To create themes, or to edit themes to your liking, you will need a working knowledge of android, adb, how to resign apk's, knowledge of your own O/S.
Before you start be aware that you will may end up wiping your phone once, if not more. So lets go over the things that you will need.
You will need JF's RC30, RC8, or ADP1 V1.3, depending on what version you intend to create for.
Here is the link to these: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=466174
You will also want to get the dev bootloader installed on your phone and to HIGHLY suggest everyone trying your theme to install it as well.
Link to dev bootloader: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=455860
You will also need to resign all the apks located in /system/app and framework-res.apk located in /system/framework. When you push all of these to your phone.
JesusFreke was kind enough to build a custom signing tool for me that would allow me to right click on an apk and resign it from there. I am posting it here for others to use as well. Note that this is a courtesy of JF, so thank him for it. I cannot stress how much time this has saved me and will save you.
Here is the link: Http://www.FightForthePits.com/testsign(2).zip
Before using this you need to know how to set this up:
I will assume that you have the sdk downloaded and extracted somewhere(if not, do that now), extract both files to the tools directory of your sdk.
Now you will need to add the tools dir of your sdk to the environment variable CLASSPATH.(This is for XP, Vista coming soon)
To do this, right click on My Computer click properties, then choose the tab that says advanced. Click the button that says environmental variables. Go to system variables find the one that says CLASSPATH, double click it, go to the end of variable value. There should be a semicolon ; at the end. type in the path to the testsign.jar located in the tools directory of your SDK, for example the path to my testsign.jar was c:\sdk\android-sdk-windows-1.0_r1\tools\testsign.jar If CLASSPATH is not in your system variables then create it. Secondly, Find the system variable called PATH and add to the end of it, the full path to your sdk directory. For example, mine was c:\sdk\android-sdk-windows-1.0_r2\tools
Now right click the reg file that you extracted and choose to install it, or merge.
Now, right click an apk, do you see an option that says ResignApk? That's how you will resign your .apks and .zips.
If you find the right click menu not working for some reason you can type the following in cmd to sign your files: java testsign whateverfiletosign
Now through doing this you have done two things, first off you have made the resigning process extremely easy, secondly you will not have to cd to the tools dir of the sdk to use adb or any other tool in the sdk.
You will also need a version of linux installed or running vmware with linux, if you want to create, or edit, an update script, which will install the theme onto the users phone.
You will need to be specific in addressing what version your theme is for, RC8, RC30, or ADP1. Make sure every file gets signed. Make sure you test the update.zip before you release it.
Every .apk contains the images relating to itself. However, every apk has the ability to use the images in framework-res.apk. The images for every apk is located inside of itself. To find these images open up the apk, you can rename it to .zip or open it with an archiver of your choice, winrar, winace, etc. Then after opening the apk open the folder called res and inside of that there are folders that are named Drawable, drawable-land, drawable-port, etc. This is where the images are stored.
Ther are some things you cannot edit unless you rebuild the entire apk from source, which we will not go into here.(another tutorial, another time) Just know that at this time you SHOULD NOT edit, or even open images with the extension .9.png. If you do you will have problems...Trust me. These are special images called ninepatch images and android resizes these images to fit wherever android, or any other apk, needs it to. if you do open them or edit them they will no longer render correctly when resized. I believe that in order to edit these you must do so and then put them into the source and rebuild the entire apk.
Before getting started you must also realize that you cannot simply resign one or two apk's and stick them in your phone and expect them to work. You must resign every apk inside of /system/app and framework-res.apk and put them on your phone at the same time.
To simplify this process for you though, I have provided an empty update.zip which you can place all of your resigned apps into and use to update your phone to your custom theme. You can also download someonelses theme and use there files, since they are resigned already. It may also be easier to see what files do what and go where since they have already been edited and are easy to point out.
Now, your ready to start changing things up.
You will now need to open the apk, which you can do by adding .zip after .apk, effectively changing it to a zip. Note that if you are using windows you will need to unhide known file extension types. you can also use your favorite archiver such as winrar, winzip, etc.
See here to unhide known file extension types for Xp: http://www.mediacollege.com/microsoft/windows/extension-change.html
See here to unhide file extension types for Vista: http://maximumpcguides.com/windows-vista/how-to-change-a-file-extension/
After opening the apk go to res and copy the folders that have drawable in their name. Go to your desktop, or wherever, create a new folder called Images, or whatever. Open the folder, paste the drawable folders in there. Now you can see what the files look like without opening them. Btw, you may also want to add -frame, or -launcher, to the end of the folders you cope over to keep them separated from others.
Finally, you've edited the images put them all in the apk renamed it back to an apk and resigned it. Now it's time to push it to your phone and see the changes you've made.
Important! : Whenever pushing files to the phone NEVER do it while the phone is running. Do this in recovery mode! If you do this while the phone is running normally you will begin to lose space in /system.
So, boot into recovery plug your phone in and open a cmd prompt. From the cmd prompt type adb shell mount /system then type the following: adb push c:\whereveryourfileis\whateveryourpushing.apk /system/app (system/framework if your pushing framework-res.apk)
Now reboot your phone. If it doesn't boot, try doing a wipe, if that doesn't work reinstall an update and try again. There are alot of things people can do wrong, I can't explain them all here. If you get real stuck, you can ask for help here or contact me on Gtalk [email protected].
So now your theme is done and your ready to make an update.zip for others to install your theme.
I have created a template for you to make your own update.zip. Just download, add the system apps to app, and framework to framework. Zip it up, SIGN IT, TEST IT YOURSELF, and then distribute it!
Empty update.zip template: Http://www.FightForthePits.com/Androidstuff/update_empty.zip
If anyone has any questions please try asking for help in this thread before emailing me for help Usually I will respond to questions in this forum.
I hope this Tutorial has been helpful. I will add on to it as needed.
Stericson
Links of interest:
Downloading SDK: http://code.google.com/android/intro/installing.html
Using ADB: http://code.google.com/android/reference/adb.html
Working with ninepatch should be straightforward if you use the draw9patch tool included in the SDK. Documentation on usage here:
http://code.google.com/android/reference/draw9patch.html
JF could also save theme users a wipe by resigning /system/app/* and /system/framework/framework-res.apk in his builds with the test keys. Nice tutorial, btw.
However it doesn't. I have used that to no avail. I believe you need to edit the images, put them in the source then rebuild the apks from the source.
As for JF's update, it does not currently wipe your phone after install. So, for him to do this he would have to have his update do a wipe. So technically, they would still have to do this initial wipe.
Stericson
Stericson said:
However it doesn't. I have used that to no avail. I believe you need to edit the images, put them in the source then rebuild the apks from the source.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good point. I thought you could simply drop a similarly dimensioned PNG in but apparently there is some metadata that only the android tool can create.
As for JF's update, it does not currently wipe your phone after install. So, for him to do this he would have to have his update do a wipe. So technically, they would still have to do this initial wipe.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
True, but a user who is upgrading to a JF update after having put in customized (and test-key signed) system apps will have to wipe again anyway =) Anyone using custom themes will have to wipe every time a JF update (or any update) comes out. However if JF resigns, custom theme users would not have to wipe and stock theme users only have to wipe once. (Nevermind the fact I think everyone should wipe when updating...)
thx stericson this will help big time how long before I can get resigned rc30 last night when you said all the apk. need to be resigned I was like this is going to be a long night but I see jf hooked you up save some big time with his resigning tool
jashsu said:
Good point. I thought you could simply drop a similarly dimensioned PNG in but apparently there is some metadata that only the android tool can create.
True, but a user who is upgrading to a JF update after having put in customized (and test-key signed) system apps will have to wipe again anyway =) Anyone using custom themes will have to wipe every time a JF update (or any update) comes out. However if JF resigns, custom theme users would not have to wipe and stock theme users only have to wipe once. (Nevermind the fact I think everyone should wipe when updating...)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ah, good point
The resigned apps will be released maybye sometime tonight...I had them done but ran into a script problem on adp1 and I have yet to try the rc30 and rc8 ones yet. so I won't release those until I've tested them. If you want to be a Guinea pig however, just let me know
Stericson
Stericson said:
Ah, good point
The resigned apps will be released maybye sometime tonight...I had them done but ran into a script problem on adp1 and I have yet to try the rc30 and rc8 ones yet. so I won't release those until I've tested them. If you want to be a Guinea pig however, just let me know
Stericson
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The resigned apps have been released, each update file will resign all of apps in /system/app and framework-res.apk. However, these updates make no changes to them whatsoever...Meaning your phone will look just like a brand new phone without any modifications.
rc30 works thx Stericson made it easy for use
Issues with using the update.zip above
Hi all,
I just wanted to point out that after I applied the update.zip above and rebooted applications kept force closing randomly and constantly even through the initial setup (where you have to click the green android to start).
Prior to this, I had JF's RC30 1.3, and the engineering bootloader V2 no sigcheck.
First I did just a alt+s then a alt-w and alt+s. And still nothing.
I'm new to all this so I'm not even sure where to begin troubleshooting. Should I be using the HardSPL?
Thanks in advance and I appologize if this isn't the right place for this post.
Update:
After reflashing with JF's 1.3 RC30 and the problem persisted I noticed that there was a new release 1.31 and this has fixed the problem. I hope this helps anyone else who runs into the same problem.
I still don't know what went wrong though, can anyone shed some light on this? thanks.
Truly there's no telling, sounds like J'f's update fixed it. Can I ask what version you tested?
I would also like to announce that now, thanks to JF, again, you do not have to wipe your phone completely to apply the resigned app updates. However, you will have to re-enter your google info and your call history and other minor things will be gone, but all of your apps will be retained.
Stericson
Alright, I am a little confused........
So I downloaded testsign.zip and extracted it to the tools folder. Then I went into environmental variables and added CLASSPATH with the value D:\Android\tools\testsign.jar and now I am not sure what to do next. Can someone give me some clarification. And btw I am on XP but I can get on linux at home if I need it, but I am a total noob to all this stuff so be gentle.
I'm using http://www.fightforthepits.com/Androidstuff/update_Rc30.zip and have been encountering issues when the phone boots up. As soon as the initial phone setup comes up I get process force close errors, I extracted launcher.apk, edited the files I wanted, repacked it, signed it and then resigned the update.zip. Any ideas what I'm doing wrong? I'm already running JF's RC30 1.31
Did you repack it in linux? Did you resign Launcher.apk? Also, that update file was never meant to be used as a template for an update since it kind of wipes your phone. You should be using update_empy, to push your own theme.
If you want to do only one file at a time, flash that update(update_rc30) then adb push your file into system/app. There are lots of things that you can mess up, most of them are hard to catch too. At any rate, everyone who has made a theme can tell you it's not just a straight forward process, expect errors. I've had more than I count I know....
Trial and error is your best teacher
Stericson
Stericson said:
Did you repack it in linux? Did you resign Launcher.apk? Also, that update file was never meant to be used as a template for an update since it kind of wipes your phone. You should be using update_empy, to push your own theme.
If you want to do only one file at a time, flash that update(update_rc30) then adb push your file into system/app. There are lots of things that you can mess up, most of them are hard to catch too. At any rate, everyone who has made a theme can tell you it's not just a straight forward process, expect errors. I've had more than I count I know....
Trial and error is your best teacher
Stericson
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Must .apk's be signed if they're pushed over ADB? I'm not running Linux, I'm repacking/signing in windows.
I also had the issue with force close when installing the resigned update from the first post, apps that shouldn't even run on start up were force closing.
Also the IM application was gone, had to do a wipe and go back to jf 1.31 to correct it
I will take another look at the update I provided...
Stericson
did you ever figure out how to change the text on the status bar from black to white?
to do that you have to rebuiuld the entire apk from source and edit an xml document
Stericson
has anyone tried making the icons bigger? I noticed they are 48x48 if we go bigger will that affect anything? Also has anyone been able to remove the text below the icons on the home screen? Oh and where is the tab located that has been made invisible?
*edit
well I tried making the icons bigger and it doesn't really do anything, they don't show up bigger on the screen. Might have something to do with the text underneath, not sure.
Kyeld said:
Must .apk's be signed if they're pushed over ADB? I'm not running Linux, I'm repacking/signing in windows.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yes they must be signed.
First of all: I'M SORRY FOR ASKING THIS!
But, I'm trying to edit some drawables in the framework-res and in a couple other apk's but my problem is resigning them. I followed this tutorial http://www.androiddevelopment.org/tag/apk/
I changed the .apk to .zip to open it and access the drawables but when I open the .zip file it opens it in another folder, not like winrar or whatever for windows. So after I edit what I need and recompress the file, I can't change it back to .apk. So I try signing the apk as a .zip but the signing tool thinks it's a update.zip and signs it that way.
Basically, is anyone able to successfully resign apk's on a mac? If so, how?
Thanks
make sure you rezip the files inside the folder, then either sign that zip or open the info window (command+i) and rename the extension to apk there.
circa85 said:
make sure you rezip the files inside the folder, then either sign that zip or open the info window (command+i) and rename the extension to apk there.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah I just figured out I have to open the info window to rename to .apk. And now the signing goes smoothly.
This thread is a waste, sorry, I'm an idiot.
Actually, I'm still having an issue. Here is an example of what happens:
Say I rename framework-res.zip to framework-res.apk (after editing, and recompressing) and then I use the signing tool to sign framework-res.apk. If I change it back to .zip and decompress it, there are two files in it. There is a folder called "framework-res" and a folder called "META-INF". Nothing else. The AndroidManifest.xml is inside the framework-res folder. This happens with every apk I try to sign
what are u using to sign apk's on mac? I was tryin to get this working long time ago but gave up. them I found the method using automator and it resigns them but idk if it actually wrks. i tried editing stuff resigning and flashing but i got like 770 files unsigned. unless I just didn't know how to resign an update.zip properly..
jroid said:
what are u using to sign apk's on mac? I was tryin to get this working long time ago but gave up. them I found the method using automator and it resigns them but idk if it actually wrks. i tried editing stuff resigning and flashing but i got like 770 files unsigned. unless I just didn't know how to resign an update.zip properly..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm using the script in the tutorial I posted in the original post
The script just uses the Jarsigner tool. So I'm using Jarsigner to sign my apks
Oh ok. I might have to try this out. Question: what is the proper way of signing an update.zip after u edited framework.Res or. Apks? I'm confused when it comes to that. Must u resign every single file in the. Zip for it to work?
I went as far as rebuilding the apk, but not sure how to resign. I tried to install anyway without signing, but the installer hangs while checking for version and gives network error after some time. I found a http://code.google.com/p/signapk and tried to use it on mac, but seems like it needs to be run on android itself. When I tried to run it on android, I get permission error, though I did a chmod +x as su. Could you give some more details on where to get the tool and use it?
Ok so i'm just wondering if there is a way to go into an existing bootanimation file and add a wav file into the sequence of the description text file. And also where would you put the wav file in the zip file. Also can you do this without using ADB, not a big fan of it(meaning I don't know how to use it) It should just be as easy as throwing the file in the zip file and writing the new description text code to run it properly. Just I don't know how. please help
What ROM are you on? How did you get your current boot animation onto your phone w/o adb?
I used Ava-froyoZ2, and for the bootanimation i downloaded one put it on the root of my sdcard and then using root explorer i moved that file to /system/customize/resources then pasted it in there. So all i need to know is how to put a wav file in the bootanimation zip file and write the description text so it'll execute that file.
It's not a wave file it's mp3. It is also not part of the bootanomation zip, it is its own file. Search the forums for pushboot and use that. You should learn to use adb because from your questions in here you more than likely will boot loop your phone and have to nand restore just to get out of it. I have fixed bootloops with adb many times and I now only keep a solid backup of my rom once every 2 weeks.
Ok, secondly; With that rom or if it even is the rom, it doesn't allow me to put my phone in debugging. I have ADB blah blah blah just i'm not that good with CMD, but it never recognizes my phone due to that fact of the debugging. When I go into the settings I can check it and uncheck it. So I don't know what that problem could be.
im trying to make my own rom trying to try new this out and i was going around taken lil apps tht other roms hads like hulu, mastermind mirror, ect and i dont think i zip it correctly cause when i check the inside of the zip folder the other file is still not zip and i am sure that is a problem right ??? ps im using cwm 3.0 is tht a problem ?
i use this meth...
ok, here it goes.
first, figure out where you want to push your file. i'd reccomend pushing manually in recovery to make sure the file itself works. then, using a tool like 7zip (pc) or betterzip (mac) create a file structure that matches the one on the phone. for example, if you wanted a boot animation to be put in system/customize/resource, make a folder system, customize in that, resource in that, and the bootanimation.zip inside that. now you have the main part. next, make a folder in the root of the zip called META-INF (caps counts) inside that, com, inside that, google, and inside that, android. thats /META-INF/com/google/android/. inside android, you need to place in an update-script. i'd reccomend taking one from another zip and just editing it becasue i still have not figured out a way to make that type of file (unix exec) from scratch. open it up in a .txt editor like notepad++ (pc) or coda (mac) and write your script. here is the baisic script for copying the directory system on the zip to system on the phone (like flashing a boot animation).
copy_dir PACKAGE:system SYSTEM:
CAPS COUNT AND MAKE SURE YOU HAVE AN ENTER AT THE END. IF YOU DO NOT HAVE AN ENTER AT THE END (TO MAKE IT TWO LINES INSTEAD OF ONE, LIKE ISSUEING A COMMAND) THEN IT WILL NOT WORK AT ALL ( E:SYNTAX ERROR IN UPDATE-SCRIPT IS THE ERROR YOU WILL GET)
so put this file into the folder android, and zip it. make sure it is in store only, compatibility mode, if you have such options. then, use an auto signer (or just say zip is not signed and make sure to put sig verification off) to sign the zip. flash, and watch your work magically appear.
the update-script i showed is written in amend. i have no idea how to write in edify bcuz it is much more complicated with the binary and stuff. so dont flash with cwm 3.0+.
i only have 1 thing to say first switch to amon ra amon ra is 1000 times better than clockwordmod
how do i switch?? lol also what if i unroot my phone would tht be a problem?
Jcki4 said:
how do i switch?? lol also what if i unroot my phone would tht be a problem?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
go here and download the PC36IMG.zip and follow the directions
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=705026.
as for setting up a rom unzip one to see how it's set up, i have changed a few things in some and zipped it back up and signed it but never built one, sorry couldnt be more help
I think every body should have the source to information so they can better understand what they are messing with... why waste time waiting and begging for food when you can learn to cook for yourself?! ... so here is my tutorial on breaking down CyanogenMod9 on the Acer A100( although most of this should be a general guideline to most roms) ***** I am not responsible for you breaking your stuff nor responsible what you do with this information... you have been warned! u can soft brick your tab in a heartbeat***
okay so there are countless tutorials on how to build a ROM from source... just google it.. but some ppl obviously don't have the need to spend the hours compiling because there is already a build for the ROM that they like... but on the other hand they want to add some mods and tweaks to the zip before flashing to tweak the tab to how they want it... after all it is your device and your the one that uses it most so why wouldn't you want personalized tweaks... and theres only one way to learn.. trial and error! haha but hopefully this guide will help you grasp some basic to advanced Android tweaks and mods ... again this tutorial is written for CM9 for the acer a100 but the "general" idea is about the same on the basic stuff... this tutorial is written by me from many sources too many to name but thanks for all the tutorials or I wouldn't know a lot of what I know about Android... This guide is for Ubuntu 12.04... but I would assume 10.04+ it would be compatible but don't quote me on that as I don't know so its your fault if you f* something up!!!!
First off you have your cm9.zip... its simply a zipped archive.. dur... sometimes a signed zip.. now you can simply open nautilus file explorer and go to your .zip and extract it with archive manager.. I suggest when the dialog comes up as where to extract the files that you click make a new folder and name it extractedCM9 and let it extract... okay not so hard quite yet 'eh?.. hang in there it gets a lot better ... you should now have a folder named extractedCM9 with some files in it... copy the extractedCM9 folder and paste it into the same directory that your copying from... rename the folder tweaked then cut and past that folder into extractedCM9... next open the extracted CM9... you should see the following: META-INF(a directory), system(a directory), and boot.img( this holds your initrd which is your "ramdisk", your zImage which is your kernal, and on extracting you'll also find a boot.cfg... we will get to extracting the boot image latter.. stick with the easier things to get us going!... now create another directory called stock .. you should now have the following... META-INF/(a directory), system/(a directory), stock/(a directory), tweaked(a directory), and boot.img.. okay a little more copying and pasting.. all this will be used later so if following this tutorial all the way throu you should do as instructed lol... CUT META-INF/, system/, and boot.img and paste it into stock.. you should be left with the two directories tweaked/ and stock/ both having extracted CM9 in them go into your tweaked/ directory and lets begin.... so some of the things you can tweak just from a simple extraction of the zip are as follows...
You can edit your /system directory and make tweaks as needed before ever installing the rom! .. just some of the things held in /system is the boot animation and it can be found at /system/media/bootanimation.zip its also a simple zip composed of images to be ran concurrent to appear as a single animation.. the resolution for the a100 boot animation is 1024x600 and a simple google search for either a100 custom boot animations or basically any low-def 1024x600 boot animation should work simply delete the existing bootanimation and copy the new one in its place.. remember NO MATTER WHAT THE DOWNLOAD FILE NAME is you MUST rename it to be bootanimation.zip or it wont work( I say should because I obviously have not tried every boot animation and I know there is a limit to the size for the acer animation so sticking with <6mb bootanimations should be just fine).. now if you decide to go further and extract the cm9 boot animation you will find part0( a directory), part1( a directory) and desc.txt.. the part0 and part1 directories hold the images that are to be ran and desc.txt simply states the resolution and then below that it list the directories that are included in the zip... part01 will be ran before part02.. for the novice I recommend just sticking to finding cool bootanimations already zipped for our resolution that some has posted for download so you can simply copy and past!...
also in system/media/ you will find a directory named audio.. dive into that and you find where the default sounds(aka ringtones, notifacations) that are stored for your fresh rom go back up a directory to system/media/ again and you'll see the video.. those are just some mp4's stored for the ROM.... that about it for editing in media.. lets recap.. you can basically edit/ change your boot animation and the default ringtones and notification sounds in /system/media... lets move back up to /system..
from /system you see another directory user/ ... lets go in there for a second.. what do we find.. MORE directories of course lol.. what else would we find... keychars( a directory) and keylayout( a directory) contain your configuration files for the input keys.. you can find things for the way game controllers and keyboards input are handled and what codes on keypresses.. now for our device if you proceed into keylayout/ (system/usr/keylayout/) you will see a file called gpio-keys.kl right clicking on that file and selecting open with and choosing gedit will bring up the file and you will see someything like
key 136 SEARCH WAKE_DROPPED
key 139 MENU WAKE
key 102 HOME
... and so on.....
these are what your hardware buttons do.. basically to explain whats going on is the key ### is the hardwired part... the SEARCH or MENU or what ever action you see is simply that.. an action to be called... and the WAKE_DROPPED and WAKE... well to be honest I'm not for sure what those do lol I assume having WAKE associated with a key would wake the device when pressed.. not for sure on that one thou haven't tried it.. but a quick google search and you can find list of commands that you can choose from.. one of them is being the command to call the camera.. so in essence you could bind any of your hardware keys to the camera function and it would open the camera... my little tweak to this file is to completely disable the HARDWARE HOME KEY... the only key on the front of our devices.. now I have seen some tutorials no disabling it by changing the...
key 102 HOME
... to ...
key 102 UKNOWN
... my problem with that is it does seem to disable the key.. sorta.. and what I mean by that is when you are in certain apps it will trigger the select/ hover action like if you were using a keyboard... so to completely disable it where it will call NO action simply DELETE that line! change ..
key 102 HOME
... to ...
... lol just delete that line out of the file and save it... voila! no more hitting it on mistake while playing a game or browser or w.e it is your doing *** note that this will not disable the light on the button.. it will still flash for notifications and the like...
alright once you have that saved you can exit out of gedit and go back to nautilus showing your extracted cm9 files go up your directory tree until your back in tweaked/ looking at META-INF/, system/, boot.img ... highlight all three of those... right click again and hit compress.. name the file myCM9tweak.zip or w/e you want to call it... make sure .zip is selected in the drop down menu of type of format to compress and compress... once its done you have an unsigned tweaked CM9.zip that if you didn't make any mistakes will boot.. and even if you made mistakes it could possibly boot and you will find your errors as you use it.. now if you just stuck with the simple tweaks I should you above you should be pretty safe and not worry to much about the device not booting.. if it doesn't boot a stock .zip then go back to your tweaked/ folder and try and find out what you did wrong and compress again about try it out! ... okay my fingures are tired of typing so I'm done with the tutorial for tonight.. well I might add more tonight but don't hold me to it... but this tutorial is in NO WAY finished... we are just beginning.. I haven't even showed you how to unpack-edit- and repack your boot.img to swap out kernals and from there extracting your initrd( aka "ramdisk") so you cant edit things at the very core of the ROM... don't be mad if you made the stock/ and tweaked/ directories and are wondering what the hell i had you make two directories of the same crap... just remember this tutorial is at its very begin if you plan on unpacking boot.img's with me then you need to just follow along... for what I have showed you tonight you can do this from windows of course and using notepad instead of gedit... for the advanced stuff sorry your going to need Ubuntu! ...
MORE TO COME...
--more simple system tweaks and mods--
--unpacking-modifying- and repacking boot.img's--
--extracting initrd's( aka "ramdisk") to make edits to the core of your rom and of course repacking them--
I hope someone finds some kind of useful information out of this.. tonight was pretty basic stuff but theres a lot more coming... including but not limited to a whole bunch of command prompt!
*~ENJOY~*
(please excuse any typo's.. I don't think theres any where it count's ..)
This is the guide I wish I had read the day I rooted, you rock man!
sent from your future.