[VGA] HDWall-Like Mod for Sense 2.5
 

VGA HDWall

It's HDWall-Like because you have to do more work to get your own images :). I don't have the knowledge to create a program like the one that exists for WVGA.

This mod is for VGA users running Sense 2.5 on their phones. I have only tested it with the current Sense_2.5.2012 VGA port, but it may work on the Sense_2.5.1921 VGA port. There are versions for both 6.5 (probably works 6.1, but untested) and 6.5.x. This mod contains the 2012 Better_Background mod by amarullz and the a modified version of the bg4all mod I made following cookiemonster's instructions. For now, alignment is only perfect in portrait mode.

Instructions and cabs for creating your own images will be in post #2. I have simplified the process as best as I can, but it will take a little work on your part to get your own images.

The VGAHDWall mushroom cabs attached to this post will give you the HDWall picture above and also change WM6.5(.x) startmenu picture and make remove the opaque WM6.5(.x) start menu curtain. I have also attached various cabs to get the transparent slider, transparent curtains, transparent WM6.5(.x) start menu curtain, and transparent clock weather alarm date calendar.

Make sure you choose the right version for your OS (6.5 or 6.5.x)!

Please report any problems you may have (other than it not aligning right in landscape :)).

It should work well with almost other sense 2.5 mods (the only manila file required is 090a4ee8_manila and 4bfcbbee_manila, 285d005a_manila, and 0509ab83_manila are used for the better quality wallpaper).

Re: [VGA] HDWall-Like Mod for Sense 2.5
 

*click thumbnail for larger view

Step 1: Find a 480x640 wallpaper you want to use
Step 2: Open image in photo editing program (photoshop in this example)
Step 3: Open appropriate .psd (if using photoshop) or make your own template for taskbar/softkey bar. For WM 6.5, you need a template of 480x52 pixels.

http://img16.imageshack.us/img16/6984/captureqtj.th.png

I highlighted the entire 480x52 pixel template and moved that selection to the top of the 480x640 wallpaper. For 6.5.x, you need a template of 480x36 pixels and you select/copy the top 480x36 pixels of your wallpaper.

http://img205.imageshack.us/img205/443/capture1t.th.png

Step 4: Copy the top 480x52 pixels into the 480x52 template and save the file as vgahd_taskbar.png.

http://img199.imageshack.us/img199/5...ture2bj.th.png

Step 5: Open appropriate .psd or make canvas for the softkey bar. WM6.5 uses the same 480x52 pixel template. For 6.5.x, you need a 480x68 pixel template. Copy the bottom 480x52 (6.5) or 480x68 (6.5.x) pixels and paste them into the template. Save that file as vgahd_softkeybar.png.
Step 6: Save the 480x640 wallpaper as vgahd.png.

http://img12.imageshack.us/img12/2461/capture3iv.th.png

Step 7: Make a copy of vgahd.png (ie vgahdtemp.png) and rename it to homebackground.img with no .png extension.
Step 8: Copy vgahd_taskbar.png, vgahd_softkeybar.png, and vgahd.png to \Program Files\VGAHDwall (you will have to create the VGAHDwall directory there).
Step 9: Copy homebackground.img to \windows on your device (overwriting the current one).
Step 10: Install the WM6.5 VGAHDwall.cab (WM 6.5) or WM6.5.X VGAHDwall.cab (WM 6.5.x) to your device and soft reset. These cabs contain the appropriate registry settings for taskbar/softkeybar and sense background (assuming you copied files to the correct directories :)). They also contain the better background mod by amarullz (3 manila files) and the modifed bg4all (1 manila file).

Steps need to be done in order.

If you switch to a different .tsk, you will need to install the cab again to make the taskbar and softkeybar show your image.

If you want your start menu background to match, go to settings->Today->check box at bottom ("use this picture...") and pick vgahd.png. You will need to copy vgahd.png to a directory that it searched (ie \My Documents\My Pictures).

For a better look, you can replace stwater_480_640.jpg and stwater_640_480.jpg with your custom image. In the mushroom example in post 1, I saved vgahd.png as stwater_480_640.jpg. Then I re-sized vgahd.png to 640x480 (did not constrain proportions) and saved it as stwater_640_480.jpg. Copy both stwater_xxx_xxx.jpg files to \windows and soft reset phone. This will make the landscape start menu and titanium wallpapers look better.

Another tip to easily copy and overwrite files to \windows is to use cfcgui by chainfire. Just open the program and drag the files you want to copy to the white box in the upper left that says "drop files here....". It will copy files and restart sense for you (will still need to soft reset phone for taskbar/softkeybar and start menu to show).

Re: [VGA] HDWall-Like Mod for Sense 2.5
 

reserved for future additions

Re: [VGA] HDWall-Like Mod for Sense 2.5
 

Looks good installed. Do you by chance have a cab of your slider icons??

Re: [VGA] HDWall-Like Mod for Sense 2.5
 

Glad you like it. I got the slider icons from here. They are the black and white sticker ones.

Re: [VGA] HDWall-Like Mod for Sense 2.5
 

Got them...Thanks.

Re: [VGA] HDWall-Like Mod for Sense 2.5
 

I've updated my post at XDA with more cabs (pictured below). I'd attached them here, but it keeps crapping out.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=644515
http://img197.imageshack.us/img197/2436/19201706.jpg

Re: [VGA] HDWall-Like Mod for Sense 2.5
 

Many thanks mwalt2! Your HDWall-Like Mod has worked perfectly on OMJ's & amikam's 6.5.5 Sense 2.5 2012 ROMs. To overcome any landscape skin alignment issues, I picked wallpapers with solid single colors or shades at the top and bottom.

Attached is screen shot of your HDWall-Like Mod on amikam's 23547 Std MikROM. The mod may be a little hard to notice in this case, due to the black wallpaper. Nonetheless, it allowed me to remove most of the silver highlights that amikam's black task and bottom bars came with.

Thanks again!
Cheers,
R

Re: [VGA] HDWall-Like Mod for Sense 2.5
 

Thanks for the cab files for the transparency mods. All of them work for me except the transparent top and bottom curtains cab file, which I can't seem to get to stick despite multiple attempts to uninstall/reboot/reinstall. Any idea what might be preventing the switch?

Re: [VGA] HDWall-Like Mod for Sense 2.5
 

What version of manila are you using? The cab just overwrites 2 manila files (1 for top and 1 for bottom curtain). Try installing the cab, going to settings-today-items, uncheck sense, hit ok, to back to today-items, check sense, and wait for it to load. If the curtains are gone, then the cab/files are working. If they come back, then something is deleting the file and restoring the version in ROM (though I don't think I've ever heard of anything like that).

Re: [VGA] HDWall-Like Mod for Sense 2.5
 

Running 2.5 2012 on OMJ's latest. That's what I've tried several times, and have tried uninstalling/reinstalling your file, as well as switching to Windows Default before switching back to Sense. No go with any of those - the top and bottom curtains are still there. At least I was able to get transparent clock and slider, so 2 out of 3 is better than none.

Re: [VGA] HDWall-Like Mod for Sense 2.5
 

Ok, I'll look at the cab later. I may have messed something up since it should work on 2.5.2012. I didn't actually test the cabs since I cook all of these things into my rom.

Re: [VGA] HDWall-Like Mod for Sense 2.5
 

Just occurred to me that maybe I'm the one who messed up by not following all of the mods you outlined. I don't know if this would make a difference, but I've only installed the 4 transparency cabs listed in post #1. I didn't install the mushroom cab or any of those in post #2. For the wallpaper, I'm using some 480x640 background images I found elsewhere on this site. I'm not sure what distinguishes the Start Menu curtain from the bottom curtain (the Start Menu link in the ROM I'm using is on the bottom), but my top and bottom bars are still opaque. And I just now noticed the bar with the date and time is still opaque also. This is not a big deal, as it was primarily the clock that I wanted to be transparent anyway. So thanks for helping make that possible.

Re: [VGA] HDWall-Like Mod for Sense 2.5
 

The transparent curtains are part of manila. The bottom curtain is where the slider is and the top curtain is where your operator text appears. If those are transparent, then the cab worked. The only way to get the softkeybar and taskbar to be 'transparent' is to install a png of the portion of the wallpaper which would appear above and below the 536 pixels of the wallpaper (104 pixels are used for softkeybar and taskbar).

Re: [VGA] HDWall-Like Mod for Sense 2.5
 

OK, that's the problem then. I didn't complete your mod by installing a png to make the softkeybar and taskbar transparent. That's a project for another day. Thanks.

Re: [VGA] HDWall-Like Mod for Sense 2.5
 

Hey mwalt, Thank you so much for putting this up. I appreciate your hard work!

Re: [VGA] HDWall-Like Mod for Sense 2.5
 

awesome mwalt2 as usual ;)

Re: [VGA] HDWall-Like Mod for Sense 2.5
 

Hey mwalt... thanks for this set of easy-to-follow directions. Are there some easy steps to follow if you want to cook this mod into a rom? I found in OMJ's tweak folder where I can replace the stwater files but wasn't sure where the taskbar and softkey files might go and if converting the WM6.5VGAHDWall cab to an EXT then including it in a build would work or not.

Re: [VGA] HDWall-Like Mod for Sense 2.5
 

If you want to cook it into a ROM, you'll probably need to edit whatever tsk you are using and delete the registry entries for the taskbar/softkeybar images. Then just make an EXT from VGAHDWall cab and have it get processed after you sense files. If you need further help, feel free to shoot me a PM (though I'll be out of town the next couple of days). Also, you may be interested in volDeus's new program here. It gives the same effect and lets you have different portrait and landscape wallpapers.

Re: [VGA] HDWall-Like Mod for Sense 2.5
 

I'll take a look at that too. Thanks for the info! And thanks for the offer if I have questions.