Multiple Themes
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Contents |
Introduction
This tutorial is to guide you through the process of having multiple themes on your iPod at the same time, without having to continually update your iPod with different iPod Updaters. It has stemmed from my short how-to post in this suggestion thread.
It uses various tools from the iPodLinux Project and the Rockbox Project.
Disclaimer:
This tutorial is in no way supported by iPodWizard.net, and thus we will not be held responsible for any damage done to your iPod or computer.
That being said, this is a very safe process as long as you follow the tutorial to the letter. Post in this thread if you need some help.
Before We Start
To successfully complete this tutorial, you will now need to download these tools:
- Loader2.3^ - iPL Project.
- iPod_fw.exe - RB Project.
- iPodpatcher.exe - RB Project.
^Loader2.3 is used because there is currently problems with loading the Apple OS from a binary file in 2.4.
Of course, you will need iPodWizard (1.2) for this tutorial.
Tips
- Download ipodpatcher and ipod_fw to the same folder, preferably "C:\iPW\" for ease of access.
- Having any bootloader installed (Loader1, Loader2, Rockbox loader) may break the 'bootloader.bin' extract. It is recommended that your iPod is completely clean before beginning.
- It is a good idea to read and be familiar with this page on Loader2 (and the steps to installing it) before beginning.
Method
Step 1: Editing your iPod with iPodWizard
Now it is time to put the theme into your iPod. This must be done one theme at a time. All that you have to do is edit either the Updater/iPod with iPodWizard normally, putting in your Theme. If you don't know how to do it, read this.
If you edited the iPod directly (recommended for speed): Write the changes to the iPod, disconnect to make sure that the theme is on the iPod, reconnect, and then progress to step 2.
If you edited the iPod Updater: Write your changes to the iPod, 'Downgrade Firmware', and then use the altered iPod Updater to update your iPod with the new firmware. Now disconnect to make sure that the theme is on the iPod, reconnect, and then progress to step 2.
Step 2: Extracting the firmware from your iPod
Now we must extract the bootpartition from your iPod. This is done with ipodpatcher.exe.
- Open up CMD and navigate to the folder that you extracted 'ipodpatcher.exe' to with the "CD" command.
- With your iPod connected, type 'ipodpatcher 0' into CMD. Keep going through 1,2,3,4 etc until you get a Firmware Table printed from ipodpatcher into CMD. Remember the number that you used to get this result.
- Now type 'ipodpatcher.exe -r NUMBER bootpartition.bin'. It may take a while.
- Type 'ipod_fw.exe -o apple_os.bin -e 0 bootpartition.bin'. This 'apple_os.bin' file that comes from the bootpartition is the firmware file with the theme in it. Rename it to 'theme1.bin'.
- Delete 'bootpartition.bin'.
You now have the firmware with theme number 1 in it, ready for Loader2 to use!
Step 3: And repeat for more themes...
Repeat these steps (1-2) for each theme that you wish to have selectable on your iPod. Make sure that you use a clean updater each time (for Updater editing), or else the previous theme may 'leak through'.
Also make sure that you delete the 'booloader.bin' file after 'apple_os.bin' is extracted, or else it will interfere with the following themes.
Keep with the renaming of the 'apple_os.bin' file, as:
theme1.bin
theme2.bin
theme3.bin
etc.
I cannot stress enough that each re-run of the steps must have the same clean conditions as the first run through.
Step 4: Installing Loader2
Follow the instructions here to install Loader2 to your iPod from Windows.
After that is installed, you will need to understand config files. Read this.
Step 5: Configurating Loader2
- Make a folder in the root (top-level) of your iPod named "themes".
- Copy all of the 'themeX.bin' extracts to the "themes" folder on your iPod.
- Make a new text file at the root of your iPod named exactly 'loader.cfg'.
Now that we have the themes, Loader2 and config file in place, we now have to set up the config file for Loader2 to be able to load up the themes. You can do it however you want, but here is an example:
# iPodLoader 2.3 config file backlight = 1 timeout = 10 default = 1 # Menu choices: Original Apple @ osos Apple - Theme 1 @ (hd0,1)/themes/theme1.bin Apple - Theme 2 @ (hd0,1)/themes/theme2.bin Apple - Theme 3 @ (hd0,1)/themes/theme3.bin Sleep @ standby Disk Mode @ diskmode
After you have the themes loading properly, it is possible to change the names to your liking.
ie:
# iPodLoader 2.3 config file backlight = 1 timeout = 10 default = 1 # Menu choices: Original Apple @ osos Pink Floyd theme @ (hd0,1)/themes/floyd.bin Sonic theme @ (hd0,1)/themes/sonic.bin Apple OS with menue icons @ (hd0,1)/themes/icons.bin Sleep @ standby Disk Mode @ diskmode
One important thing to remember is that the files need to be named in a "eight.three" format. That means that the file has no more than eight characters and the extension no more than 3.
Also, it isn't necessary to have the themes in a seperate folder (this was only done to keep them 'together'). They can be in the root folder or any other folder, if you wish. The code can also be changed so the "@"s are "="s.
For more information on customizing Loader2 with the config file (there is so much more you can do), read this.
Usage Instructions
Everything should now be in place, so now all that we have to do is enjoy it.
Reboot your iPod, and you will be presented with Loader2's menu at boot-time. Select which theme you wish to load into, and it will load!
Final Notes
Remember, Loader2 is inserted into the boot partition of the iPod and any subsequent usages of the iPod Updater will remove it. Before installing Loader2, make sure that you have all of the theme binaries at hand.
Also, if you wish to have the original Apple OS present in the Loader2 menu (as in the example config file), you will need to use a fresh iPod Updater on the iPod after getting all of the theme binaries (and before installing Loader2).
Uninstall Instructions
To uninstall Loader2 and all of the themes from your iPod, perform an update with the iPod Updater. This will remove Loader2.
Now you can go through the files on your iPod's hard drive and delete the config file, and the theme binaries.
