Develop Bugs

[TUT] Editing Resources .dll etc

How to edit resources:
I have attached the software needed File Editor Suite, also you can get a 30 day free trial of PE Explorer Here
It's all very simple to do just follow the guide any questions feel free to ask.
Also take a look @ Making custom icons to replace the standard icons
Step 1:
Unsign the .dll .dla with File Editor Suites UnSigner.exe, just drag the .dll over the Unsign.exe as show in the picture you wont see much maybe just a CMD "black box" quickly pop up.
{
"lightbox_close": "Close",
"lightbox_next": "Next",
"lightbox_previous": "Previous",
"lightbox_error": "The requested content cannot be loaded. Please try again later.",
"lightbox_start_slideshow": "Start slideshow",
"lightbox_stop_slideshow": "Stop slideshow",
"lightbox_full_screen": "Full screen",
"lightbox_thumbnails": "Thumbnails",
"lightbox_download": "Download",
"lightbox_share": "Share",
"lightbox_zoom": "Zoom",
"lightbox_new_window": "New window",
"lightbox_toggle_sidebar": "Toggle sidebar"
}
Step 2: Open with ResHacker\PE In PE you have to click the circled item and you will see the resources.
Step 3: Find the resource you want to edit, remebering that the file you will be replacing needs to be same size and bit
Step 4: Save your resource and in File Editor Suite you have siggner.exe click it locate the .dll and press start the process, the .txt file out put will say "Warning: This file is signed, but not timestamped.
Succeeded"
That's it your done
Now use the appropriate software whether it be File Changer or just using Resco File Explorer/Total Commander to replace, if you have a file that can not be overwriten go into the phone find the file change the extension to .bak example: bronzeres.bak

Nice job bud! I like the look of the PE Explorer R5
lets keep the [TUT] going!
PS. for all, make sure to keep the same pixel size on the icons for better quality when displaying on device, for panels not as much, since the .cpr adjusts the size of the panels on the homescreen.

roloracer said:
Nice job bud! I like the look of the PE Explorer R5
lets keep the [TUT] going!
PS. for all, make sure to keep the same pixel size on the icons for better quality when displaying on device, for panels not as much, since the .cpr adjusts the size of the panels on the homescreen.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks bruv

isn't this all covered in jdshifflets [TUT] ?

Kemekill Products said:
yeah but he deleted it when stylez pissed him off. then he got banned...
And to fianlize what happened he broke the rules with reagrds to direcspect to members no more needed to be said... If anyone has a problem PM me directly
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
And then jdshifflets went on and created a new Sock Puppet account using his own address so we'd easily find out he's actually Kemekill.
And if that wasn't enough he didn't do a good enough job covering his IP address.
So until further notice Kemekill will Join jdshifflets in his/their split personality, until this is discussed and investigated.
To add to the Tute.
Sometimes when a file has only one Icon file (like for instance some .cpl files)
You can actually get away by using a bigger .icon file to replace it.
But best practice is to always use the same size and resolution to replace these.
Another Good Resource editor is CFF explorer http://www.ntcore.com/products.php
Or the Classic ResourceHacker.
Also until now i got away without unsigning files just fine, but i always sign them with new cert.
Yes I also wrote a Tute like this , but that has nothing to do with me stepping in here.
I'm just following up and the policy for creating Sock Puppet Accounts after a Ban.
Kemekill won't be back ever, and we (The Moderation Team) are not sure yet how this affects jdshifflets ban.

I've gotten this to work pretty good except for one slight hiccup... the "signer" gives me an error that the signature has expired... any thoughts on how to correct this?

New signer with certs, i'll change the full download when got time.
Edit: Updated File Editor Suite

stylez said:
New signer with certs, i'll change the full download when got time.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sweet... thanks alot!!

I see a new Avatar there, cool.
Also when using PExplorer or CFF explorer sometimes you will need to rebuild the header for the file not to break.
At least i know that was the only way of removing \Noui from the first Marketplace exe (and also replacing it with my icon.
So with DLL files i don't expect this to be needed, but if you edit an .exe file and quickly see the .exe icon being replace by a blank icon you know you need to redo it with recompile header.

Thank you wanted to go back to my ninja but he disappeared..
Yeah i had this happening when tried to change everything in start menu to gray Good to know about header

Anyone having challenegs in copying tapres.dll? I can copy bronzeres.dll and open it using PE or Resource Hacker but can't seem to copy the tapres.dll (wchich containts the start menu icon) to my PC for modifying..=(

tapres.dll is a ROM file so you will have to use ROM Extractor and this is not easy as made for PPC, but can be done
In Top Box type\Windows\tapres.dll
In box bellow type tapres.dll
Click Extract.
This will extract it to root of phone memory.

hi folks,
i tried to unsign and open MMAppLauncherCore.dll (after copying to my workstation) which maximus.mobile has made but after the unsign step res.hacker opens a empty file, i do not know why.
can anybody try to open the file too to find out the mistake?
thx

[how to] create a bootanimation in easy steps

IF YOU HAVN'T READ MY GUIDE HERE: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=27059306#post27059306 THEN PLEASE GO READ IT,AS IT WILL BE HELPFUL FOR YOU AND YOU WILL BE ABLE TO LEARN MORE EASILY.THANKYOU.IF YOU HAVE READ IT THEN LETS BEGIN!
Requirements:
A zip/unzip utility like 7-Zip
Image editor of your choice like PhotoShop, GIMP, Paint.NET, heck even MS Paint will do.
A plain text editor of your choice. Using Windows Notepad for editing text files that are to be used in Linux is not always a good idea, so use something like Notepad++ instead.
As much time and creativity as you are willing to put into the task.
You must know the screen resolution of your device if you don’t know it already. You can find the resolution by searching for your device specifications on Google.
Note: A high resolution device will be able to play a boot animation made for a low resolution device but it will not take up the whole screen, while a high resolution boot animation will not display completely on a low resolution screen device.
Procedure:
Go through the entire Inside the bootanimation.zip File section of this guide first, if you haven’t already done so.
Plan how your boot animation will run. This includes how many distinct parts it will have, how long will each part play and what will be the sequence of the parts.
Make a new folder at any convenient location on your computer, and name it bootanimation.
In this folder, create a folder for each part of your boot animation, named part0, part1 and so on.
In the image editor of your choice, make all the image files for each part of your boot animation with the proper dimensions equal to your phone’s screen resolution, and save them in the respective folder for each part, in PNG format. Up to 32 bit PNGs are supported.
Note: In case you are converting an existing boot animation to fit your phone’s screen, simply extract the images from it and resize each of them to your device’s screen resolution.
Make sure the images are named in numerical format and in proper sequence, i.e. the images in the first part should start with let’s say 00000.jpg and go on till 00075.jpg, and the images in the second part should then start off with 00076.jpg and go on till – for instance – 00123.jpg.
Once you have the images for all the parts done and saved with proper names in each folder, create a text file named desc.txt in the main bootanimation folder.
Open the text file in a text editor and edit it in the format described in detail in the desc.txt file section above. Do consider that a frame rate higher than 30 fps can give issues on many devices.
Note: In case you are converting an existing boot animation to fit your phone’s screen, keep everything the same as in the original desc.txt file and change only the resolution.
Now select everything inside the bootanimationfolder and zip them into a new uncompressed zip archive using your favorite compression utility. Here is the method using 7-zip:
Select everything inside the bootanimation folder.
Right-click on any of the selected files/folders and from the 7-zip menu, select ‘Add to archive’.
Use ‘zip’ as the archive format and ‘Store’ as the compression level, and click OK. This will create a file called bootanimation.zip in the same folder.
Apply A Boot Animation
File browser method:
Connect your phone to your computer via USB and mount the storage card for file transfer.
Copy the bootanimation.zip file that you want to install, to your SD card.
Unmount USB storage and launch the file browser of your choice on your phone.
Browse to /system/media, copy the existing bootanimation.zip file from there and paste it somewhere safe on your SD card.
Browse to the location on the SD card where you copied the new bootanimation.zip and copy it.
Browse to /data/local and paste the bootanimation.zip file there to override the default system boot animation without replacing it.
OR
Browse to /system/media and paste the bootanimation.zip file there.
If you are using Super Manager, you will have to enable its root function first from the settings. Furthermore, you may need to mount the /system partition as read-write first too upon entering it.
ENJOY YOUR NEW BOOTANIMATION!

Reserved.

reserved

Here is my attempt:
{
"lightbox_close": "Close",
"lightbox_next": "Next",
"lightbox_previous": "Previous",
"lightbox_error": "The requested content cannot be loaded. Please try again later.",
"lightbox_start_slideshow": "Start slideshow",
"lightbox_stop_slideshow": "Stop slideshow",
"lightbox_full_screen": "Full screen",
"lightbox_thumbnails": "Thumbnails",
"lightbox_download": "Download",
"lightbox_share": "Share",
"lightbox_zoom": "Zoom",
"lightbox_new_window": "New window",
"lightbox_toggle_sidebar": "Toggle sidebar"
}
Its the BIOS boot animation from here but has been edited to now show AOKP 4.0.4 (instead of 2.3.6) and some other small alterations to bring up to date.
Please i am new to this so go easy if i have done it wrong.

Jrhoop said:
Here is my attempt:
Its the BIOS boot animation from here but has been edited to now show AOKP 4.0.4 (instead of 2.3.6) and some other small alterations to bring up to date.
Please i am new to this so go easy if i have done it wrong.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I just saw it,it works great keep it up!
Sent from my GT-I9100 using xda premium

Awesome
Hey Faseeh thank you bro, this guide is the most simplest and easy to follow I have ever seen, thank you bro it helped me more than you know. Awesome stuff. You should become a lecturer bro.

kicker09 said:
Hey Faseeh thank you bro, this guide is the most simplest and easy to follow I have ever seen, thank you bro it helped me more than you know. Awesome stuff. You should become a lecturer bro.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Haha Glad I could thanks alot for the compliment. I am just 15 can't become a lecturer now
Sent from my GT-I9100 using xda premium

awesome tutorial, super simple to understand. cheers!

Resizing HDPI Skins To MDPI

here is a brief visual tutorial on porting skins from hdpi to mdpi
had a few people ask for my help so i thought i would do a tutorial
firstly you need to decompile the apk you want to theme/resize using Apk Manager
1) Download apkmanager ( http://www.apkmultitool.com/?q=node/5 ) and install it.
2) Put the apk you want to decompile in 'place-apk-here-for-modding' folder.
3)Copy com.htc.resources.apk from /system/framework with Root Explorer to your sd card
copy to pc and put in APK Manager/other folder
4) Double click on 'script'
5) Type 22 i.e. 'set current project' and press enter.
6) Type 1 and press enter
7) Type 9 and press enter to decompile apk.
8) Wait until the decompilation finishes.
9) Minimize command line and go to projects -> filename.apk -> make the required changes (see attached images)
10) Switch back to command-line, type 11 and press enter.
11) After sometime you'll get a message 'is this a system apk?', type n and press enter.
12) Then type 12 to sign apk
13) Go to 'place-apk-here-for-modding' folder, your new file will be signedfilename.apk
14)Copy the file to SD card
15)Copy the file to system/app with Root Explorer
16)Change permissions to RW-R-R
{
"lightbox_close": "Close",
"lightbox_next": "Next",
"lightbox_previous": "Previous",
"lightbox_error": "The requested content cannot be loaded. Please try again later.",
"lightbox_start_slideshow": "Start slideshow",
"lightbox_stop_slideshow": "Stop slideshow",
"lightbox_full_screen": "Full screen",
"lightbox_thumbnails": "Thumbnails",
"lightbox_download": "Download",
"lightbox_share": "Share",
"lightbox_zoom": "Zoom",
"lightbox_new_window": "New window",
"lightbox_toggle_sidebar": "Toggle sidebar"
}
this is a side by side comparison of mdpi and hdpi images
the quickest way of resizing is with Faststone Photo Resizer
Remember to add all images from drawable-hdpi and drawable-port-hdpi
most images will come out the right size give or take 1 or 2 pixels
normal PNG's will be ok,it's those pesky .9PNG's that need editing the most
after resizing .9PNG's will either need patching with draw9patch.bat included in Android SDK
or you can copy and paste minus the 1 pixel border in photo editing software aka Photoshop
I prefer to use Photoshop method
after you've finished editing your images goto point 10) type 11 to recompile
use a base skin such as slate
if you want to edit colors.xml for volume bars etc i will upload ColorEdit.exe
most skins only need 60-70 of the images to be edited,mostly the main ones you can see ie. rosie buttons widget headers and footers etc
Time and Patience needed Happy Editing
PS if you're porting somebody else's theme/skin don't forget to seek their permission first
Any Queries PM me

Wow!!! Nice work bro!!!!

opposedtmessia
Hey Bro,
Having a problem. I am unable to post images in my threads as you've done now with Adobe CS GUI Screen Shots.
All those images I upload can only be seen as attached thumbnails not as part of the page
Any help would be appreciated
Thank you

|BIA|Jason said:
Hey Bro,
Having a problem. I am unable to post images in my threads as you've done now with Adobe CS GUI Screen Shots.
All those images I upload can only be seen as attached thumbnails not as part of the page
Any help would be appreciated
Thank you
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
when you post ,in the box that you type in,above that is a button INSERT IMAGE,you have to type in the box the URL of your image,so you need to upload it to an image hosting site

Can i use this method to resize mdpi apps to ldpi?
Sent from my E10i using xda app-developers app

pongnamu said:
Can i use this method to resize mdpi apps to ldpi?
Sent from my E10i using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can.....but you may have to change the sizes accordingly

hey dude.....thats what i was searching for..........just 1 quest....will this method work for cm7 themes...? basically i want to port some hdpi themes to ldpi/mdpi.......If it works then could you please pm me the details.....thnx

Thanks for good info +1
Sent from my HTC Explorer A310e using xda premium

anishsood said:
hey dude.....thats what i was searching for..........just 1 quest....will this method work for cm7 themes...? basically i want to port some hdpi themes to ldpi/mdpi.......If it works then could you please pm me the details.....thnx
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
should work for cm7 themes,not tried it myself though, will have a look
check out this threadhttp://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=964391

Interesting, could be helpful for Project Llama

[HOW TO] Theme ALL keyboards without FCs! [A guide for beginners]

I posted the original thread over in the Sprint section here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1915508 Please try to keep questions in the Sprint thread, but I wanted to share here also. Hopefully this helps someone!!.
Theming a keyboard may be common knowledge to some of the amazing Devs here. But to a noob like me, it took some research and time to get it working without breaking the original signature (That's the trick!). I searched the forum and it doesn't look like anyone has posted a "How To" on theming a keyboard, so I thought I'd share my experience with you all.
**Some of these steps may seem elementary, but I tried to explain everything in layman's terms so even a beginner can theme a keyboard.
// Before you get started:
You must have a working environment setup. Check out QBKing77's awesome video "How to install the android-sdk" to get that going.http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1614922
Make sure you also have installed:
Notepad++ (for editing xml) // (www.notepad-plus-plus.org)
7zip (for extracting apks) // (www.7-zip.org)
the image editor of your choice. I use Paint.Net(www.getpaint.net), and Gimp(www.gimp.org). Both FREE!
apktool (http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1755243)
LatinImeDictionaryPack.apk (drop in the 'system\app' folder on your phone. Only for the LatinIME.apk) Grab it here: http://d-h.st/Ebb
// This method has worked with every keyboard that I have encountered so far. I will use 'LatinIME.apk' for reference, as that is the stock ICS keyboard. //
WARNING.. DO NOT POST DISTRIBUTION LINKS TO ANY MODDED 'Swype.apk'. XDA HAS A STANDING ORDER FROM NUANCE (MAKERS OF SWYPE), THAT DOES NOT ALLOW SUCH LINKS TO BE POSTED.
1) To start make sure you have a working copy of your keyboard apk; grab it out of a ROM, download it, or use a file manager with root access (like Root Explorer) to copy it to your SD card then to your computer.
**I would suggest dropping the keyboard apk into a folder on the desktop, seperate from anything else, and making a backup of the original so that you have a spare copy.
2) Using 7zip extract the 'res\drawable-xhdpi' folder into the folder you created. This folder will contain the pngs that control some of the keys, outlined in red on this pic:
{
"lightbox_close": "Close",
"lightbox_next": "Next",
"lightbox_previous": "Previous",
"lightbox_error": "The requested content cannot be loaded. Please try again later.",
"lightbox_start_slideshow": "Start slideshow",
"lightbox_stop_slideshow": "Stop slideshow",
"lightbox_full_screen": "Full screen",
"lightbox_thumbnails": "Thumbnails",
"lightbox_download": "Download",
"lightbox_share": "Share",
"lightbox_zoom": "Zoom",
"lightbox_new_window": "New window",
"lightbox_toggle_sidebar": "Toggle sidebar"
}
Color these pngs to match using your favorite editor and save (bucket fill with Paint.Net is a breeze!)
3) Now that your pngs are themed.. Within the folder that you created containing your apk, hold down shift and right click. Select "Open Command Window Here" to fire up command prompt.
4) Next to decompile the keyboard apk with apktool (again using 'LatinIME.apk' for reference, but the apk may be of a different name; SamsungIME.apk, HTC_IME.apk, etc.).
Type this command:
Code:
apktool d LatinIME.apk
When it's done, you will see a folder with the apk name appear, within the folder you created. Click into it and you should see at minimun a 'res' folder and a 'smali' folder.
5) Navigate to 'res\values' folder. Depending on the keyboard you are working on, the xml controlling the remaining key colors will be contained in the 'colors.xml' or 'styles.xml' file. Open with Notepad++, and change the color codes as needed. Save and close.
6) Go back to the root of the folder containing your apk, and fire up command prompt (if it's not still open). Now it's time to build using this command (again using 'LatinIME.apk' for reference, but the apk may be of a different name; SamsungIME.apk, HTC_IME.apk, etc.)
Code:
apktool b LatinIME
7) When it's done building, you should have 4 folders minimum now (res, smali, build, dist) and it's time for the key to success. Navigate into the 'dist' folder and you will see the "Built" apk. Open it with 7zip, and extract the 'resources.arsc' file to your folder. Close 7zip.
8) Now it's time to pull it all together. Navigate back to the ORIGINAL keyboard apk, and open with 7zip.
Copy (you can drag and drop with 7zip) the 'resources.arsc' that you extracted from your "Built" apk, into the "ORIGINAL" apk overwriting the file. Then with 7zip still open and the apk loaded, navigate (within 7zip) into the 'res\drawable-xhdpi' folder where you should see the list of unthemed pngs. Simply drop your edited pngs into this folder. Close 7zip and you're done here!
9) Finally, take your "ORIGINAL" but themed apk, and push it back the 'system\app' folder on your phone.
Fix permissions to 'rw-r--r--' (only check everything under 'read' and Owner under 'write')
Reboot, and bask in the glory of your new themed keyboard!
**Alternatively, grab my empty zip installer here: http://d-h.st/oKG to flash in recovery. You must drop your themed apk into the system\app folder of the zip and save. Also, the zip already contains the 'LatinImeDictionaryPack.apk'
Please hit THANKS if I helped!! And please keep this thread alive!

Reserved

How to recompile file into flashable zip?

I noticed gapps is rather large (for my taste); being around 190mb, it's twice the size of my rom. So I had an idea, since I only use about 3 or 4 of the Google apps (play store, Gmail, aosp messaging, and probably one more), why don't I just decompress it, remove the bloat, then recompress it into a zip file. Problem is, I get an error when I flash it. I know there's probably something obvious I'm missing, but I wasn't able to find anything on xda to remedy this problem.
So for those of you who don't want to read that or missed the question, can I streamline gapps? (decompress, debloat, recompress)

After rezipping did you sign it, I do believe you need to do that. Zipsigner in the playstore should work.

jethro650 said:
After rezipping did you sign it, I do believe you need to do that. Zipsigner in the playstore should work.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Awesome, thanks!
+1

You should be able to use the "open archive" functionality in your zip tool (like 7-zip). Install 7-zip. once installed, right click on the gapps zip file you are wanting to reduce in size... Select 7-Zip >>> Open archive. Then select folder which has the file you want to remove (Gapps are in /system/app folder). Then select the Google apps you want to remove (highlight, then select red X for delete). If will ask for confirmation, respond "yes". After you have deleted what you don't want, hit "File >>> Exit". This will retain all the original zip file signature properties. Do NOT extract files... use the Open Archive functionality.
I do this all the time on ROMs when I want to trim programs I don't plan on using before I flash zip. Takes up less space.

DoctorQMM said:
You should be able to use the "open archive" functionality in your zip tool (like 7-zip). Install 7-zip. once installed, right click on the gapps zip file you are wanting to reduce in size... Select 7-Zip >>> Open archive. Then select folder which has the file you want to remove (Gapps are in /system/app folder). Then select the Google apps you want to remove (highlight, then select red X for delete). If will ask for confirmation, respond "yes". After you have deleted what you don't want, hit "File >>> Exit". This will retain all the original zip file signature properties. Do NOT extract files... use the Open Archive functionality.
I do this all the time on ROMs when I want to trim programs I don't plan on using before I flash zip. Takes up less space.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Great! Turns out signing wasn't it but I'll take that approach and posts my results

Bingo! Got it down to 51mb lol

One more question, is there a way to do this on your phone? It'd make this process even easier. I'm using ROM toolbox right now and as far as I know, you can only browse, not delete or modify the contents.

Gfrt94yn said:
One more question, is there a way to do this on your phone? It'd make this process even easier. I'm using ROM toolbox right now and as far as I know, you can only browse, not delete or modify the contents.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I use SpeedSoftware on my phone to extract apks (like inverted apps) from other device installable ROM zips. But you have to "extract" the files... then you can "re-zip" the file after you remove/add files; however, I cannot say for certain if the signature integrity remains (i.e., by re-zipping, not sure if you'll retain the valid signatures). The Open Archive functionality does not require "extraction" and "rezipping"... that's why I like it. Hopefully someone else will chime in regarding android programs which have the Windows like "open archive" functions.

{
"lightbox_close": "Close",
"lightbox_next": "Next",
"lightbox_previous": "Previous",
"lightbox_error": "The requested content cannot be loaded. Please try again later.",
"lightbox_start_slideshow": "Start slideshow",
"lightbox_stop_slideshow": "Stop slideshow",
"lightbox_full_screen": "Full screen",
"lightbox_thumbnails": "Thumbnails",
"lightbox_download": "Download",
"lightbox_share": "Share",
"lightbox_zoom": "Zoom",
"lightbox_new_window": "New window",
"lightbox_toggle_sidebar": "Toggle sidebar"
}
Here is one that alliws the "open" function. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=ru.zdevs.zarchiver

jethro650 said:
Here is one that alliws the "open" function. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=ru.zdevs.zarchiver
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Exactly what I was looking for! Says it's not compatible with my device but I can pull a few strings
Thanks again for all your help guys! I hope to start cooking up roms before too long, just gotta learn the very basics first