So, I've gone through the tedious task of rooting my Note 4 and I'm familiar with editing the feature.csc file back when I had my S4. When I make any edits to the file and save, no back up file is created and the changes are actually saved. I'm using Root Explorer to edit the file. Also, when I try to rename the file, it's fails. Hope there is something I'm missing to get this feature working again.
for the time being you can copy and paste it to another location as a backup
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Sorry if this is the wrong place for this post. I have spent the last 2 hours looking for an answer to this. What is the easiest and best way to edit xml files to change font color in the theme i am working on. I cannot find a method that works. I have tried a few of the big name xml editors out there and they wont even open the files. I would like to be able to open and edit them on my computer. I used 7zip to pull the individual xml's i wanna exit out and into their own folder. Now i just need a way to edit them, then use 7zip to put them back into the Framework.res apk. Thanks in advance for any help.
willjohnson said:
Sorry if this is the wrong place for this post. I have spent the last 2 hours looking for an answer to this. What is the easiest and best way to edit xml files to change font color in the theme i am working on. I cannot find a method that works. I have tried a few of the big name xml editors out there and they wont even open the files. I would like to be able to open and edit them on my computer. I used 7zip to pull the individual xml's i wanna exit out and into their own folder. Now i just need a way to edit them, then use 7zip to put them back into the Framework.res apk. Thanks in advance for any help.
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i wondered this too as i was learning how to theme, first you have to decompile the .apk i was advised to use notepad++ on windows, use apktool located in your tools folder of sdk to decompile and then open your xmls in notepad++ then after you're done editing use the command window to use apktool build > the directory of ur decompiled .apk
Funnyface19 said:
i wondered this too as i was learning how to theme, first you have to decompile the .apk i was advised to use notepad++ on windows, use apktool located in your tools folder of sdk to decompile and then open your xmls in notepad++ then after you're done editing use the command window to use apktool build > the directory of ur decompiled .apk
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This is the best advice. I just started using apktool myself.
willjohnson said:
Sorry if this is the wrong place for this post. I have spent the last 2 hours looking for an answer to this. What is the easiest and best way to edit xml files to change font color in the theme i am working on. I cannot find a method that works. I have tried a few of the big name xml editors out there and they wont even open the files. I would like to be able to open and edit them on my computer. I used 7zip to pull the individual xml's i wanna exit out and into their own folder. Now i just need a way to edit them, then use 7zip to put them back into the Framework.res apk. Thanks in advance for any help.
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You can't just pull them with 7zip, you have to decompile the apk the xml files are in and then you can simply use notepad++ or any xml editor to edit them.
Use APK Manager to decompile and recompile.
Sent from my DROIDX using XDA App
willjohnson said:
Sorry if this is the wrong place for this post. I have spent the last 2 hours looking for an answer to this. What is the easiest and best way to edit xml files to change font color in the theme i am working on. I cannot find a method that works. I have tried a few of the big name xml editors out there and they wont even open the files. I would like to be able to open and edit them on my computer. I used 7zip to pull the individual xml's i wanna exit out and into their own folder. Now i just need a way to edit them, then use 7zip to put them back into the Framework.res apk. Thanks in advance for any help.
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You can also use apkmanager. This makes editing xml's and any images a breeze...
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=695701
Wow, put up a post, go to bed, wake up and all my answers are here. Thanks a lot guys for the info and quick responses. I think i can figure it out with all the info you have supplied. Thanks again
Apkmanager ended up being my favorite method. But use version 4.8, I had issues with 4.9 not compiling apk's properly.
Apkmanager lets you pull apk's, extract, compile, zipalign, sign, and push them back to your device.
I have been trying the apk manager and have not been able to get it to work. I pull the framework-res.apk from my theme with 7zip. Then put in the folder for modding in the manager folder. Then decompile. Edit in the projects folder as per instructions for apk manager. Then when i am done i recompile, sign and put into the theme again with 7zip. I get an error everytime with recompiling it, but it lets me continue to the end anyway, so i tried it out and it made my phone bootloop on install. So i had to sbf and start over. I get the same errors everytime, has to do with the .9 patch files i think. Too many errors to list in other words.
Read the log file. All the pngs with problems that have issues are listed at the beginning. Also, if there are extra pngs that are not used by the framework then remove them.
Tip. Open the log.txt clear it and save. When done and you get it to compile, don't sign it (its a system apk and does not require it. Then after it is successfully compiled. Unzip it, delete the meta folder and android.manifest file.
Copy the meta folder and android.maifest from the original apk and drop them into the newly compiled apk, and then tada...
Working framework.
FYI: The pngs with issues, just decompile the original framework and use those same pngs to correct your .9.pngs. (.9.pngs use the border for formatting, so duplicate the border in the ones you goofed up).
Sent from my DROIDX using XDA App
hello ,
Am using galaxy ace and i want to change the default app icons [like My files gallery...etc].I downloaded a copy of my firmware and i was able to extract system.rfs from the md5 file which contained the apk for the music player...etc using 7z,i changed the icons to my custom icons...now I am not able to move the system.rfs to the MD5 file using 7z...does any one know anyway of doing this
P.S Does editing the files do harm when flashing...will this be succesfull?
If you edit rfs files on pc then its corrupted
So make changes in the apk and paste it in /system/app
You can make a new rfs fine too but that needs root and and the need to know which partition is mapped to /system
so can i just place the apk directly on phone through root explorer...but i tried that with an system app [you tube] i dont use ,i changed the icon and placed the apk using root explorer...after that it vanished..i tried rebooting and installing the apk....but it wont install...
... to "flash" or otherwise install theme type mods such as changing a notification icon, without recovery? I had experimented with framework type flashable zip files to do with on my GS3 and always flashed from recovery. I am trying to (at least for now) keep from tripping my KNOX.
Also is there a wifi hotspot app or mod that also does not require recovery?
With a towel root, I can probably do everything I want, and keep my KNOX at 0, if I can do these two things.
Bob
ParrSt said:
Is it possible? ... to "flash" or otherwise install theme type mods such as changing a notification icon, without recovery?
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Sure. It's just more work. Having root gives you the necessary permissions to change system files and do anything that a (recovery) flashable zip file would.
But pragmatically, it wouldn't be reasonable to expect everyone going around writing custom install scripts for your theme mods when the common practice is to package them as a flashable zip.
The solution? It would be eminently useful to learn how to make manual changes yourself. Theme mods typically modify a system file e.g. TouchWizHome.apk or SystemUI.apk. You can make simple edits or replace packages with a root aware file browser e.g. FX. And more advanced edits with a decompiler like apktool.
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fffft said:
Sure. It's just more work. Having root gives you the necessary permissions to change system files and do anything that a (recovery) flashable zip file would.
But pragmatically, it wouldn't be reasonable to expect everyone going around writing custom install scripts for your theme mods when the common practice is to package them as a flashable zip.
The solution? It would be eminently useful to learn how to make manual changes yourself. Theme mods typically modify a system file e.g. TouchWizHome.apk or SystemUI.apk. You can make simple edits or replace packages with a root aware file browser e.g. FX. And more advanced edits with a decompiler like apktool.
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Oh I don't expect others to make my scripts. I was making the zip packages myself.
If I understand you correctly, I can use something like FX to replace the an icon in one of the .apks? Those are zip type files but FX can do that?
As I already said, yes you can. Icons are (usually) especially easy. It's literally just replacing an icon with a file browser, usually in the xxhdpi360 drawable folder of the apk.
Something like
Copy the apk to another directory or your PC
Temporarily rename the .apk to a .zip file
Use FX Root to browse the compressed file and locate the icon you want to change.
Delete the icon from the zip.
Drag and drop the new icon to replace it.
Rename the .zip back to .apk
Browse to the folder where you copied the apk from
Rename the original .apk to .bak in case you need it later
Move your modified apk to the directory
Confirm that the permissions are still 0644 (long press to check.. but I've never seen FX mess them up to start with).
Reboot
That may look like a lot of steps but they are all trivial and you can do the entire thing in about 60 seconds.
Features e.g. suppressing nags or some colour changes may require decompiliing an apk.
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So I rooted my device, hten followed a guide, that Instructed me to replace two files in the system/framework folder, services.jar and services.odex, i backed them up, but like a fool i backed them up in the same folder, which i can't access, I can restore from CWM and i was actually hoping someone had a system recovery that i could borrow, since i can't seem to figure out how to change the files back within my cwm backup.
callen2011 said:
So I rooted my device, hten followed a guide, that Instructed me to replace two files in the system/framework folder, services.jar and services.odex, i backed them up, but like a fool i backed them up in the same folder, which i can't access, I can restore from CWM and i was actually hoping someone had a system recovery that i could borrow, since i can't seem to figure out how to change the files back within my cwm backup.
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Okay, slow down. You can fix this. There are only a few steps:
1. Download the stock odexed rom. You can find it here: https://www.androidfilehost.com/?fid=23622183712466565
2. Extract the stock rom.
3. Navigate to the system/framework folder
4. Copy services.jar and services.odex to your phone (download folder or anywhere on your sdcard is fine)
5. Since you are rooted, you can use a root file explorer to copy those files to your system/framework folder on your phone. Locate the two files you copied from the stock odex rom on your computer. Paste these into system framework, and overwrite the two existing files (you can use ES file manager or other root browser to accomplish this)
That's it! There are many other ways to do this, but this is probably the simplest.
I'd just flash a custom rom with hotspot though
Since Serajr 'one click' superuser mod only works on stock ROM, you have to use apktool to achieve the same on CM. Here's how you can do it on your phone. Only tested on official CM12 on Xperia Z1c, with a clean flash of /system, (unmodified), but probably can be applied elsewhere, maybe with some adjustment.
1. Follow steps 1 and 2 in this post, (except for the part about copying theme files) - http://forum.xda-developers.com/sony-xperia-z1-compact/general/tweak-theme-computer-t3279649 Note that the /system/framework/SemcGenericUxpRes/SemcGenericUx file is not present in CM ROM, so instead you would copy /system/framework/org.cyanogenmod.platform-res.apk. Also copy /system/framework/services.jar to the same directory.
2. Import the first 2 files as framework, according to step 3 in the link above, then tap on services.jar, and 'decompile all'. You will end up with a folder called 'services-src'.
3. Using a root browser and capable text editor, (I used Mixplorer and Jota+), follow instructions to mod PackageManagerService.smali file here - http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=62909773&postcount=4
Notes on this step: This file is over 60,000 lines long, which is why I specified 'capable' above. Many text editing programs won't handle it very well. Even if they can display it OK, you're going to need something that has a good search function, and copy/paste ability or it will be a big headache trying to do this on a phone. I found the first line to edit somewhere around line 8,700, by searching for 'compareSignatures'. The tutorial recommends using the word 'cannot' to help find the second one, but that didn't work for me. I used 'compareSignature' for that also, and just used the arrows to jump ahead through the search results until I found it.
4. Once the mods are made, save and exit. Then go back to apktool, and tap on 'services-src' folder and choose 'recompile'. You will end up with a file called 'services.apk'. All that is in the 'apk' is a classes.dex file. Use Mixplorer or RTB to extract the classes.dex from the apk. Then, with Mixplorer, go into your original services.jar, (that you copied into apktool folder), and delete the classes.dex file in there. Then go back to your new classes.dex, that you extracted from services.apk, and copy it into the services.jar. Using Mixplorer, you don't have to unzip/rezip or extract anything. Just long-press your new classes.dex, choose copy, then go into the jar just by tapping it, and then paste.
5. Move the new services.jar to /system/framework and reboot, (of course back up your original just in case).
The only way I know to test su mod is to attempt to use something that claims to require it, so I tested it with this - http://forum.xda-developers.com/cro...t-xperia-z5-systemui-particle-effect-t3206206 (the same thread as above). See screenshots for success verification.
very nice