[MOD] DIY Transparent Notification Drawer for Captivate FROYO

malfuncion

Senior Member
Oct 11, 2009
333
59
0
Norman, OK
uncannyowly.com
Like the title says, this is how to modify your Notification title drawer on the Captivate with Froyo like Tatuyama's theme's drawer(notification slide) for the i9000. This will tell you how to make it transparent and add a graphic or change the colors. This has been tested on Cog B7, dont think it works on i9000 roms like Shep's. I can help you though on this if you absolutely are dieing to do it. It will just take a little fandanglin and searching but can be done. I ripped apart Shep's rom and found all of Tat's mods, I jsut dont remember them off the top of my head..

I have also attached the drop bars from Tat's theme and another black AOSP bar should you want to use it. I have also included a PSD file to modify to your liking, my APK's for the frameworks I edited below (these include the tat icons already inside), a blank black background bar to use should you want, and other goodies for your modding needs. I have also slapped some screenies below to get an idea of wtf I am even talking about. Also if you use my Frameworks be aware that I am using the battery mod version "I" from that one thread, injected Tat's icons and goodies, and other MISC things. :)

I will try to do this as simple as possible. I dont linger in the themes area so you are pretty much on your own. I am going to write this tutorial based on Windows O/S and Adobe Photoshop. Attempt this at your own risk. If you biff it up its not my fault. I wrote the directions as I did it, and I am working great with awesome sauce dripping from my phone. I cannot be held responsible if you are below par of the preqs listed. I assume if you are going to attempt it you are competent and comfortable with all things required. However, should you somehow mess up, I do provide some SYA (save your ass) directions below. That being said, Good luck and Mod On!

Prerequisites:
1) ADB Dev Kit and experience using it (push, pull, shell)
2) Photoshop or other photo editing software & experience
3) Basic Windows experience: cut/copy/paste/rename/zipping/moving files. (if you use linux you shouldnt worry as you more than likely are a power user already and can cross apply).

Step 1: We need to download the APK's off the phone and get them ready for editing (or yank them out of the ROM package you download).
1) open a CMD (command prompt) window type:
adb pull /system/framework/twframework-res.apk C:\
adb pull /system/framework/framework-res.apk C:\​
This will save the files to your root of C:. Should you want to do it elsewhere you can specify or else leave it blank and it will stick the files in your developer kit folder.
2) (OPTIONAL BUT RECOMMENDED! STEP) Navigate to where you saved the files, right click and copy/paste to make a set of backups of these files.
3) Rename the .apk to .zip files. You can also associate your .apk to a program like WinRAR or WinZIP instead. This will open APK Files by default or optional secondary(open with). This makes the whole thing a lot easier as you can open the file(APK) and leave it up, make the edits and drop them directly back into the APK. KEEP FILE STRUCTURE PROPER!
4) Extract the APK files to seperate folders or dig out the below files for editing.

Step 2: Editing the proper files.
1) Navigate to twframework.apk's extracted folder from above or these files you extracted.
2) Find and open sub folder /res/
3) Once in /res/ find and open /drawable-hdpi/
4) Once in /drawable-hdpi/ locate the following files:
- status_bar_background.9.png (actual background of the drawer)
- status_bar_header_background.png (this is the 5 icons across the top of drawer)
- status_bar_close_on.png (this is the dropdown bar at the bottom of drawer)
- quick_panel_list_bg_01.9 (seperator between carrier and application info)

5) Open these files in Photoshop(or another editor)
6) Verify these are set to RGB not Index color mode so you can edit them.
7) Edit the layers to make them transparent. If there are not layers, right click and "create layer from background". You can then edit your layer settings. I set mine to 75% transparency in Photoshop, the actual background to 85% to darken it up a little. This will take some tweaking to get it just perfect for you. Make sure you save them in .png format with the same name they started with and not the PSD or "copy". Also you want non interlaced if it prompts you.
8) Do the same steps for the framework-res.apk.
- status_bar_item_app_background_normal.9.png (not sure if this one is necessary)
- status_bar_item_background_normal.9.png (this is teh notifications)

Step 3: Put it together and upload.
After you update the files, you will need to inject them back ito the APK's where you got them (/res/drawable-hdpi/). You can do this by opening the APK with Winzip/WinRAR/7zip and put them in there or if you extracted the entire contents just zip it all back up. You will need to remove the .zip extension if you went that route. Also, make sure you open it after zipping and verify it maintains the correct structure or you will be doing the recovery shuffle after you reboot. If you see only 1 folder in your zip this is WRONG! You need to see assets, RES, META-INF, and 2 other files in there(manifests and resources). If you see all these then you are ready to rock and roll. :)

After you get them back together upload them to your device using:

adb push <location of apk you edited>\framework-res.apk /sdcard/
adb push <location of apk you edited>\twframework-res.apk /sdcard/​

then in teh same command prompt window (or another, whatever)
adb shell
su
cd sdcard
cp twframework-res.apk /system/framework/twframework-res.apk
cp framework-res.apk /system/framework/framework-res.apk
reboot​

It shouldnt take but a second to come back up. You are done. :)

It may take a little bit of editing of the files to get them to look OK. I spent most of my day today getting mine together. You can use them if you like the "hootie edition" or just edit your own. :p

SEE POST #6 IF SOMETHING GOES HORRIBLY WRONG!!!!!

Screenies:
 

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smeltn

Senior Member
Jul 20, 2010
618
20
48
Alabama
That looks fantastic. I want your notification drop down and all minus the owl of course and text, but can this be done by using metamorph instead of having to adb everything?
 

gangpe

Senior Member
Aug 20, 2010
350
84
0
Hi,

I've followed your instructions. After the files have been pushed up, my phone goes through the usual errors due to the framework change. The problem I'm having is that after I restart my phone, the phone gets past the galaxy s screen, but then it goes black and does not respond. Any suggestions?
 

malfuncion

Senior Member
Oct 11, 2009
333
59
0
Norman, OK
uncannyowly.com
That looks fantastic. I want your notification drop down and all minus the owl of course and text, but can this be done by using metamorph instead of having to adb everything?
To be honest I have never used metamorph on the Captivate. On my G1 yes you could acheive that. I googled the metamorph tutorial Junkdruggler did and it looks rather lengthy and involved editing XML files. You can find that info here. Also, the files you would need to do my way with just a blank one are above. Just download the closebars zip and the "blank" zip. Then mod/inject your APK - or hell mine from above- and push it to your device. This is a rather quick ordeal.

awsome write up. Looks pretty simple and I will attempt this when I get home today.
This is an absolutely EXCELLENT tutorial. Props to you. I will be doing this shortly to all my Captivates in the house, 3 in use, plus the 4th one I'm using as a Dev phone.
Thanks guys, took me a little while to figure it all out and a lot of framework pushing to get it just right :) Let me know how it turns out for you! Hell post some screenshots when you are done. I want to see them :)
Hi,

I've followed your instructions. After the files have been pushed up, my phone goes through the usual errors due to the framework change. The problem I'm having is that after I restart my phone, the phone gets past the galaxy s screen, but then it goes black and does not respond. Any suggestions?
THIS IS HOW TO SAVE YOURSELF :)

Well, not sure what you mean "usual errors" with framework change? I havent ever had any issues with the framework replacements. I occasionally have then crash if I replace them while phone is on and not in recovery. A reboot fixes this though. Are you using a Cap rom or an I9000? This doesnt work on I9000 roms as thier APK's are slightly different- teh HDPI folder has a v4 at the end (IIRC). I can help you through this though if that's the case..

If it truly is a cap rom, I did experience a similar problem on my phone one time when I pushed the framework.apk. What had happened is I right-clicked the ROOT directory I had placed all the files in and said to zip it. This caused the folder to be INSIDE the zip. So the file structure went like this:

>>ZIP FILE I CREATED>>
--------->>FOLDER ALL FILES WERE IN>>
------------------>>FILE STRUCTURE OF THE ORIGINAL APK>>

Which should have been

>>ZIP FILE I CREATED>>
--------->>FILE STRUCTURE OF ORIGINAL APK>>

To better explain it- If you open the zip you created, do you see the RES folder, META-INF folder, assets folder, and then there will be 2 other files? Or do you see 1 single folder? If you see 1 single folder you zipped it up incorrectly. You will need to go into the folder and select all-> right click-> zip (send to-> compressed folder). This should fix it. If this isnt the case something else went horribly wrong. To fix it we will need to restore the original files you hopefully backed up. If you didnt back up you still arent totally hosed- just redownload the ROM you are running, open it up and navigate to the /system/framework folder and pull out the original frameworks. Then follow these instructions to get them back on the device.


Step 1:
A quick way to get out of this situation is to take the copies rename them back to twframework-res.apk and framework-res.apk (or pull from the original rom package as mentioned above).

Hopefully you have the 2e recovery kernel, as you need it to get back to where you started. If you cant do clockwork, well you may as well odin cause you are a few flashes behind anyway.

K, so first you will need to download the update.zip I have included with this post. This is the clockwork recovery file. You will next need to put your phone in reocvery mode. to do this do:

adb reboot recovery

Step 2:
Next you will need push that file you downloaded to your SD. to do that you need to:

adb push <location of downloaded>\update.zip /sdcard/

Now, once in recovery- tell it to reinstall packages. This may reboot the phone. If it does, tell it to reinstall packages again. This should get you to clockwork recovery.

Step 3:
once you have a green clockwork recovery screen, you will get the chance to SU via ADB SHELL. You can then repeat the pushing of your ORIGINAL fles back to your phone and retry the process.

You could also pull the files you pushed to see what went wrong- but do that first as if you push before they will be overwritten with the original files.
 

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thehavock18

Senior Member
Jul 23, 2010
284
33
0
Scott AFB
Looking into doing a little custom work but before I do. Like Tat's theme do you need to edit XML files for specific things like the pop ups being black. Or do I just get the naming right and put the proper PNG in the apk.
 

malfuncion

Senior Member
Oct 11, 2009
333
59
0
Norman, OK
uncannyowly.com
Looking into doing a little custom work but before I do. Like Tat's theme do you need to edit XML files for specific things like the pop ups being black. Or do I just get the naming right and put the proper PNG in the apk.
This is only for the notification drawer and not the actual pop ups. If you want to edit the popups you will need to edit the XML files.
 

jslee1020

Senior Member
Aug 30, 2010
199
7
0
Atlanta
status_bar_background.9.png (actual background of the drawer)

If I ONLY wanted to make the pull-down menu background transparent the above file would be the only one that I need to mod... correct??
 

malfuncion

Senior Member
Oct 11, 2009
333
59
0
Norman, OK
uncannyowly.com
status_bar_background.9.png (actual background of the drawer)

If I ONLY wanted to make the pull-down menu background transparent the above file would be the only one that I need to mod... correct??
That is correct.

The one problem though is the AT&T (carrier part) at the top is also transparent and you quickly notice it looks a little strange with your items not transparent. I tried to live with it for a little bit but ended up modding the rest too.
 

jslee1020

Senior Member
Aug 30, 2010
199
7
0
Atlanta
That is correct.

The one problem though is the AT&T (carrier part) at the top is also transparent and you quickly notice it looks a little strange with your items not transparent. I tried to live with it for a little bit but ended up modding the rest too.
quick_panel_list_bg_01.9 (seperator between carrier and application info)
is this the file for the AT&T carrier part??
 

malfuncion

Senior Member
Oct 11, 2009
333
59
0
Norman, OK
uncannyowly.com
The quick panel is actually the part that says "Notifications" or "On Going" below the AT&T part. THe AT&T and clear button is part of the actual background peice. So what happens is the AT&T part becomes transparent, while the notification peices are solid. It may not bother you but it bugged the crap out of me. It's personal preference really..
 

jslee1020

Senior Member
Aug 30, 2010
199
7
0
Atlanta
The quick panel is actually the part that says "Notifications" or "On Going" below the AT&T part. THe AT&T and clear button is part of the actual background peice. So what happens is the AT&T part becomes transparent, while the notification peices are solid. It may not bother you but it bugged the crap out of me. It's personal preference really..
I get it. Well I'll try it out and see... I guess no better way to learn then to experience it first hand :D Thanks!
 

thehavock18

Senior Member
Jul 23, 2010
284
33
0
Scott AFB
I was able to take the Cog Beta 7 framwork and Tat's framwork. I pulled out all the changes from his theme and put them in cog beta 7. I actually did not have to edit any files and was able to apply it.

I had to change a few file names around so all the backgrounds / pop ups applied to the theme. I left DG's background.

I don't want to post it since it is not my own work but if you want to take a look at the framwork and twframwork I can send them PM.
 

jslee1020

Senior Member
Aug 30, 2010
199
7
0
Atlanta
notification bar??

What file is the actual notification bar with the battery/clock/etc... would it be inside twframework-res.apk or framework-res.apk?

EDIT: Just set background transparency to 80% in photoshop and changed the color to black. The transparency seems ok, but it resembles minimalistic theme too much... gonna fiddle with it some more today.
 

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gangpe

Senior Member
Aug 20, 2010
350
84
0
Hey Malfunction,

Finally got it working past the galaxy S screen, thanks for the info. One last question, then I should be out of your hair. Where can I change the settings for the media scanning icons? Currently, the white default icons are showing, but I'm trying to change that to the black SD card. I'm going to look into it myself too; figured I'd ask though.

Thanks,
 

malfuncion

Senior Member
Oct 11, 2009
333
59
0
Norman, OK
uncannyowly.com
Hey Malfunction,

Finally got it working past the galaxy S screen, thanks for the info. One last question, then I should be out of your hair. Where can I change the settings for the media scanning icons? Currently, the white default icons are showing, but I'm trying to change that to the black SD card. I'm going to look into it myself too; figured I'd ask though.

Thanks,
Good deal, glad you got it working. What was the problem?

As for the SDCard- depends which you need. In framework-res there are these 3:
stat_notify_sdcard.png
stat_notify_sdcard_prepare.png
stat_notify_sdcard_usb.png

I had to do some hunting to find out which program was the running process for the Media Scanner. It is "MediaProvider.apk" on your /system/app folder. I edited mine and it now works and has all the Tat icons loaded. Thanks for that heads up :) I hadnt noticed that little piece before you mentioned it.

I looked at Tat's ROM section and also saw that he has edited these, may consider if you are wanting to mimick his:
DownloadProvider (Market)
MediaProvider (Media Scanner)
Vending (Market)
PackageProvider.apk (Uninstallation Screen)
GoogleQuickSearchBox.apk (Google Search)
 
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