Can someone help explain themes?

[remnant]

im really digging the honey comb theme ronald aka mike posted.
im running bugless newest version. So what exactly is a theme? is it a rom.. or..what? will the honey comb not work on the bugless? if not ill go to the GPA. and do i install it like i do with roms with rom manager? thanks!

[RW-1]

Hi,

A theme is modifications made to the android operating system to change the look of it.

All icons, and colors, etc are located in system/framework/framework-res.apk

To theme, one changes these to make a look that you want, but you do have to know what you are doing.

Most are began by taking out the framework-res apk from the ROM you are running, so for the most part, yes, they won't transfer between roms.

Any other questions, please ask.

[webeougher]

And since RW-1 was very helpful without answering any of your specific questions (which sounds impossible to me too, but he was), here you go:

1. No, the Honeycomb theme WILL NOT work on BB 0.6. Different ROMs use different framework files (and in the case of MIUI, CM7+, and UD, a totally different theming system), so you can only use themes that are posted for the ROM you're using (and, oftentimes, for your specific phone if you're using older versions of those multi-device ROMs listed above).

2. You will want to install either GPA 14 or 15 first, then boot up and give it a chance to "settle in". This can be anywhere from a couple of hours to a day or two - basically, you just want to wait until it's not twitchy or laggy when you're trying to scroll, returning to the homescreen, etc. Then you would install the theme just like you installed the ROM, which brings me to...

3. LEARN TO USE CLOCKWORK RECOVERY! I would guess that at least 70% of the problems people have with installing ROMs on here (and that's a conservative estimate) is because they use ROM Manager to install their ROMs. Pete recommends that you wipe DATA and CACHE multiple times (2-3) before installing his ROMs; with ROM Manager, you can only do it once. My advice? Use ROM Manager to download ROMs, but then reboot into recovery (it's the second option on the main ROM Manager screen) and do the wiping and installing yourself. Also, you should make a full Nandroid backup before you switch ROMs so that if something goes wrong you've got something to fall back on.

[remnant]

aah i see
so i go into recovery, wipe a few times, then go to install zip from sd card, and apply?
sounds easythanks!

[webeougher]

Here's the process that I follow, and I've had none of the issues other people complain about: (PLEASE READ THE ENTIRE POST BEFORE YOU GET STARTED)

1. Download your ROM of choice (in this case, I'm guessing you're going to go for GPA 14) and then verify that it's the correct size (it should be 71.7 Mb, according to Pete's site). Make sure you know where it's at on your SD Card (I have a directory that's just for ROMs).
2. Reboot into recovery (either by using the command in ROM Manager or BB, or by powering off your phone and then holding X on the physical keyboard when you power it back on).
3. Wipe data/factory reset (3 times)
4. Wipe cache partition (3 times)
5. Highlight the Partitions menu and press the camera button to enter it
6. Format boot (3 times)
7. Format system (3 times)
8. Press the power button to return to the main menu
9. Highlight advanced and press the camera button to enter it
10. Wipe Dalvik Cache (3 times) (unlike wiping data/cache and formatting boot/system, this won't appear to do anything, but it will return back to the Advanced menu from the confirmation screen)
11. Wipe Battery Stats (3 times) (just like wiping Dalvik, it won't appear to do anything, but it does)
12. Press the power button to return to the main menu
13. Highlight install zip from sdcard and press the camera button
14. Highlight choose zip from sdcard and press the camera button
15. Find the ROM you wanted, highlight it, and press the camera button
16. Once the ROM has installed, press the power button until you get back to the main menu, make sure Reboot system is highlighted, and press the camera button

Once your ROM has started fully, give it time to settle in, and then repeat the process for any kernels or themes you want to install (Just find the kernel/theme in step 15 and ignore steps 3-11).