Hacking R4 themes not working?

[InuYasha]

I can't get themes to work for the life of me,I took the theme folder from 1.11 firmware put in the required themes files in the theme folders still nothing,and yes i've hit select at the main R4 menu......

 

[DarkAura]

Do they have all the proper images and are all 24-bit bmps?

 

[InuYasha]

I'm pretty sure,also someone sent me there working themes folder and they still didn't work......problem is i've never gotten any themes to work on the R4,reguardless of firmware.....

 

[DarkAura]

How do I install an M3 Simply or R4DS theme? by R4DS

If the skin does not exist in the directory of _system_ in TF/microSD, it automatically uses the Skin from formal Beta Edition;

There are 4 pictures at the directory "system/_system": logo.bmp, icons.bmp, bckgrd_1.bm, and bckgrd_2.bmp. They are the background of the R4 operation interface; they can be changed to fit your style.
What the files are for.

  * logo.bmp - Background of the Top Screen of startup.
  * icons.bmp -- Background of the Bottom Screen of Startup.
  * bckgrd_1.bmp -- Background of the Top Screen of Explorer.
  * bckgrd_2.bmp -- Background of the Bottom Screen of Explorer.

Note:

  * Do not change the picture's name;
  * Make sure the picture is .bmp format, 8-bit/24-bit;
  * Make sure the picture is 256*192 pixels.

After finishing process on the pictures, copy the "_system" folder to the root directory of the CF card.

If the Skin exists in the directory of _system_ in TF/microSD, it automatically enters multi Skins mode.

The Skins in multi Skins mode can be switched manually and automatically, it is automatically switched with the Skins by months.

The method of the Skin switch is: Click "SELECT" key in main menu, it switches between twelve manual modes and one auto mode, the chart is showed as below (It automatically skips if the Skin does not exist in the directory of themes):

If the users would like the switches of multi Skins while playing, they only need create the directory of themes in the directory of _system_.

Did you follow that? You could be missing some stuff.

 

[InuYasha]

_system_ folder

themes folder

inside one of the themes folder

 

[DarkAura]

That looks about right. Try reformatting. *shrugs*

 

[InuYasha]

Something just dawned on me,do folders require to have any options checked when you right click and hit properties?

 

[DarkAura]

No.. it should be just fine the way it is.

 

[InuYasha]

Hmmm then I guess i'm out of solutions......

 

[kompact]

Deleted.

 

[Talaria]

Delete the _DS_Menu.sys (4MB) off the root of your card and then start the card up on your DS and the problem should be fixed (hopefully). Just an idea

 

[kompact]

Deleted.

 

[Destructobot]

3. Filled them all with themes

Did you have some empty theme folders when you tried it before?

Edit: I just tried adding empty theme folders to my card, and that didn't break anything.


I can't imagine how changing the view mode in windows explorer would make any difference. It only sorts the files on screen, it doesn't change anything on the card.

 

[kompact]

Deleted.

 

[roothorick]

I'm having the exact same problem. I've tried placing the theme in every single location I can find even the slightest reference to, including _system/, _system/themes/theme01..12, system/_system, system/_system_, and even all at the same time. I've even tried downgrading my firmware to 1.13 and 1.14 to no effect. My only other theory is that maybe the R4 firmware is picky about themes' physical locations in the filesystem (i.e. must be contained within the first 64MB of the card or something.) I'm going to go dig up the disk that came with my R4, load it up that way, and see if I can get the stock themes to work with the shipped firmware.

-EDIT-

Ladies and gentlemen, we have a bug.

Here's the EXACT commands I did:

# mkfs.vfat /dev/sda1
# mount /dev/sda1 /mnt/usb0
# mount /dev/hdd /mnt/cdrom1
# cp -R "/mnt/cdrom1/system v1.11/English-1.11/*" /mnt/usb0
# umount /mnt/usb0

Took the card out of the reader, put it in my DS, the shipped 1.11 firmware booted up. Hit select, nothing happened.

-EDIT2- I sent an email to R4. We'll find out on Monday what the official response is.

 

[Destructobot]

Actually, you're having a different problem that has the same symptoms.

Due to a difference in the way Windows and non-Windows OSs deal with filenames in FAT volumes, and a bug in the R4, all of the theme files & folders (including the _SYSTEM_ folder) have to have their filenames in all caps when you use a non-Windows OS to write the data to the card.

Furthermore, you can't rename the files to the same filename in all caps while they're on the FAT volume, you have to remove them, rename them, then copy them to the card.

Someone wrote a bash script (I think it was a bash script, I don't use a real OS so I'm not sure) to do this automatically, but thanks to all the SSBB tards flooding the site the search engine has been taken offline and I can't find it for you.

 

[kompact]

Deleted.

 

[Destructobot]

That's what I've heard. I have no way of testing it myself, and I got all of that from memory because the search engine is down, but I think it's correct.

It's not just the folders, all of the theme files need to be in all caps.

 

[roothorick]

Basically what you have to do is, copy over your entire "_system_" directory to your hard drive (any old place will do), and then manually change the case of EVERY file and directory using mv. DO NOT use rename, because for whatever reason, if you change only the case, it doesn't do the right thing. Then, you use mv again to copy the new "_SYSTEM_" directory back onto your card. Then your R4 will see it.

If it's having issues with Moonshell (the infamous "Cannot find _DS_MSHL.NDS" error) then try something along these lines:

# rm /mnt/usb0/_DS_MSHL.nds
# ln -s /mnt/usb0 English
# unrar x English-1.15.rar English/_DS_MSHL.NDS
# rm English

That worked for me.

 

[Smwbigboss]

That's what I've heard. I have no way of testing it myself, and I got all of that from memory because the search engine is down, but I think it's correct.

It's not just the folders, all of the theme files need to be in all caps.

Yeah this is true. I'm running Ubuntu 7.10 and I have to rename the files every time I add a theme. I don't remember having to do this in the older R4 firmware versions though, it just stopped working back in fall.