Font problem in cooked ROM [SOLVED -- IN MINUTES!]

In my cooked ROM, I'm having a problem with the font on the HTC keyboard, and on the screen that comes up once the device is plugged into the computer (to choose between Activesync, Drive, and Internet sharing). I've found similar problems searching and tried applying those solutions, but I haven't come across exactly this:

When TF3D is disabled, the font for the keyboard and "Connect to a PC" screen drops out to Courier (and I've confirmed it is indeed courier, not just something that looks like it. When TF3D is enabled, they look fine.

I'm also reasonably sure I saw instances on my earlier build where the landscape of the keyboard would be fine, but in portrait mode, the font would drop out.

The solutions I've found in my searches suggested adding certain aliases under [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\GDI\V1\FontAlias] in the registry. That hasn't helped. I've worked around the problem by copying one of the HelveticaNeue fonts (LT 35 Thin, I think) over cour.ttf in the windows folder, but I wouldn't be surprised if this has unexpected consequences in other applications.

The ROM uses a Fuzeberry-themed version of TF3D1.

The following fairly common HTC apps are omitted from my ROM (cooked with Da_G's 21500 Test 2):
HTC Comm manager (because I used a Rhodium version instead)
Enlarge Start Menu
Enlarge Title Bar
HTC Dialer
HTC Volume
TouchFlo (not TF3D, just TouchFlo)
HTC Startup screen

I -have- included HTCFontLink (Rhodium version, which is what comes with the kitchen). I have also made sure every TTF available in the kitchen is installed to the device. That includes: cour.ttf, HelveticaNeue LT 35 Thin.ttf, HelveticaNeueOTS.TTF, tahoma.ttf, tahomabd.ttf, wingding.ttf

I find poking around the registry that there are several entries telling HTC apps to use "HelveticaNeue LT 55 Roman," which isn't installed. But there's also an entry under [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\FontLink\SystemLink] that appears to alias that font to tahoma, which is installed.

Any insights?

That would be great (or even just a zipped copy of the fonts themselves, no need to cab them up for me).

Oh wait, I just realized where you mean to grab the manila files --as in from my existing install (or kitchen). Never mind -- you don't need to do anything, I can grab them myself. Thanks for the tip!

EDIT: Hah - As I was typing this, you got up both the zip AND the cab! Thanks for such a quick response, and for the upload. Gotta love XDA!

Da_G said:

Hi, I thought I updated htc fontlink with the missing font (HelveticaNeue LT 35 Roman.ttf)

It's there on my end, did I forget to upload?

Click to expand...

Click to collapse

I think 35 was there, but not 55 -- this is as of 21500 Test 2. Haven't ventured into new-kitchen-territory yet

It seems that the "Connect to PC" screen does (and likely the keyboard, but I can't test that since I'm running a version of my ROM that omits the HTC keyboard).

When I used FontCreator to rename a copy of Tahoma Bold (new filename "neue Helvetica LT 55 Roman.ttf", new font name "HelveticaNeue LT 55 Roman) and copied that into the windows folder, it used that for the Connect screen.

Both 35 and 55 are included in the cab Captain_Throwback put up.

Like I said, I think I noticed (in a previous build where I was using the HTC keyboard) that it looked right in landscape, but not portrait. So I wonder if it's possible the keyboard uses 35 in landscape, and 55 in portrait. Not near my home machine or phone anymore to take a closer look.

Does the system register those manila files (which are just TTFs in disguise) as fonts only when TF3D is running, and that's why we need to use these copies the rest of the time?

That's odd, because on mine it definitely was using 55, at least while TF3D is off. If I had a 55 (even if it was another font renamed), it used that. If I had no 55, it used courier. 35 was definitely installed and available.

I wonder if the behavior is different when TF3D isn't cooked in at all than it is if TF3D is cooked in, but disabled. Or maybe if there's something specific about the TF3D package I used. I'm at work, but I'll take a closer look at what it's putting in to the registry later.

Good news is, the cab works like a charm.