Jump to content

HTC Sense (ish) themeing/"Porting" Sense to pulse


Guest Epic-Emodude

Recommended Posts

Guest Epic-Emodude

Hi all,

The title shows what im trying to do here, and im sure there are many others out there who want something similar.

I have decided that Launcher Pro Plus is the best launcher to use, as it is easy to create custom docks for, and it has HTC like widgets, as well as the home screen views and the like.

I have found these Icons that can be applied using better cut (im not entirely sure how)HTC_Sense_Icons.zip

Depending on what you want there are options for wallpapers. If you are looking for a good quality free wallpaper, then the launcher pro one is your best bet (it kinda looks like sense 1.5 wallpaper), or you can download a copy of the official 1.5 wallpaper from somewhere allthough from my experience, these tend to be a bit rubbish. If you want a live 2.1 wallpaper there is one on the market, although I have not tried it and it costs money. The wallpapers may be extractable from ROMs for HTC phones, although im not sure about this and I cant do this atm as I dont have easy access to a computer. If someone can do this and can upload it im sure others will be greatful.

As for the clock widget, there are pleanty of those around. Fancy widget (which can be found in FLB mod or the pulse dropbox) or an older version of beautiful widgets are probably the best (any other sugestions please let me know).

At the moment, im not to sure where to start with this. If anyone is able to make this into some kind of flashable zip then that would be great. (perhaps we could create a theme from it)

If anyone has any other idea on how to make it more sense like, then post them.

Aaron.

P.S. Upload screen shots =)

Edited by Epic-Emodude
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest Epic-Emodude
With Launcher Pro and Weather Widget Donate:

post-703119-1280169773_thumb.jpg

So I've done some digging around Htc apps and i've noticed that they have two res folders. I don't know what effect this has on the app and wether someone with more experience can do something to make it work.

Aaron

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest Epic-Emodude

Ive done some more digging around and found out that the second res folder only appears when the .apk is coppied onto the phone, and this stops it installing, giving the error message "There is a problem parsing the package". I have tried deleting the extra res folder from inside the phone but it wont let me, and when i did so in windows explorer (only one showed up) they both disapear. If there is something in the res folder that causes it to duplicate (so it can only be installed on HTC phones?) then maybe we can get rid of this

Ive also been experimenting with mixtures of the stock launcher and HTC sense and I cant get anything to install.

Anyone have any ideas how we might be able to get HTC apps to work on our phones?

Aaron

Edited by Epic-Emodude
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest Basher52

Your LauncherPro looks like i want it :( what i got to do?

To HTC stuff: They are using a modified kernel, so i think it isnt just copy and paste, but if you need some help, ill help you.

Greets

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest Epic-Emodude
Your LauncherPro looks like i want it :( what i got to do?

To HTC stuff: They are using a modified kernel, so i think it isnt just copy and paste, but if you need some help, ill help you.

Greets

I know nothing about kernels so If it has to be modified to run the apps then im screwed. Would it not be easier to edit the app to run on our pulses. I mean theres got to be something in the app that means it can only run on their kernel so we have to find this and change it. It may mean re-writing a few xmls, but if we can get a few people who know how how to edit apps or whatever then it shouldnt be too hard.

The thing is thought that i dont know what half the things in the app do so really we need someone who knows what it all does to look at the apps and try and find something.

If not perhaps we could rewrite the app using the images and stuff from the HTC apps but coding it ourselves to give it as many features as possible.

Aaron

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest Basher52

Some info about their kernel modding:

http://www.androidauthority.com/index.php/...for-developers/

http://developer.htc.com/

http://www.redmondpie.com/htc-sense-on-nex...desire-9140456/

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=522076

What we need is a decompiler, i think Bobo got something like this, will ask him later. I just downlaoded a HTC Desire Rom, for playing with some apks especially flash lite player.

I will stay on this, stay tuned

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest Epic-Emodude
Some info about their kernel modding:

http://www.androidauthority.com/index.php/...for-developers/

http://developer.htc.com/

http://www.redmondpie.com/htc-sense-on-nex...desire-9140456/

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=522076

What we need is a decompiler, i think Bobo got something like this, will ask him later. I just downlaoded a HTC Desire Rom, for playing with some apks especially flash lite player.

I will stay on this, stay tuned

Ok. Ill have a look at those, although I have limited access to a computer (mine died so im using my sisters whenever I can).

I dont know if it made any difference but I just realised I downloaded a 2.2 ROM so im downloading a 2.1 ROM now and im going to try again.

Ill also read into writing apps.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest rulerofkaos
Your LauncherPro looks like i want it :( what i got to do?

Just use this background for the dock and switch the middle icons to phone, left to app-drawer and right to whatever you want. Then use the attached icon to make it invisible.

sense.zip

post-703119-1280247209_thumb.png

post-703119-1280247214_thumb.jpg

Edited by rulerofkaos
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest Basher52

@rulerofkaos

danke schön :(

ill try to embed it later, out of time right now.

@epic-Emodude

While trying to install app from 2.1 Desire Rom, i noticed two different behaviours of the .apk

Some apps crash the installation instandly, while other are running for a few second.

My though: those how crash instandly, are looking for HTC sign. The other ones are installing, but leaking features from the rom/the kernel itself.

will go on, Basher

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest Epic-Emodude
@rulerofkaos

danke schön :(

ill try to embed it later, out of time right now.

@epic-Emodude

While trying to install app from 2.1 Desire Rom, i noticed two different behaviours of the .apk

Some apps crash the installation instandly, while other are running for a few second.

My though: those how crash instandly, are looking for HTC sign. The other ones are installing, but leaking features from the rom/the kernel itself.

will go on, Basher

So there are two ways of doing this then:

1. Add the HTC sign and features to kernel

2. Remove the need for th HTC sign and features from the app

The second method will be easier although if they are dependent on something in the kernel or the HTC thing we will have to mod the kernel, although we may be able to rewrite the apps to run on the pulse, but without a couple of kernel dependant features.

I guess we have to keep digging around untill we find a lead, or someone else helps us.

I'm off school for 6 weeks so I have pleanty of time on my hands.

I guess the first thing to do will be to work out what everything in the app does. Most have res, META-INF, and then a couple of files, although some differ.

As far as I understand, META-INF tells the system what to update. It has 3 files in it. MANIFEST.MF CERT.SF and CERT.RSA. CERT.RSA makes no sense to me (I think its generated by something). MANIFEST.MF and CERT.SF both contain a list of all the files in the app and then a code.

e.g. Name: res/drawable/widget_icon_photo.png

SHA1-Digest: +kyj2aVsMPtmC4wVtiablURWM0Y=

I dont know what these codes do, although I think they might be varification things.

I think res contains all the images for the app and some XMLs telling them where they go, but it probably contains other stuff.

Im not sure what anything else does atm, but im sure well find out.

Aaron

Edited by Epic-Emodude
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest Delta1292

to rulerofkaos, how did you get launcher pro to recognise the .png?

when i go into the launcher pro preferences>appearance stteings>Dock background>Custom it doesnt show the sense.png file even though it is on my sd card, it only works if i change the file to a jpg, but then it has white around the edges :(

dont worry, turns out i hadn't copied it over :(

Edited by Delta1292
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest Epic-Emodude

So I just had an idea. In system/app there is a file called apk installer. If this is part of the app installation process which it almost certainly is, this could be something that the apps are looking for (if Htc use their own version of this). We may be able to use this file from a Htc rom to try and install their apps, although it may have to be built into the rom and flashed.

Aaron

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest Basher52

Whoa, you did a lot :(

i got holidays too, but got to work for my new pc.

When iam at home, ill try to decompile both apk installer using bobos AnDE tool.

Today i got an nother thought aboutSense UI. Could itbe embedded in framework stuff, so we may copy same parts from Htc hero 2.1 framework to pulse rom.

ill have a troe on this later, keep on going dudes. :(

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest Epic-Emodude
Whoa, you did a lot :(

i got holidays too, but got to work for my new pc.

When iam at home, ill try to decompile both apk installer using bobos AnDE tool.

Today i got an nother thought aboutSense UI. Could itbe embedded in framework stuff, so we may copy same parts from Htc hero 2.1 framework to pulse rom.

ill have a troe on this later, keep on going dudes. :(

So Ive just looked at the HTC rom ive downloaded (ive got the Desire one, but i will download hero aswell) I cannot find apkinstaller in system/app.

This could mean that its something put in there by the phone when the ROM is installed, which could require some serious hacking, however package installer and cert installer are there, and i think these do something simular.

Aaron

Edit: Ive downloaded a flb-mod 1.1 and apkinstaller was already there unlike in the HTC roms, so flibblesan - if you are reading this, did you put that in there or was it already there?

In terms of frameworks, the folder system/framework contains more things in the HTC roms. Most of the extra stuff is HTC stuff (e.g. com.HTC.framework) so they have added some stuff. Framework-res.apks are almost exactly the same in terms of the folder, although the HTC ones have an xml-land folder within the res folder that is not found in the pulse one.

Edited by Epic-Emodude
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest Epic-Emodude

Ive just tried to flash a HTC Hero ROM to my phone to see what heppened (didnt expect it to work).

After:

Formatting SYSTEM....
I got:
Copying files....

E:Can't symlink /system/xbin/[

E:Failure at line 14:

symlink busybox SYSTEM:xbin[


Installation aborted

Does anyone know what this means (why it failed)?

I know that it wont work but it I though it might help us in porting something.

Thanx

Aaron

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest Basher52

Symlink is something like a Link to an another dictionary. Yours fails because there is a Problem with the busbox (script? or what kind of file it ist), which cant be connected. Tried something yesterday, but realised that it would be better to start working with an offzial htc rom. Cause if we spend time with a custom rom an it addons, it just will takte longer and gives us more problems.

Basher

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest Epic-Emodude
Symlink is something like a Link to an another dictionary. Yours fails because there is a Problem with the busbox (script? or what kind of file it ist), which cant be connected. Tried something yesterday, but realised that it would be better to start working with an offzial htc rom. Cause if we spend time with a custom rom an it addons, it just will takte longer and gives us more problems.

Basher

So we will need to get an official Htc rom from their website (probably best to use a 2.1 update). Do you know how to unpack them so we can make them flashable? I'll try and do this when I get home.

Aaron

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest DanWilson
So we will need to get an official Htc rom from their website (probably best to use a 2.1 update). Do you know how to unpack them so we can make them flashable? I'll try and do this when I get home.

Aaron

You know, if you get this, we have Froyo, and Sense, and Cyanogen MOD, with multitouch. In short, we shall have ze best phone, IN ZE WORLD!!!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest Epic-Emodude
You know, if you get this, we have Froyo, and Sense, and Cyanogen MOD, with multitouch. In short, we shall have ze best phone, IN ZE WORLD!!!

Except for the Htc phones which already have these already working without any bugs. Although once we have Froyo we won't get another update so we can concerntrate on optimising Froyo for our pulses with whatever we want =)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest DanWilson
Except for the Htc phones which already have these already working without any bugs. Although once we have Froyo we won't get another update so we can concerntrate on optimising Froyo for our pulses with whatever we want =)

Why can't Cyanogen mod our phone? It used to be HTC only, now the Galaxy's have it, and we don't!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest Epic-Emodude
Why can't Cyanogen mod our phone? It used to be HTC only, now the Galaxy's have it, and we don't!

Are you saying that if we port a 2.1 hero rom to our pulses we will be able to have Cyanogen MOD and it will be easier to get 2.2?

Aaron

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest DanWilson
Are you saying that if we port a 2.1 hero rom to our pulses we will be able to have Cyanogen MOD and it will be easier to get 2.2?

Aaron

I think so. If we could fix the kernel to work, then we could port Cyan's .29 kernel Hero mod to the Pulse, but 2.2 might be a little trickier. I'm just guessing now but I'm sure getting stock Hero (even 1.5) would get us every step closer to 2.2 or Cyanogen MOD.

In other words;

Hero 1.5 Stock = Cyanogen .27 kernel ROMs very easy --- Porting 2.2 (or any other Cyanogen) that bit easier.

Hero 2.1 Stock = Cyanogen .29 kernel ROMs very easy --- Porting 2.2 (or any other Cyanogen) even easier than with 1.5.

And it means if HTC ever release 2.2 for the Hero, we is gonna PARTAY!!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest dodge-167
I think so. If we could fix the kernel to work, then we could port Cyan's .29 kernel Hero mod to the Pulse, but 2.2 might be a little trickier. I'm just guessing now but I'm sure getting stock Hero (even 1.5) would get us every step closer to 2.2 or Cyanogen MOD.

In other words;

Hero 1.5 Stock = Cyanogen .27 kernel ROMs very easy --- Porting 2.2 (or any other Cyanogen) that bit easier.

Hero 2.1 Stock = Cyanogen .29 kernel ROMs very easy --- Porting 2.2 (or any other Cyanogen) even easier than with 1.5.

And it means if HTC ever release 2.2 for the Hero, we is gonna PARTAY!!

ah, yes, thats all nice but how will we port HTC Hero kernel to Pulse...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest Epic-Emodude

I just tried to download the Htc hero tomorrow update from Htc (www.htc.com/uk/SupportDownloadList.aspx?p_id=283&act=sd&cat=2) I think its the 2.1 updated but it asks for the serial number, so I can't do anything. If someone can point me towards an unedited hero tomorrow (preferably in zip format) I will be greatful.

Thanks

Aaron

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Please sign in to comment

You will be able to leave a comment after signing in



Sign In Now

×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use.