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Root Creating Themes for Velocity 1.1

savoxis

savoxis

Android Expert
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Velocity 1.1 has different framework than 1.0, for this reason the old Velocity 1.0 themes will no longer work on the new platform. I have also written a new theming engine for the Velocity Script, this theme engine is much like MetaMorph in operation, it will take themed files and intelligently apply them to existing apks, rather than the old system which replaced the entire file. This not only makes the theme zips MUCH smaller but also allows for more items to be themed, safely and other goodies like fonts to be applied as well (Boot sounds and animations coming soon).

This process will be very easy for those of you who used MetaMorph in the past. What you will want to do is get together all of the modified files (pngs) from the apk you want to mod, put them in a filestructure that is the same as the inside of the apk (/res/drawable-hdpi/files) then zip up this so the res folder in in the root of the zip. You will name the Zip the same as the apk you are modding, but without the .apk (eg. YouTube.zip for YouTube.apk) You can even theme apks that are installed in data.

Once you have your apk zips all together you want to package them into a theme zip, The structure is as follows:
pub

The info.txt file will be shown before application, all folders are case sensitive apparently I lied, this needs to be just info, no .txt)

To test themes you can put them on your sdcard in a folder called VelocityMorph (case sensitive) When going in the script to apply themes it will allow you to select 1 which will be apply from sdcard.
 
Traditional metamorph should still work though, right? I have a great Honeycomb Theme working that I would like to apply after the update.
 
k.c.cole said:
Traditional metamorph should still work though, right? I have a great Honeycomb Theme working that I would like to apply after the update.
Click to expand...

Yeah, but if its worth it you should work on coverting it, I can distribute it ota if its in this format.
 
between this and the update, i have to say im probably not going to get much sleep in tonight. you guys are awesome
 
i spent alot of time theming my phone with notification icons and colors, so how do i put it all together and make a theme?
 
McLovlein13 said:
i spent alot of time theming my phone with notification icons and colors, so how do i put it all together and make a theme?
Click to expand...


I could not explain it any better than this post, pull the icons, pics you want from the old framework-res.apk now look at the youtube.zip example
 
savoxis said:
Yeah, but if its worth it you should work on coverting it, I can distribute it ota if its in this format.
Click to expand...


Well, i wouldn't mind taking a stab at it. Never done it before though, so i will need some guidance. I put up a screen shot int the thread for them. You should give it a lookee-loo and tell me what you think. Pretty sure i still have all the components (or know where to find them).
 
savoxis said:
Yeah, but if its worth it you should work on coverting it, I can distribute it ota if its in this format.
Click to expand...

So metamorph is not changing things. I would like some more info on how to convert everything. if people like it and want to use it, even better. But, I want my Honeycomb notifications back!

Any help or direction you can offer would be great.
 
Having issues using the built in themes. Everytime I flash one it works fine, but i can't change from one to another and flashing stock won't remove themeing either. I have to reflash Velocity itself to get back to stock. The notification pane as well as the setting button popup go back to white after applying a theme. Are they supposed to do that?

Also when changeing the bootsplash the bootsplash goes blue on a reboot. None of them have worked for me. Is there something wrong with my .zip? do i need to redownload and try a clean version?

Last, I would like to try my hand at making the Honeycomb theme from what I had before, not sure how to move forward though. My Frunisher nand is already themed, i can't get metamorph to overwrite the frameworks in Vel1.1. How do I use the process described above?
 
can someone tell me if there is an easy way to find the icon pngs in each apk, im not interested in changing a whole lot else but have been looking through a few apks and cant really tell which are the ocons and if they have a set location/name
 
Okay... so I have been trying to use UOT Kitchen, and have found a couple of issues. The meta-inf folder of the "cooked" rom has: \META-INF\com\google\android\
The meat-inf folder of the framework-res from vel 1.1 does not have that path. I think this is where the problem with flashing is happening.

My question is this: Can I extract the framework-res from the UOT .zip and repackage it for VelocityMorph and use the new themeing?
 
k.c.cole said:
Okay... so I have been trying to use UOT Kitchen, and have found a couple of issues. The meta-inf folder of the "cooked" rom has: \META-INF\com\google\android\
The meat-inf folder of the framework-res from vel 1.1 does not have that path. I think this is where the problem with flashing is happening.

My question is this: Can I extract the framework-res from the UOT .zip and repackage it for VelocityMorph and use the new themeing?
Click to expand...

No, the UOT will take your whole framework and put new images in it, then package it up in a flashable zip. basically you upload your framework to UOT, then they run a script alot like VelocityMorph on it, you end up with a full apk, not just the modified files.


\META-INF\com\google\android\ is the location of the updater-script for a flashable zip, the 1.1 framework-res.apk (or any apk for that matter) will not have this path.
 
KingOfGreen said:
can someone tell me if there is an easy way to find the icon pngs in each apk, im not interested in changing a whole lot else but have been looking through a few apks and cant really tell which are the ocons and if they have a set location/name
Click to expand...

Usually pngs are in res/drawable-hdpi

Icons however are usually in res/drawable
 
savoxis said:
No, the UOT will take your whole framework and put new images in it, then package it up in a flashable zip. basically you upload your framework to UOT, then they run a script alot like VelocityMorph on it, you end up with a full apk, not just the modified files.


\META-INF\com\google\android\ is the location of the updater-script for a flashable zip, the 1.1 framework-res.apk (or any apk for that matter) will not have this path.
Click to expand...


So... does that mean that we can't theme vel 1.1 with UOT? I just want to know if i'm wasting my time.
 
savoxis said:
idk, I dont use autothemers, i mean it should work.
Click to expand...

the main issue is that the work around for Velocity 1.0 is to go into the framework-res from the original ROM and pull out the updater-script and replace the same script in the UOT ROM. But, it seems that the Velocity 1.1 framework-res does not have the META-INF\com\google\android path to get the original updater script from.

Do you know if Velocity 1.1 just doesn't have it, or if it is somewhere else?

If not, I guess I just need to learn how to theme things on my own. i just came up with an AWESOME theme with UOT that I'm not sure i could reproduce on my own.

By the way thanks for taking a look at this and offering your expertise.
 
Yes it does. Check again.

The File Structure in Velocity 1.1_release.zip ( not the OTA.ZIP ) is this.
Meta-INF\com\google\android\Update-binary and Updater-script

Make sure that you either A.) Unzipped correctly, Or B.) You do not have a corrupted zip. The Files are there. I just checked.
Click to expand...
 
ccsoccer03 said:
Yes it does. Check again.
Click to expand...
Maybe it's corrupt then.... interesting.

So I DL's the vel 1.1 release .zip and found the updater script. I replaced the scripts in the UOT package and am still getting an error, but it tried to install this time. the error message:
assert failed: package_extract_file("boot.img"."/tmp/boot.img")
E:Error in /sdcard/UOT-05-06-17-18.zip
(status 7)

INstallation aborted
 
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