[General Questions and Answers] elmanzon:
Settings Icon Missing after applying .apk and .jar mod - Note 3 kitkat4.4.2

Hello everybody, I'm a noob and this is my first post, so please be nice..

In trying to bring back spell check to my rooted stock KITKAT 4.4.2 firmware N9005VIAENB1 (it's a Galaxy NOTE 3 purchased in Germany), I encountered a problem:

the settings icon is missing, and settings (from the quick settings menu bar) can not be accessed; so there is no way to access my settings. <-- this is the problem i need help with

Below is a detailed list of what I did to my phone. Please let me know if you see anything I did while modifying the files that could have caused this problem, and if you have any suggestions on how to correct the issue(s). I really REALLY want the spell checker feature back in my phone:

I used this thread to become familiar with decompiling and recompiling .jar and .apk files to mod files (from here on referred to as -thread 1):

http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=2251719

I then used this thread to know which edits to do to the corresponding files in order to re-integreate spell chek back into the stock ROM settings (from here on referred to as -thread 2):

http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=2168321

This were my general process steps (after a complete back-up, of course):

1. rooted the phone

2. used Deodexer to pull the files from the phone to the PC (it pulled all files from system's folders "app", "framework" and "priv-app" only) and deodexed the ROM. 0 errors were found

3. I followed thread 1 instructions to a T to decompile, edit, recompile, sign, zipalign the files as per thread 2 (deodexed framework2.jar and SecSettings.apk files)

--Notes on 3:--

a) my particular original framework2.jar file had the structure

.method public isSuggestionsEnabled()Z
.registers 2

.prologue
.line 9827
const/4 v0, 0x0

return v0
.end method

as opposed to the supposed original structure illustrated in thread 2

.method public isSuggestionsEnabled()Z
.locals 1

.prologue
.line 8464
const/4 v0, 0x0

return v0
.end method

I proceeded to do the change instructed in thread 2 anyway and continued to follow thread 1 to recompile without problems

b) while recompiling the edited SecSettings.apk file, I got several warnings similar to this in the command prompt:

(several warnings which the OP did not have in his example in step g of thread 1). However, the .apk file seemed to compile and build after all, so I proceeded as per thread 1

c) In steps J and K from thread 1, it is not clear which version of the .apk need signing so I signed the file inside the "dist" folder (modified in step J, assuming this was the edited, recompiled .apk file) and continued to follow steps from thread 1.

--end of Notes--

4. I replaced the deodexed framewoek2.jar and SecSettings.apk files with the modified ones in their respective /framework and /priv-app folders (in PC)

5. I used deodexer to create a flashable .ZIP of the deodexed ROM extracted to the PC (again, which only included all files from /app, /framework/ and /priv-app forlders). 0 errors were found.

6. I copied the .ZIP to my phone's SD Card

7. Booted the phone in recovery and selected "install from SD Card'. flash installation was successful

8. Wiped the partition cache (did not wipe app/data information, only cache)

9. Rebooted the phone

The OS booted fine with no apparent issues other than the settings icon being missing and settings menu inaccessible. Your kind help would be GREATLY appreciated

Regards