reboot and it would work again. I can't remember running in to any problems where I would have to factory reset or reflash the rom to get things working again.
There has been a couple times where I've had to factory reset to get a color change to show up or if you're adding toggles to the QS drop down that also (sometimes) requires a factory reset to show up.
As far as the post you linked, that is exactly how I do it except I use winrar to open the newly compiled app and drag the changes to the original. When I drag the changes over I change the compression method from "normal" to "store". If I don't change the compression the app doesn't work for me. The apps that I've ran into where I had to change the compression are: secContacts, secCamera, secSettings, and framework-res.apk. Any other app that I've worked on can be dragged and dropped without compression changes.
Jar files don't need an original signature though (so long as signature verification has been disabled, which it has in modestrom). They can be decompiled, edited, recompiled, and copied to the system. It does require a dalvik cache/cache wipe though on all framework files except for the framework-res.apk and twframework-res.apk
If you get a chance, you should start using apktool to decompile/recompile. It will make things easier for you in the long run and most of the time if you've made any mistakes in your edits apktool will catch it. If you're not familiar with apktool you can try using Tickle My Android or Advanced Apktool. You may also want to get Apktool by itself. I use all three of them. Android can be fickle and sometimes what works with one app won't work with another. What's nice about TMA and Advanced Apktool is that they'll do the drag and drop method for you, but when the compression needs to be changed that's when I use apktool by itself.
Sorry for the word vomit. Hopefully, this all makes sense.