[Droid Incredible Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] XideXL:
I had downloaded APKManager previously and messed with it a bit, but didn't think it could ultimately help me. That being said, I'm having some issues trying to do what you suggested:

1. Place unmodified framework-res.apk into "place-apk-here-for-modifying"

2. Decompile apk (Success)

*I don't have an 'out' directory, but everything is extraced into 'projects\framework-res.apk' so I'm guessing that's where you mean.

3. Edit status_bar_close_on.9.png in Photoshop, retaining the existing 1px border

4. Recompile apk (Here's the big issue)

APKManager says "Building Apk" and then gives me this message: "An Error Occured, Please Check The Log (option 21)" Press any key to continue

I press a key and it then asks, "Is this a system apk? (y/n)"

If I enter 'y', it is followed by: "Aside from the signatures, would you like to copy over any additional files that you didn't modify from the original apk in order to ensure least # of errors (y/n)"

The best combination of answering these questions I've seen is yes it's a system file and yes to copy files from the original. This creates a folder called 'keep' and instructs to delete anything I've modified. I assumed that was so that it would take any missing files from 'keep' and replace them with the modified file of the same name in 'projects\framework-res.apk', but when I delete from 'keep' the file is just missing from the new apk that is created.

When I answer no it is not a system apk, I don't see a new apk created and the original one is still unchanged containing the original image.

Answering yes it's a system file and no to copy files from original, I just get an apk with 'META-INF'.

I tried replacing the image during the whole "keep" process instead of deleting the old one, and that put it in the new apk but it still has the 1px border.

I also noticed that inside 'projects\framework-res.apk' there is a 'build\apk' folder which is empty. Not sure if I need to put something in there or what.

When I check the log, it starts with:

java version "1.6.0_21"

Java(TM) SE Runtime Environment (build 1.6.0_21-b07)

Java HotSpot(TM) Client VM (build 17.0-b17, mixed mode, sharing)

Could Not Find C:\Users\Zach\Desktop\DroidStuff\APKManager\place-apk-here-for-modding\../place-apk-here-for-modding/signedframework-res.apk

Could Not Find C:\Users\Zach\Desktop\DroidStuff\APKManager\place-apk-here-for-modding\../place-apk-here-for-modding/unsignedframework-res.apk

I: Loading resource table...

I: Decoding resources...

W: Cant find 9patch chunk in file: "drawable-hdpi-v4/status_bar_item_app_background_normal.9.png". Renaming it to *.png.

W: Cant find 9patch chunk in file: "drawable-hdpi-v4/status_bar_item_background_normal.9.png". Renaming it to *.png.

W: Cant find 9patch chunk in file: "drawable-hdpi-v4/status_bar_header_background.9.png". Renaming it to *.png.

I: Copying assets and libs...

W: Could not find sources

I: Checking whether resources has changed...

I: Building resources...

libpng error: Read Error

ERROR: Failure processing PNG image C:\Users\Zach\Desktop\DroidStuff\APKManager\other\..\projects\framework-res.apk\res\drawable-hdpi\status_bar_header_background.9.png

libpng error: Read Error

ERROR: Failure processing PNG image C:\Users\Zach\Desktop\DroidStuff\APKManager\other\..\projects\framework-res.apk\res\drawable-hdpi\status_bar_item_app_background_normal.9.png

libpng error: Read Error

ERROR: Failure processing PNG image C:\Users\Zach\Desktop\DroidStuff\APKManager\other\..\projects\framework-res.apk\res\drawable-hdpi\status_bar_item_background_normal.9.png

Then there's a ton of entries that look like this for every single png:

C:\Users\Zach\Desktop\DroidStuff\APKManager\other\..\projects\framework-res.apk\res\values\public.xml:2690: error: Public symbol drawable/activity_title_bar declared here is not defined.

And ends with:

Exception in thread "main" brut.androlib.AndrolibException: brut.common.BrutException: could not exec command: [aapt, p, -F, C:\Users\Zach\AppData\Local\Temp\APKTOOL1864619025913287067.tmp, -x, -S, C:\Users\Zach\Desktop\DroidStuff\APKManager\other\..\projects\framework-res.apk\res, -M, C:\Users\Zach\Desktop\DroidStuff\APKManager\other\..\projects\framework-res.apk\AndroidManifest.xml]

at brut.androlib.res.AndrolibResources.aaptPackage(Unknown Source)

at brut.androlib.Androlib.buildResourcesFull(Unknown Source)

at brut.androlib.Androlib.buildResources(Unknown Source)

at brut.androlib.Androlib.build(Unknown Source)

at brut.androlib.Androlib.build(Unknown Source)

at brut.apktool.Main.cmdBuild(Unknown Source)

at brut.apktool.Main.main(Unknown Source)

Caused by: brut.common.BrutException: could not exec command: [aapt, p, -F, C:\Users\Zach\AppData\Local\Temp\APKTOOL1864619025913287067.tmp, -x, -S, C:\Users\Zach\Desktop\DroidStuff\APKManager\other\..\projects\framework-res.apk\res, -M, C:\Users\Zach\Desktop\DroidStuff\APKManager\other\..\projects\framework-res.apk\AndroidManifest.xml]

at brut.util.OS.exec(Unknown Source)

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