Topic: How to load alternate themes.

Duane wrote:

Remember, the device is hackable now.

1) turn on sshd using MENU->Settings->Device Info->pi->SSHD
2) ssh into the device
3) type "cp /usr/widgets/theme.swf /psp; sync"
4) reboot the device

This will cause the Control Panel to attempt to use the "default theme" that's embedded in the firmware.  I have no idea what condition it's in or how well it may or may not work.

To get rid of it, switch the theme using the UI.

Thanks -- but it's not the screen I'm looking for.  But this is a great ability!

I'm assuming there is a list of theme commands?  Is that published anywhere? 

Here's a pic I found of what I'm looking for:

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-A7760dITMzc/T … 23955E.jpg

Again, THANKS!

Re: How to load alternate themes.

jhonryan wrote:

I'm assuming there is a list of theme commands?  Is that published anywhere? 

Here's a pic I found of what I'm looking for:

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-A7760dITMzc/T … 23955E.jpg

Again, THANKS!

I'm not understanding what you're asking about with 'theme commands".

That looks like it'd be the "appview" theme, however the appview file posted by drexful has the bento swf in it... Perhaps a mistake was made somewhere.

The ww theme gives time, weather, and apps, though there's a large snowglobe too. it might be closer to what you're wanting, though not quite.

Cleaning up any loose bits and bytes.

Re: How to load alternate themes.

diamaunt wrote:
jhonryan wrote:

I'm assuming there is a list of theme commands?  Is that published anywhere? 

Here's a pic I found of what I'm looking for:

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-A7760dITMzc/T … 23955E.jpg

Again, THANKS!

I'm not understanding what you're asking about with 'theme commands".

That looks like it'd be the "appview" theme, however the appview file posted by drexful has the bento swf in it... Perhaps a mistake was made somewhere.

The ww theme gives time, weather, and apps, though there's a large snowglobe too. it might be closer to what you're wanting, though not quite.

I was in "windows" land for a while thinking the /psp was a command paramater or something -- sad thing is my roots are in linux -- just a brain fart -- like reaching for the phantom clutch when switching from a manual transmission to automatic. 

Yeah.  I figured out the issues with the zip files posted a few weeks ago.  applauncher would be good, too I think -- but that one is wrong. as well.  I was just loading in ww theme to test. 

Thanks!

Re: How to load alternate themes.

diamaunt wrote:

The ww theme gives time, weather, and apps, though there's a large snowglobe too. it might be closer to what you're wanting, though not quite.

ww sadly has the same problem -- widget window is far too small. 

Sigh...

Re: How to load alternate themes.

jhonryan wrote:

Here's a pic I found of what I'm looking for:

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-A7760dITMzc/T … 23955E.jpg

Again, THANKS!

@jhontyan-  that's the one I used for 7+ years.   The perfect theme/layout in my opinion.   Let me know if you find a way to bring it back.

Re: How to load alternate themes.

FranksMama wrote:

@jhontyan-  that's the one I used for 7+ years.   The perfect theme/layout in my opinion.   Let me know if you find a way to bring it back.

Same here.

Re: How to load alternate themes.

I fixed the links. Sorry about that.

Owner of three C1's, Infocast 3.5, Sony Dash C10, and Infocast 8. A tinkerer at heart and IT director by trade.

8 (edited by jhonryan 2017-08-10 06:23:24)

Re: How to load alternate themes.

drexful wrote:

I fixed the links. Sorry about that.

Last week, the Chumby folks made my day.  Today it is you.

I have the theme I like once again!

THANKS!

https://ibb.co/ek0ima

Re: How to load alternate themes.

jhonryan wrote:
drexful wrote:

I fixed the links. Sorry about that.

Last week, the Chumby folks made my day.  Today it is you.

I have the theme I like once again!

THANKS!

WOW! That's the theme I also used forever since 2010. I first must thanks the Chumdash
team. A big round of applause. Thanks. jhonryan I know what you mean when your
day is made by getting back what you lived with daily. The dash is kinda like my virtual dog
it just feeds me data and asks for nothing. I am miles behind you guys on technical abilities.
I just ssh'd into the dash and loaded the Sony broken theme and was happy about that. So,
could someone lead me a little like an old dog to his feeding dish that he forgot where it was
and give me some of the purina dog chow. Old commercial from the fifties. Thanks.

Re: How to load alternate themes.

eastdiamond wrote:
jhonryan wrote:
drexful wrote:

I fixed the links. Sorry about that.

Last week, the Chumby folks made my day.  Today it is you.

I have the theme I like once again!

THANKS!

WOW! That's the theme I also used forever since 2010. I first must thanks the Chumdash
team. A big round of applause. Thanks. jhonryan I know what you mean when your
day is made by getting back what you lived with daily. The dash is kinda like my virtual dog
it just feeds me data and asks for nothing. I am miles behind you guys on technical abilities.
I just ssh'd into the dash and loaded the Sony broken theme and was happy about that. So,
could someone lead me a little like an old dog to his feeding dish that he forgot where it was
and give me some of the purina dog chow. Old commercial from the fifties. Thanks.

What I did was follow Duane's instructions here:  http://forum.chumby.com/viewtopic.php?id=9863

Per Duane
1) turn on sshd using MENU->Settings->Device Info->pi->SSHD
2) ssh into the device
3) type "cp /usr/widgets/theme.swf /psp; sync"
4) reboot the device

(The part I needed was the secret "pi" button -- no idea it was a button)

I just copied the themes in a folder called "themes" on my USB drive, went to the usb folder in "mnt" and typed the command:

cp appview_theme.swf /psp/theme.swf; sync

rebooted and it worked. 

if you don't want to go to the USB folder type this:

cp /mnt/usb/themes/appview_theme.swf /psp/theme.swf; sync

btw, most linux flavors allow you to "autocomplete" what you are typing by hitting "tab".  This flavor is no exception.  If there's more than one possibility, hit tab again and it will show you all possible options to type.

Also, the widgits displayed are chumby supplied subscription widgets -- not the sony widgets so this should survive sony shut down (at least thats my assumption).

Re: How to load alternate themes.

jhonryan wrote:
eastdiamond wrote:
jhonryan wrote:

Last week, the Chumby folks made my day.  Today it is you.

I have the theme I like once again!

THANKS!

WOW! That's the theme I also used forever since 2010. I first must thanks the Chumdash
team. A big round of applause. Thanks. jhonryan I know what you mean when your
day is made by getting back what you lived with daily. The dash is kinda like my virtual dog
it just feeds me data and asks for nothing. I am miles behind you guys on technical abilities.
I just ssh'd into the dash and loaded the Sony broken theme and was happy about that. So,
could someone lead me a little like an old dog to his feeding dish that he forgot where it was
and give me some of the purina dog chow. Old commercial from the fifties. Thanks.

What I did was follow Duane's instructions here:  http://forum.chumby.com/viewtopic.php?id=9863

Per Duane
1) turn on sshd using MENU->Settings->Device Info->pi->SSHD
2) ssh into the device
3) type "cp /usr/widgets/theme.swf /psp; sync"
4) reboot the device

(The part I needed was the secret "pi" button -- no idea it was a button)

I just copied the themes in a folder called "themes" on my USB drive, went to the usb folder in "mnt" and typed the command:

cp appview_theme.swf /psp/theme.swf; sync

rebooted and it worked. 

if you don't want to go to the USB folder type this:

cp /mnt/usb/themes/appview_theme.swf /psp/theme.swf; sync

btw, most linux flavors allow you to "autocomplete" what you are typing by hitting "tab".  This flavor is no exception.  If there's more than one possibility, hit tab again and it will show you all possible options to type.

Also, the widgits displayed are chumby supplied subscription widgets -- not the sony widgets so this should survive sony shut down (at least thats my assumption).

Thanks for the quick reply. I will attempt this after our planned day trip to Harpers Ferry, WV.
I am using the tool Cygwin. I will try the tab trick in the command windows black window thingy.
I'm running late getting out of the house but I love working and learning new stuff. Peace and thanks.

Re: How to load alternate themes.

eastdiamond wrote:

I will try the tab trick in the command windows black window thingy.

And "oh".  I created a folder named "themes" on my usb thumb drive...  There's not one automagically there.  You could call it anything.  "Fred" even.

Re: How to load alternate themes.

Can you remove the USB drive after you've completed this step?

Re: How to load alternate themes.

jhonryan wrote:
eastdiamond wrote:

I will try the tab trick in the command windows black window thingy.

And "oh".  I created a folder named "themes" on my usb thumb drive...  There's not one automagically there.  You could call it anything.  "Fred" even.

I don't know, a folder named "Fred" may be patented by Sony (darn software patents). Best to not take the chance and call it "themes". It will make it easier to remember what files are where in the future.

Tar, feathers, congress. Some assembly required.

Re: How to load alternate themes.

I did this:

1) Downloaded the theme I wanted
2) Unzipped onto same (Now empty) USB drive I used to patch earlier
3) Booted up to confirm the theme was what I wanted, it was
4) Menu, settings, Device Info, Pi, SSH, see WInky Octo
5) Used Android App Connectbot to create an SSH connection to the ChumDash IP {Found via Menu, Settings, Network} User: root
6) Used the following command to copy the theme over
    cp /mnt/usb/themes/applauncher_theme.swf /psp/theme.swf; sync
7) rebooted [settings, Device Info, Pi, reboot]
8) Pull USB After shutdown
9) Enjoy

I now have my dash as before. Thanks Duane and all the testers! If you can include this theme going forward, and other old Sony ones, that would be great.

Re: How to load alternate themes.

Sony has not granted me the right to redistribute their copyrighted software.

I can't speak to what other people may choose to do, but Blue Octy will respect Sony's ownership rights with regard to their themes.

Re: How to load alternate themes.

I liked the default theme, but honestly I loved the old Sony theme I was using before Dash Death. I had it up for almost 9 years, so it has grown on me. I went into the firmware thread and downloaded the old themes:

Here are the themes for the home screens:
anonfile.com/Q2B1g3c8bb/applauncher_theme.zip
anonfile.com/KeB0g4c3be/appview_theme.zip
anonfile.com/beh7a1cfb1/bento_theme.zip
anonfile.com/cah0a2cdbb/cbs_theme.zip
anonfile.com/m6Cfg5cfb0/droz_theme.zip
anonfile.com/a5h6a7c1b8/fullappview_theme.zip
anonfile.com/daheabccbc/ps_theme.zip
anonfile.com/e8h1afc4be/ww_theme.zip

each file has a jpg, but I find mine applauncher_theme and tested it. It worked, so I installed it. Instructions are here:

http://forum.chumby.com/viewtopic.php?pid=56162#p56162

Now it is just like my Dash, pre shutdown, but with the Chumby Widgets I subscribe too. I don't have Netflix and Pandora, but I can live without thoses.

So I will say, anyone disappointed in the space theme, can try out the old ones. The one I have shows weather, if you tap it you get dual time, and 5 day forecast. It looks all correct, so I am guessing it is working fine.

Perhaps some of the working themes can be added back over time.

MODERATOR: moved to a more appropriate thread.

Re: How to load alternate themes.

Fair enough, it is an easy fix to do on your own, but could we reverse engineer and create our own version that looks the same? Alternately, would you think Sony would make them open source or public domain, now that they have no use for it anymore.

Re: How to load alternate themes.

I followed the steps EXACTLY however I keep getting this message in Putty "No such file or directory". Any ideas? I am copying the code EXACTLY every time honest !!!!

I'm using a clean USB drive plugged into the Dash with no other files except the theme I want to load.

Thanks in advance !

nygman wrote:

I did this:

1) Downloaded the theme I wanted
2) Unzipped onto same (Now empty) USB drive I used to patch earlier
3) Booted up to confirm the theme was what I wanted, it was
4) Menu, settings, Device Info, Pi, SSH, see WInky Octo
5) Used Android App Connectbot to create an SSH connection to the ChumDash IP {Found via Menu, Settings, Network} User: root
6) Used the following command to copy the theme over
    cp /mnt/usb/themes/applauncher_theme.swf /psp/theme.swf; sync
7) rebooted [settings, Device Info, Pi, reboot]
8) Pull USB After shutdown
9) Enjoy

I now have my dash as before. Thanks Duane and all the testers! If you can include this theme going forward, and other old Sony ones, that would be great.

Re: How to load alternate themes.

englishmandan wrote:

I followed the steps EXACTLY however I keep getting this message in Putty "No such file or directory". Any ideas? I am copying the code EXACTLY every time honest !!!!

I'm using a clean USB drive plugged into the Dash with no other files except the theme I want to load.

Thanks in advance !

nygman wrote:

I did this:

1) Downloaded the theme I wanted
2) Unzipped onto same (Now empty) USB drive I used to patch earlier
3) Booted up to confirm the theme was what I wanted, it was
4) Menu, settings, Device Info, Pi, SSH, see WInky Octo
5) Used Android App Connectbot to create an SSH connection to the ChumDash IP {Found via Menu, Settings, Network} User: root
6) Used the following command to copy the theme over
    cp /mnt/usb/themes/applauncher_theme.swf /psp/theme.swf; sync
7) rebooted [settings, Device Info, Pi, reboot]
8) Pull USB After shutdown
9) Enjoy

I now have my dash as before. Thanks Duane and all the testers! If you can include this theme going forward, and other old Sony ones, that would be great.

Try
cd /mnt
That should change you to the mnt directory
ls
Will list the contents of the mnt folder, you should see usb there if it is recognized
cd usb
ls
this will show you the files on the USB
you probably have an extra directory level, but you should see your file there. If you do you can just do
cp /applauncher_theme.swf /psp/theme.swf; sync

hope that helps

21 (edited by englishmandan 2017-08-10 12:13:37)

Re: How to load alternate themes.

OK, getting somewhere THANK YOU.

Now it's giving me a list of options to copy to source or destination????

Which option is the right one:

Same as DPR
Preserve Links
Deference all symlinks
Preserve attributes
Force Overwrite
Prompt before overwrite
recurse directories
create



nygman wrote:
englishmandan wrote:

I followed the steps EXACTLY however I keep getting this message in Putty "No such file or directory". Any ideas? I am copying the code EXACTLY every time honest !!!!

I'm using a clean USB drive plugged into the Dash with no other files except the theme I want to load.

Thanks in advance !

nygman wrote:

I did this:

1) Downloaded the theme I wanted
2) Unzipped onto same (Now empty) USB drive I used to patch earlier
3) Booted up to confirm the theme was what I wanted, it was
4) Menu, settings, Device Info, Pi, SSH, see WInky Octo
5) Used Android App Connectbot to create an SSH connection to the ChumDash IP {Found via Menu, Settings, Network} User: root
6) Used the following command to copy the theme over
    cp /mnt/usb/themes/applauncher_theme.swf /psp/theme.swf; sync
7) rebooted [settings, Device Info, Pi, reboot]
8) Pull USB After shutdown
9) Enjoy

I now have my dash as before. Thanks Duane and all the testers! If you can include this theme going forward, and other old Sony ones, that would be great.

Try
cd /mnt
That should change you to the mnt directory
ls
Will list the contents of the mnt folder, you should see usb there if it is recognized
cd usb
ls
this will show you the files on the USB
you probably have an extra directory level, but you should see your file there. If you do you can just do
cp /applauncher_theme.swf /psp/theme.swf; sync

hope that helps

Re: How to load alternate themes.

I am a bit rusty when it comes to linux, but if you can see the file on the usb, after issuing the ls command then you can just copy it to the chumby.
I may have left an extra /, try below

cp applauncher_theme.swf /psp/theme.swf; sync

It should pause, then go back to the prompt, Thats it. You should be copied
cp is copy the next is the source file, then the following is the destination file. So prehaps there was an extra space. Good luck.

Re: How to load alternate themes.

I GOT IT WORKING !!!!

Thank you so much nygman, you're the best. I figured out my problem, I wasn't putting a space in between the SWF and /PSP

Once again, thanks to you and the great folks at Chumby I now have my Dash running EXACTLY the same way it was (and has been for 6 years).

nygman wrote:

I am a bit rusty when it comes to linux, but if you can see the file on the usb, after issuing the ls command then you can just copy it to the chumby.
I may have left an extra /, try below

cp applauncher_theme.swf /psp/theme.swf; sync

It should pause, then go back to the prompt, Thats it. You should be copied
cp is copy the next is the source file, then the following is the destination file. So prehaps there was an extra space. Good luck.

Re: How to load alternate themes.

englishmandan wrote:

I GOT IT WORKING !!!!

Thank you so much nygman, you're the best. I figured out my problem, I wasn't putting a space in between the SWF and /PSP

I don't mean to pick on you, englishmandan, but I'd like to use your posts here to highlight an issue that crops up fairly often.

Most of the time, when ever something doesn't work, and the person says they've followed the instructions "EXACTLY", they haven't.  There's usually something small and hard to notice, like your missing space, that's causing the problem.  It can often be difficult to spot the difference, but it's there.

Linux (which the chumby and dash run on) is *VERY* picky about how you do things, it's very trusting that you're telling it what you want, and it does exactly what you tell it to do.... which sometimes isn't what you want it to do smile

To linux, there's a difference in CP, Cp and cp, capitals matter, spaces are important, etc.

So, if something doesn't work, check back over what you did, very carefully, and make sure everything is right, spaces, capitalization, and so forth.

Cleaning up any loose bits and bytes.

Re: How to load alternate themes.

hence my correction on the extra "/" which I thought may have been the issue. That is why I also explained the cp command to make the context easier to understand, with respect to the error. I know what I did, but I can never know what someone else is doing. Just sharing my experiences to help others return to old Dash they knew and loved. I am very happy now, although I was quite happy before. However, I know what I like and it is applauncher_theme.swf big_smile