Quote:
Originally Posted by hotburnttoast
dumb question but how do I do this.............Set PTT references to false 
Is there en editied alx.file available to unlock all themes |
Not a dumb question at all!
When you install the Blackberry OS on your PC, one of the main tasks is setting up a folder structure and a set of Blackberry device files within that PC folder -- but not for use by the PC. Instead, most of these files will sit on your PC, waiting for you to fire up the Blackberry Device Manager with the Blackberry plugged into the USB port of your PC.
The Desktop Manager and Application Loader (a piece of software invoked by the Desktop Manager) can examine your Blackberry and compare the versions of the various programs currently loaded to the versions of the same software sitting in these OS folders on your PC. If the software appears to be intended for your device, and if the versions do not match (from PC to Blackberry), AND if the "vendorID" associated with the software matches the vendorID stored in your Blackberry, THEN the Application Loader will offer to load the software from the PC into your Blackberry.
All of this "tagging" to identify device, vendor and software version, is implemented in various files containing "XML" (extended markup language) code (also a couple of other files involved). Look at the following path on your PC, after having "installed" the Blackberry OS to your PC:
c:\Program Files|Common Files\Research In Motion\Shared\Loader Files\
Immediately below that you should see another subdirectory with a name based on the version of the OS you installed to the PC. An example of this is:
8300-v4.2.2.173_P2.4.0.76
This "OS-specific" directory is where you will find the ALX files, e.g., files with an extension ".alx". These files can be viewed and/or edited in a text editor like Windows Notepad. You will be able to ignore most of the innards, but essentially these files will determine which Java ".cod" files will be loaded into your Blackberry depending on various conditions.
There are a few places in the ALX files that can determine which files are loaded. We're interested primarily in the spots that rely on the value of a data field called "vendorID". Each Blackberry that leaves the factory receives a "vendorID" designation - stored internally in the device - that associates it with the wireless carrier it is intended to be sold by. For example, T-Mobile Blackberry's all of a vendorID of 100, and AT&T Blackberry's all have a vendorID of 102.
If you search the file LBS.alx, you will the following section about halfway down:
<!-- For 8800 series, hide the icon for AT&T (102), Vodafone Germany (124), Vodafone Austria (137) and all Orange properties, including Amena (Orange Spain - 175). -->
<!-- For non-8800 series, show the icon for all carriers except AT&T (102), Vodafone Germany (124), Vodafone Austria (137) and all Orange properties, including Amena (Orange Spain - 175). -->
<fileset SystemSize="normal" Colour="True" Java="1.0" _vendorID="102" series="~8800">
As a matter of fact, I have already modified this part of the file (maybe somebody else can edit this and add the unmodified version for comparison). Essentially, the first two lines above, that begin with "<!--", are comments. The third line, beginning with "<fileset", has a tag "_vendorID". In my file, you can see that I've set _vendorID to "102", which matches the value stored in my Blackberry. This means that the LBS (location based services -- another name for the Blackberry Maps service) WILL be loaded into my Blackberry. In the original version of the file, if my recollection is correct, the _vendorID tag is set to a long string specifiying a number of vendors who opt to let their customers use Blackberry Maps, with the various vendorID's separated by a "|", which means "or". Also - where you see "102" (AT&T's vendorID) in the list, there is a tilda in front of it ("~"), meaning "NOT". Essentially, this is the way to set the ALX file to NOT load Blackberry Maps into your Blackberry if it's an AT&T branded device. The change I made to the file, leaving "102", without a tilda, means that Blackberry Maps WILL be installed if my Blackberry's vendorID is 102. Further down in the ALX, there will be a list of files ending in ".cod" -- these are the actual Java files that get copied into your device if the conditions are right.
That's just one of the ways the ALX files control your software loading.
The "Push to Talk" application is another good one to look at. It is ONLY useful if your carrier supports this service, and if you are paying to use it. Otherwise, having it in your Blackberry merely uses up valuable memory, and may even slow the device down by "running" in the background, waiting for you to invoke it. Load up the "Platform.alx" file, and take a look on line 7 (beginning with "<os radio=". About halfway along this line you'll see "pttApp="True". This is one of the places where the Application Loader looks to see if it should load the Push to Talk application to your device.
Down on line 110, you'll see another line that reads:
<fileset pttApp="True" Java="1.0" _vendorID="102">
These are additional opportunities to tell the Application Loader to either load, or not load, PTT to your device. Although it's overkill, in addition to modifying the line near the top of the file, I also modified this line, changing to read:
<fileset pttApp="False" Java="1.0" _vendorID="123">
So: I have now told the Application Loader in three different places to NOT load PTT to my Blackberry. The last part, where I set "_vendorID=123", is simply setting the file to look for a vendorID that I know is NOT going to match the one stored in my Blackberry. Since I know that my device is an unlocked, AT&T-branded, Blackberry, its vendorID is "102". Since "102" doesn't equal "123", this will be another "test" the will fail when the Application Loader runs, indicating once more that PTT should NOT be loaded.
I know this is verbose, and that the alx files look messy and complex. After you've poked through them a few times and see how they're organized, the part you need to deal with becomes very straightforward.
Modifying the Blackberry.alx is also how people have been "unlocking" the various vendor-specific themes. Turns out that all the vendor-specific themes are sitting on your PC when you load the software there, but the Blackberry.alx normally tells the Application Loader to only load up the ones intended for your carrier. Try opening Blackberry.alx, and search for the comment line reading, "
<!-- Theme filesets -->". This is the section of the file that controls the loading of the themes. This is done two ways. If there is NO vendorID specified, the files, such as "
net_rim_bb_media_320x240_b.cod", will be loaded to any vendor's Blackberry (T-Mobile, AT&T, etc). Where the "_vendorID tag IS specified, it must match your device's vendorID if the file is to be loaded.
You have two choices to allow a theme file to be loaded:
1) Change the vendorID specification to match your device. For example, for an AT&T branded device, one of the lines might read:
<fileset Colour="True" Java="1.0" series="8800|8300" _vendorID="102">
2) Or you can REMOVE the vendorID specification altogether, allowing the theme to be loaded on any vendor's device, as in:
<fileset Theme="Normal" Colour="True" series="8800|8300" Java="1.0">
After you have made the modifications, you connect your Blackberry to the PC, fire up Desktop Manager, and then start the Application Loader.
So - there you have it. A verbose, but basic, overview of a couple of features in the ALX files that let us determine some of what's loaded onto our Blackberry's, and overriding the default behavior of the Application Loader.
A word of caution: before editing these files, you might want to make a copy of the directory with the ALX's. This way, if you make a mistake, it's easier to simply copy the original files back in place over your mistake and start over.
Have fun!
Latest 8300 OS: Singapore Telecom 4.2.2.314 / 4.2.2.173
