yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[Windows Mobile Software Development] Z80-Man:
Hi, Andy, and thanks for your help !

No risk if you're working out of a XIP archive from the latest MS builds topic. ;)

Copying the files from the \Windows folder to modify them never works (I'm just warning people about that :p) : it just crashes Windows Mobile, forcing to a hard reset.

Wait, wait, wait !!! "Set transparency = 0" ? :eek:

Ok... Just got it... I never ever saw that before ! I actually never, ever used "Picture & video" before ! :D

Is that the ultimate trick, then ?

But... It sets up a portrait wallpaper, not landscape (it sets up both, actually)... Will it be vertically cut in the middle and horizontally enlarged (fattened :D) as shown on your screenshots ?

Do you think I can "cheat" and put the part I want to display in landscape mode in a reduced (horizontally shrunk) 480 pixels wide picture, with a dummy 320 pixels high part at the bottom, and it will build the stwater_800x480.png picture exactly how I want it to look like ?

That would be really great !

And can I then cheat again, and replace the stwater_480x800.png picture by a more suitable one, without compromizing the bars' appearances in landscape ? :D

Of course ! Got it !

I will ! Thanks for the hints ! I'll try all that ! :D
[Windows Mobile Software Development] McRIP:
WoW, thanks for this answer. Will try with the LuaForWindows_v5.1.4-36 and see if i can solve it, never edit before manila lua scricpts or any other but will try.
[Windows Mobile Software Development] volDeus:
I started here [GUIDE][TUT] Manila Development for Beginners ... It was very helpful .. Download the "Manila Kitchen" from the first post, it has all the tools you will need. In the thread where you download the kitchen, a few posts down, there is a section titled in bold .. "Initializing the kitchen". That area will tell you how to decompile the manila files so they can be edited, and then how to recompile them.

If you have trouble don't to hesitate to send me a private message. If you don't mind please do keep it to private messages, I don't want this thread to get too far off topic. :)
[Windows Mobile Software Development] volDeus:
More shell files

Big round of applause and many thanks to reeg420!!

Added to post #2..

21055

21876

23088

23533

23541

23542

23544

23547

23639

24001

25006

25009

28011

28205

28232
[Windows Mobile Software Development] volDeus:
I wanted to let everyone know I have been experimenting with some different methods of increasing image quality for the Sense background ... I haven't figured full quality out yet but I have made some considerable progress.

Here's a quick example...

Current implementation (v0.4)

Test progress (Ignore wall-e's neck, it's out of focus in the original image ... compare the eyes, the reflection on the glass, and the red reflection across the top left edge of his head)

Wish me luck :)
[Windows Mobile Software Development] radiuspt:
All the BEST.

That is very good progress indeed.:D

You know what, I think by V0.6 you will have made the full quality cab.:eek:

Fingers crossed.:p

Keep up the good work.:cool:

Thank you.:)
[Windows Mobile Software Development] srgudhka:
facing the same problem with 23557
[Windows Mobile Software Development] alexdeejay_fm:
thx man,better this way :)
[Windows Mobile Software Development] volDeus:
Check out post #2 also ... I tried to make a short tutorial on obtaining shell files for yourself ... I posted the needed tools for each method there. Remember to post shell files for you build if you get it working, so I can add them to post #2.
[Windows Mobile Software Development] volDeus:
At some point I plan to try that build in my kitchen, I'll let you know what my result is. Would you happen to have a link for the 23557 SYS/XIP?
[Windows Mobile Software Development] yanjhua:
thank´s volDeus,

it´s easy and effective, fantastic job!!!
[Windows Mobile Software Development] volDeus:
I'm glad it's working well for you... Stay tuned as I implement more of the features in the "Planned changes" list on post #1.
[Windows Mobile Software Development] srgudhka:
her you go

http://joojoobee666.ppckitchen.org/Kitchens/23557/
[Windows Mobile Software Development] milinko81:
I tried the first three procedures, and did not work, fourth sounds complicated and i don´t want to try ... first will not copy files, but I've started ...

And I would you like to ask for the 20757 files. Thanks
[Windows Mobile Software Development] volDeus:
Major overhaul

I am completely re-writing SetWallpapers and the Sense UI mod to incorporate much higher quality backgrounds..

I am hoping to have a working WVGA test version ready tonight..

If anyone is willing to help with testing and give me some feedback before I update the thread with a new version, let me know. I'll send links out to testers when it's usable.
[Windows Mobile Software Development] mwalt2:
All you need is the .nbh of the rom you are using and HTC ROM Image Editor will work 100% of the time. You will end up with 2 modules and you use recomd.exe to turn them into files. It's very simple really. Even if you don't have the .nbh, any rom you can find using 20757 will work. Just download the rom and get the .nbh. I did just that and found a blackstone rom that said it used 20757. It is attached. I'm not going to test it as I use newer sys, so use at your own risk.

edit - removed files created from modules in case they were corrupted since they were built with platformrebuilder

Feel free to send me a link, though I'll be out of town for a few days coming up.
[Windows Mobile Software Development] wuuu:
I tried to get aygshell.dll from my rom. but I only got a file less than 1KB.

Builds 21867,WVGA.
[Windows Mobile Software Development] volDeus:
Which method did you attempt.
[Windows Mobile Software Development] wuuu:
Thanks for replying.

I have tried 1,2 and 4.

Because the rom is not made by me, I have no kitchen.

With HTC ROM IMAGE EDITOR or Dumping ROM nbh file, I get a folder named aygshell.dll(include S000(351KB),S001(2.50KB) and S002(11.4KB)).

The problem is after I drop them on to the RecMod ,I get a aygshell.dll only 472Byte.
[Windows Mobile Software Development] volDeus:
Added to post #2

21867

20757
[Windows Mobile Software Development] volDeus:
I have re-written the WVGA version of the SetWallpapers program and the Sense UI mod and I am very pleased with the results. Backgrounds are not full quality but it is difficult to notice this without zooming into a screenshot. They are MUCH higher quality than what is available around the forum when it comes to the various Sense UI mods. The only current solution I have seen that gives higher quality backgrounds is HDWall .. and that solution requires the use of a desktop PC.

I will be testing, making some minor changes, and converting to VGA over the next day or two ... Again, if anyone is willing to help test the new version before I release it, please contact me.
[Windows Mobile Software Development] linhdv3:
Can I have for build 20769? Tks
[Windows Mobile Software Development] wuuu:
Hi,aygshell.dll you added in 21867 is only 472Byte(much much smaller than it really is in the rom), and it still doesn't work.
[Windows Mobile Software Development] volDeus:
I'll see if I can find the correct one ... In the meantime, you can still set the task-bar opacity as long as you have shell32.exe .. You just can't set the menu-bar opacity.
[Windows Mobile Software Development] wuuu:
Yes,when I set the menu-bar opacity, it gives me a wrong message. It's not the correct one.

shell32.exe works very well indeed.

I'v tried some other version in my rom 21876, but no one works. However, 21897 works well within the two files of 21898.

I just like the rom I am using. It's pure and stable. And I like your works very much,with which I needn't to flash a new rom.
[Windows Mobile Software Development] carm0033:
VolDeus sorry for not getting back to you right away, can you still help me out? I'm using a Sprint Touch Pro 2 and the rom is the 6.5 update from the HTC website. After installing it, it said it was build 21889. I got it from HTC's support site and the rom was labeled HTC Touch Pro2 MR1.exe I really just need to be walked through this and I might be willing to pay you a little for helping me do so. Thanks much!!
[Windows Mobile Software Development] volDeus:
That is strange, since that was the first ROM that I actually tried the transparency hack with as well, and it worked fine.

The one difference was that I had actually dumped the ROM with Ervius' Visual Kitchen, removed a few items, and re-cooked it. I assume it has something to do with the files being unsigned. An error like that is coming from the OS, it's not a boot failure like some other people are experiencing. I do not know that much about the subject but I have heard things mentioned about "certification patching" the kernel (nk.exe). I suspect that this may be done automatically (and seem to remember reading something to that effect) by Ervius' Visual Kitchen. This would explain why I did not recieve the error when even though I was basically using the same ROM.

Sorry I can't help more, I'll look for more information and let you know what I find. If you are interested in dumping that ROM and re-cooking it, send me a PM and I'll get you some very informative links to help get you started. It was actually a very simple process once I had the right information. And it was fun :)
[Windows Mobile Software Development] volDeus:
I will be overseas for 2 weeks and may not be able to do much work with this thread so I've decided to post my latest working copy of the project. Please try it out and let me know what you all think.

volDeus Bg Tweak v0.5b

This copy has been completely re-written and incorporates the new Sense UI mod with high quality background images.

PLEASE GIVE ME YOUR FEEDBACK!!

Notes:

The "Set Opacity" and "Set Wallpapers" programs have been combined into one program called "Bg Tweak".

There is a slight misalignment in landscape mode that I will be correcting as soon as possible, it only seems to be visible with certain images.

Since the name of the program has changed, you will need to uninstall any previous version before trying this beta.

The new method I am using for setting backgrounds results in much sharper and higher resolution images ... The trade-off is that there is some color dithering or "artifacts" that manifest. With all of the images that I have tested, the dithering is almost never visible unless a screenshot is taken and examined at a high zoom level. I think that this new method is a much better solution than what is used in v0.4 ... Please let me know what all of your opinions are as well so that I can decide which way to move with the project and wether to abandon the old method all together or to make both available in future versions.

I have noticed with my device that the task and menu-bar refresh app has stopped running on more than one occaison. I assume this has something to do with memory management and will be addressing the problem as soon as possible. I will also be working on making the refresh app more reliable and less RAM hungry. If you notice the app has stopped (your bars do not refresh when rotating) you can soft-reset or you can re-launch it by navigating to \Windows\Startup\ and running it from there.

Stay tuned for the official v0.5 update and for v0.6 where I will incorporate Bg Tweak into the Sense UI menus and use the album style photo picker with thumb-nail views of your images!!!
[Windows Mobile Software Development] mlin:
I will give the new version a shot, just tried the previous version for the first time and ran into major problems. I followed all the instructions in the first post, then, upon soft resetting the device after setting the opacity, my phone will no longer boot. Luckily I backed up and will hard reset and restore. Can't wait to get this working, this looks awesome!

EDIT: Just tried the newest version and got the same result. I also noticed that when I apply the taskbar opacity, I see a wait cursor. When I apply the menu bar opacity I see no wait cursor and it doesn't seem like it is actually doing anything.

I obtained the necessary files using ROMExtractor, but I will try a different method to see if that helps. I guess I may have to try a different ROM, but I am very pleased with the one I am using other than this issue, hope to get this resolved. I'll let you know.
[Windows Mobile Software Development] volDeus:
The reason that you don't see the wait cursor when setting the opacity for the menu-bar is just that the file being processed for the menu-bar is a much smaller file and it happens very quickly.

shell32.exe is for the task-bar and aygshell.dll is for the menu-bar ..

A few times I tried the ROMExtractor method, it worked fine with shell32.exe but failed withg aygshell.dll (failed meaning, the file it extracted was corrupt).

Try setting only the opacity for the task-bar and see if that lets you boot up. And then try the HTC ROM Image Edit method ... it is the best combination of ease and reliability :)

Let me know what happens.
[Windows Mobile Software Development] Body:
I had to give up already hard reset twice, which may be happening.

No power after the soft reset request after the program set the transparency.
[Windows Mobile Software Development] orange2784:
this is simply awesome!!!!!!
[Windows Mobile Software Development] volDeus:
I am sorry for all the problems that some of you are having, I am going to try and add tonight, a check in the Set Opacity program that will prevent the change from being applied if your stock shell files are corrupt. This should prevent most of the boot failures you are experiencing.

EDIT: Unfortunately, I have not found any way to do this yet .. The files in ROM and the recmodded or extracted stock files report different file sizes.

I am glad it is working well for you, stay tuned for more features.
[Windows Mobile Software Development] lemonspeakers:
I must be doing something wrong because this simply does not work for me at all. I have downloaded the correct build 21895 shelll and aygshell. I placed them in root of my SD card. installed the wvga cab for my HD2.

I open the program up, change the values, hit set taskbar/menubar opacity and then soft reset after it do its thing. I get back and nothing has happened. I still have the black bars up top. what's going on?
[Windows Mobile Software Development] volDeus:
It could be caused by multiple things ... Have you set custom backgrounds with the "Set Wallpapers" program yet? If you have not run the Set Wallpapers program or tapped the "Clear WM6.5 skin entries" button in the Set Opacity program, the WM6.5 images are still being displayed. Also, if your today screen background is black,, then that is all you will see behind your bars as well. The Set Wallpapers program is required for the mod to work correctly if you are using Sense UI (Manila).
[Windows Mobile Software Development] cx1:
Many hard resets................tried version .4 & .5b with your 21889 files on a stock TMOUS rom

Phone would boot, version info would show but never go any farther.
[Windows Mobile Software Development] volDeus:
Have you tried any of the methods outlined in post #2 for obtaining the stock shell files on your own?
[Windows Mobile Software Development] cx1:
I tried #1 & #2 with no luck

#1 gave me an error that the file could not be written.

#2 I'm not sure if it is because of Windows 7 but when I try to save the file from HTC image editor it saves each as a folder with multiple files in them.
[Windows Mobile Software Development] volDeus:
ROMExtractor gives the error "Could not create output file" when you have not specified a path and name to save the extracted file to.. Type "\Storage Card\shell32.exe" or "\Storage Card\aygshel.dll" in the "Save to:" field.

Option #2 is a better solution if you have the nbh file from your ROM.. Are the files inside of the folders that HTC ROM Image Editor produced named s001, s002, etc? If so you need to download the recmod tool as well and drag-drop the folders onto it. (as mentioned in option #3).
[Windows Mobile Software Development] cx1:
Thanks...i'll try that

Same result using my files. Boot screen, versions show up but never goes beyond "Stick Together"
[Windows Mobile Software Development] volDeus:
Can you zip and post the folders from the rom editor so that I can try something for you.
[Windows Mobile Software Development] karan999:
is it for qvga devices also?
[Windows Mobile Software Development] cx1:
sure .. thanks for the help
[Windows Mobile Software Development] volDeus:
I don't think Sense UI 2.5 has been ported to QVGA.
[Windows Mobile Software Development] volDeus:
It's a long shot but try with these.
[Windows Mobile Software Development] wuuu:
Finally I decided to change my 21867 to a newer one .

And now it works very well with your app. Thanks again!
[Windows Mobile Software Development] volDeus:
Great to hear! which build did you use?
[Windows Mobile Software Development] mlin:
So I am trying to use HTC ROM Image Editor/RecMod to get the necessary files. It seems to work fine except the output aygshell.dll is only 1kb in size. This doesn't seem right... I haven't tried changing the opacity again yet, I am going to back up my phone and probably try again tomorrow. Something interesting I just noticed though, in Start>Settings>System>About- I see this: CE OS 5.2.23533 (Build 23540.5.5.0). Is this an issue that it is showing to different system builds?
[Windows Mobile Software Development] volDeus:
I could be wrong, but to my understanding, that means the chef who cooked your ROM combined a different build of XIP and SYS.. Both of the shell files that are needed are part of your SYS build but I'm not sure which of those numbers would be the SYS build number. And yes, aygshell.dll should be closer to 400kb.

EDIT: Which ROM are you using?
[Windows Mobile Software Development] qtype:
is it possible to use this with Cookie's Home Tab Mod 1.7?

I saw that it wrote on post 2 that it is only to be used with MaxManilla, but I want to know if a version for CHT 1.7 is going to be released?
[Windows Mobile Software Development] mlin:
Its called MightyROM_IMPACT, available at ppcgeeks and mightyrom.com. Download here:

http://www.mightyrom.com/downloads/MightyROM_RhodiumW_IMPACT_022410.exe
[Windows Mobile Software Development] mlin:
I know that Santod uses this with CHT 1.7 without issue.
[Windows Mobile Software Development] [★]:
thanks man, best thread all week :D
[Windows Mobile Software Development] Lecl0ne:
Doesn't work with my 21869 version. Just freeze my ppc when reseting it (frozen on the boot-up screen) I tried 3 times, still doesn't work.
[Windows Mobile Software Development] bevoc:
change of directory

can the aygshell and shell32 files be placed in the root of dvice in folders because some devices (non htc) like acer s200 actually starts the sdcard polling around 5 seconds after the device boots up "in theory", thus rendering this mod useless as it tries to load the shell (a preloaded resource) during boot up and it just refuses to load the shell and the dll after booting. this explains the crashing on acer devices. htc sd drivers and sd card polling is included in the boot process i guess.

but hell, i might be wrong.

i found this out while trying to load WAD on an acer 200 with wait for load set to zero. device will crash. anything more than 6 seconds of lag is safe and device will boot fine

:o
[Windows Mobile Software Development] kavabunga:
nice but how about HQ Wallpapers.. if u must still use HD Wall.. thats what different?
[Windows Mobile Software Development] volDeus:
If you read a bit more closely you will see that the version marked 0.4MM is made specially for MaxManila .. the standard v0.4 and the beta v0.5b are compatible with co0kieks home tab.
[Windows Mobile Software Development] cx1:
No luck, I get an "Opacity settings missing in file" error.
[Windows Mobile Software Development] Durv84:
Hi,

There are two files 23544 on your second post. Which one is the right one? Or Ineed both?
[Windows Mobile Software Development] volDeus:
It shouldn't be an issue since your stock shell files are only accessed when you change your opacity level.

Good catch though :)
[Windows Mobile Software Development] volDeus:
Thanks! I'm glad you enjoyed it. Stay tuned for new features.
[Windows Mobile Software Development] volDeus:
i'm sorry I should have explained, it was getting late :)... I manually edited those files for you. They are meant to be copied directly to your \Windows\ folder, not for use with Set Opacity. Resco explorer will overwrite the files in your windows folder correctly .. If you dont' have resco explorer you can try total commander .. and if that still does not work, you can simply rename the original files in your windows folder (ex: shell32.exe.del, aygshell.dll.del) then copy over the files I provided and soft reset.

As I said it's a long shot but I wanted to exhaust all possibilities for you.
[Windows Mobile Software Development] volDeus:
Please try one of the options outlined in post #2 for obtaining stock shell files on your own.
[Windows Mobile Software Development] volDeus:
i'm not sure I understand .. If you are asking wether both of the files inside of the .zip archive are required, then yes, they are. (shell32.exe and aygshell.dll)
[Windows Mobile Software Development] antaed:
Hi volDeus,

I've been looking for something like this to appear so thank you very much, this is great work!

For some reason however, I can't seem to get it to work properly on my device:

- the set transparecy program changes both bars into some ugly grey ones wth no transparecy. i've tried different values between 0-255 and soft reset but no success.

- i've managed to change one wallpaper and it looks high quality indeed but the image is streched vertically so it covers only the space between the bar limits. maybe this is why i cannot see any bar transparency - there is no image behind the bars.

then i thought the shell32.exe and the .dll files are wrong (even though i used the ones for my wm version - 23557).

- the rom extractor gives me the "can't create the output file" message

- the rom image editor saves the files in .bin format and i couldn't extract them with any archive extractor i've tried (eg. extractnow)

my system:

dev: htc hd2

rom: artemis 9.0

mod: co0kie's home tab 1.7

i wanted this to work so much i even tried again after a hard reset and with only cht 1.7 installed. not only it didn't work but this time i couldn't change any wallpaper at all, not even the one that worked before... :confused:

if you have any idea for me to try please let me know, i would highly appreciate it.

thanks,

antaed
[Windows Mobile Software Development] volDeus:
Please read the first post thuroughly, it should answer most of your questions.

HDWall does not support the transparent task and menu-bar effect in landscape orientation. Since HDWall uses WM6.5 skinning capabilities to "fake" transparency, the bars are stretched in landscape and are almost impossible to align.

This MOD supports both orientations.

HDWall requires the use of a PC for each background set that you create, and is somewhat time consuming.

This MOD does not, and is not.

HDWall uses full quality images, meaning the exact image you choose is displayed as your background.

This MOD only employs "higher quality" images

, although I have found a method that I think is close enough to full quality that you can not tell the difference with most images. The beta version that uses that method is posted -- here --.

HDWall is an excellent piece of software but it did not meet my needs so I started this project. This MOD is a completely different type of solution. This MOD will most likely give conflicting results if you attempt to use it together with HDWall.
[Windows Mobile Software Development] volDeus:
I'm sorry you are having trouble, I'll ask a few questions to try and solve your problem. Did you use the Set Wallpapers program to choose a background? Do you have any other Sense UI mods installed that might affect your background? Can you post a screen-shot of your result?