HOW TO CHANGE SKINS AND THEMES???

HOW TO CHANGE SKINS AND THEMES

1. What are Skins and Themes?

On the E6, “skin” means
• all display icons
• all GUI components like buttons, status bar, scrollbar, etc.

while “theme” means
• the poweron/poweroff animation screen (by default usually the Motorola startup)
• the wallpaper.

Skins and Themes can be changed separately.

The skin configuration data is stored in a file called ezx_skins.cfg while the theme configuration data is in a file called ezx_theme.cfg. Both of these are located in the /ezx_user/download/appwrite/setup folder within the phone’s folder structure (so is not directly accessible unless you install a program like telnet).

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CAUTION

Changing themes and skins is one of the most common means that users kill their phones. You must not change themes and skins simply by installing them using linloader or else you run the risk of freezing your phone. (This is different from previous Motorola phones where you could simply install additional themes). The reason is the limited space in the ezx_usr folder. If it fills up the memory it will not leave enough space and will freeze the phone when you reboot.

The following 2 situations can cause this to occur:

• if a skin or theme is added to ezx_usr and does not leave sufficient free memory
• you get an error during theme installation, then you try to select that partially installed theme and then reboot the phone

If your phone has crashed then the phone will hang on turning it on - it will freeze on either the motorola screen or startup wall paper of theme. If you try to turn it off using the red power key, it will just beep and do nothing. The only way to turn it off is to take out the battery.

If this happens, first try to take out the battery, wait a few minutes and then reinsert and turn back on. If it still freezes then the only solution is to flash your phone to restore it back to vanilla (This will also wipe out all your stuff including contacts/sms/files...everything on the phone!! – so make sure that you back these up using Motorola Phone Tools before trying any theme/skin changes. Even though the phone has frozen you will still be able to get it into boot mode (see section on flashing)

If you are not sure or have a firmware version that you can not recover then it is recommended that you do not change your phone’s skins or theme!
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What Method do I Use to Change Skins/Themes

There are several ways described in the various threads to change themes/skins. Some seem to work for some people and not for others so it is hard to write a general set of instructions. Two of the methods that I tried are (1) using a skin/theme installer program written by eakrin; and (2) using the linloader script. I froze my phone twice just using the linloader method requiring me to reflash it (see caution above), but found that that Eakrins’ method only changed the status and scroller bar colors and did not change the Global Navigation Bar (GNB) icons at the top and the shortcut icons at the bottom. Also some might want to stay safe with the MTF installer.

After a lot of experimentation I found that using a combination of the two methods appears to be a successful (and safe!) way to install skins. At a high level you need to do the following (detailed instructions for each step follow):

1. Download the skin you want and install the skin using Eakrin’s Skin Installer program.
2. Turn the phone off and on
3. If only the status and scroll bar has changed, but not the icons, then use linloader to run that skin's lin file to complete the change
4. Turn the phone off and on and the skin should now be complete.

If you want to change the phone to another skin then use Eakrin's Skin Installer to install the next skin (which will delete the old skin). When you turn the file back on, you will notice the icons have returned to the grey default. It is now safe to use linloader to run the next skin's lin file. Using this method I have successfully changed over a dozen skins.

NEVER RUN LINLOADER two times in a row without running Eakrin's skin installer against a *.pskn file first to clear out the old skin - otherwise you run the risk of filling up the memory and freezing the phone.

2. How to Install Eakrin’s Skin and Theme Installers

Eakrin’s program is a mpkg program that changes the phone to the selected skin or theme, by first deleting the old skin/theme before installing the new skin file into /ezx_user/download/skin and the theme file into /ezx_user/download/theme - so it does not fill up the memory.

1. Go to this thread on Installing Skins.
2. Download Eakrin’s skin installer and theme installer on page 1.
3. These are regular zip files so you will need to Unzip them before copying them to your phone.
4. Copy these files (A1200_skin_installer_0.2.pkg and A1200_theme_installer_0.2.pkg) to the root folder of your phone’s SD card as explained in the section “How to Copy Files to your Phone”.
5. Install them using mpkg installer.

2a. How to Change Your Phone’s Skin - Part 1

To change your skin perform the following steps:

1. Select a skin that you like. See here and here for a huge selection.
   
   (The one that I like is tlinux1 !)
   
   Even though many of the skins displayed in this forum and on the various skins websites are shown with Chinese characters - they will have your default language when installed - with some exceptions – if an icon has Chinese letters as part of the icon they will still be in Chinese; and the words for "Mobile"; "Home" and "Office" under Contacts stayed as Chinese characters – probably because these are also icons.
2. Download the rar file to your pc.
3. Unrar it – each skin should consist of a folder containing a number of skin and theme files:
   eg:
   Code:

   tlinux1
          tlinux1.pskn
          tlinux1.skn
          iconres.ezx
          logo file in jpg or png (optional)
          off/on gifs

   It should also contain a lin file e.g. tlinux1.lin (Not all skin developers have included this in their skin package however)
4. Create a folder called “themes” directly under the root on your SD card.
5. Copy the entire skin folder under this themes folder on your SD card. e.g. e:\themes\tlinux1
6. Copy the lin file directly under the themes folder (ie move it out of its skin folder)
   e.g:
   Code:

   themes
        tlinux1
        tlinux1.lin

   IMPORTANT: Make sure you do not have any spaces in any of the folder names (ie do NOT call it themes\fun skin\) This will prevent the programs from installing.
7. For skin installation, use the phone's File Manager to find the *.pskn file in the skin folder. Hold the stylus on the file until the small menu appears. Select “Open with” and choose the Skin Installer. If it has worked you should hear a woman's voice saying “Installation complete”.
8. Restart the phone to make new skin active.

You should see the new skin installed. If only the status and scroll bar have changed then you will also need to do part 2b using linloader.

2b. How to Change Your Phone’s Skin - Part 2

1. Always run Eakrins installer program against a *.pskn file prior to doing this to clear out any old skins.
2. Create a new folder called "install" (without quotes) right under the themes\ folder on the SD card (ie themes\install) The .lin file copies some text file to this folder during installation
3. Use Program Manager to find the skin's lin file and tap and hold the stylus on the file until the small menu appears. Select “Open with” and choose the loader program (It may take up to 10 seconds to complete - you should hear a set of beeps when done).
4. Restart the phone and the icons should now have changed.

Note 1: On successful installation, you should see that three files 1) on.gif 2) off.gif 3) desk.jpg from choosen skin folder have been copied directly under the themes\ folder on SD card. This verifies that install worked correctly.

Note 2: You do not have to run the same skin's *.lin file as you installed with Eakrin's program. If you like the status/scroll bar to be one skin's style and the icons to be another skin's style then this works ok. (ie can install tlinux1 with Eakrin's installer then run LEE_blue.lin skin.)

2c. How to Change your Phone’s Theme

Changing your theme changes the animations displayed when you start and turn off your phone. Any theme can be used with any skin (or by itself). You change the theme by running a file with the *.phm extension.

Some skin packages already have this file (eg TLINUX.phm) - but if your package does not then it is very easy to create one as it consists of only three lines (see below). You can either copy this *.phm file from another skin package or create it new. Edit it using Wordpad (not Notepad) substituting in the names of the startup and shutdown gifs that you want to use on lines 2 and 3. Put this file in the same directory as the skin package with the gifs you want to use.

Example of a *.phm file (eg TLINUX1.phm)

Code:

[THEME_CONFIG_TABLE]
PowerOnScreen = on.gif
PowerOffScreen = off.gif

Then run it as follows:

1. Hold the stylus on the *.phm file until the small menu appears. Select “Open with” and choose the theme installer. If it has worked you should hear a voice saying “Installation complete”.
2. Restart your phone to make new theme active.