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***** I ACCEPT NO RESPONSIBILITY IF YOU BRICK YOUR PHONE! *****
Heres what you'll need:
I'm not going to go into this as there are many guides out there and it can vary from phone to phone.
Recovery Image
You will need a system recovery image installed that allows installation of unsigned .zip files. I believe that Amon RA v1.8 allows this (providing your phone is has v1.8 available to it) or Clockwork Recovery.
I have not tested Amon RA v1.8, as it doesn't appear to be available for my phone, however I have heard that is allows unsigned .zips, so should work. If you already have Amon RA v1.8 or prefer to use it, please do so and report back if successful.
I highly recommend Clockwork recovery as the new standard recovery image (as do many Rom developers these days). To get Clockwork Recovery for your device, download the free version of ROM Manager from the market (or here for manual install if market is down). Open the app and choose the first option "Flash Clockwork Recovery". The app will identify your phone and ask you to confirm this. If correct, click on the name of your phone and the app will download and flash the Clockwork recovery image.
Thats the "hard part" done. If you are concerned about changing from Amon RA to Clockwork, please do check out the official site. Clockwork offers everything that Amon RA does, including Nandroid Backup etc. However, Amon RA v1.8 isn't available for every phone at this point. If you have Amon RA v1.8 already, you can skip the above steps and contine from this point.
Also note that you do not need Rom Manager from this point onwards, so you can uninstall it if you wish. Rom Manager does have it's uses, but I won't go into them here, check it out for yourself to see if it's any use to you. See the below "Flashing Your Font" for how to get into the Recovery Console without using Rom Manager.
Fonts
Download this .zip file, which contains the default DroidSans font for Android. You'll need this to restore the font if you need to and also to make a copy of and mod with your font.
Find a font you wish to use with your adroid device. Ideally, you will need a TTF (Truetype) font that has a normal and bold version. When you have selected the font you want, make two copies of the normal font (this is important). Rename one copy "Clockopia.ttf" and the other "DroidSans.tff". Now rename the bold version of your font as "DroidSans-Bold.ttf". Take note that these are CASE SENSATIVE!
Make a copy of the above DroidSans.zip file you downloaded and rename it to the name of the font you want to use. The name of the .zip file isn't important, it's only so you can identify it. Open the zip file and navigate into the system/fonts directory. Here you will see the files "Clockopia.ttf", "DroidSans.ttf" and "DroidSans-Bold.ttf". You will need to overwrite these files with your newly created files. Close/Save the zip file.
Copy the two .zip files to the root of your SD Card.
If you want to use a font that doesn't have a bold version, you still can. However, you will lose the ability to see unread emails and text messages within apps. If that doesn't bother you, just use the normal font and rename it to "DroidSans-Bold.ttf".
Flash Your Font
Before you flash your new font, please do make a backup (nandroid) of your system before you do so. Reboot into the Recovery Console by powering down your phone, then switch it back on by holding down the Power and Home buttons until the Recovery Console is displayed.
If you are using Clockwork, select "Nandroid" then choose "Backup" to make a backup of your system. This will take some time and needs a fair amount of space on your SD card. Now go back to the main menu and choose "Install Zip From SDCard", then select "Choose Zip From SDCard" and select the .zip file of your font that you created. Scroll down to "Yes - Install" and wait until it says the operation is completed. Head back to the main menu and reboot the phone. You are done!
If you are using Amon RA, the method is similar to the above, the menus maybe slightly different. Just make sure you have created a backup before you flash the font.
Special Notes
To revert back to the standard DroidSans font, either flash the DroidSans.zip over the top of your new font, or restore the Nandroid backup from the Recovery Console.
If you wish to try different fonts, you do not need to revert back to the standard DroidSans or Nandroid Backup each time. You can simply flash your new font over the top of the current one as many times as you wish.
Some fonts are described as "Heavy". I am not sure exactly what this means, but if you notice that your phone is a lot slower after flashing a font, try reverting back to a previous font.
You will need to experiment with fonts as they don't all work correctly. For example, some will be too low, missing parts of the letters or may be too large. But that's the fun of modding things.
Don't go flashing any random unsigned zips unless you know they are ok! You could damage your operating system or open op serious security holes on your phone.
Don't forget to post your screenshots in this thread to show off the fonts.
Heres what you'll need:
- A rooted device
- 2.1 (Eclair) or 2.2 (Froyo) (not tested with other versions)
- Clockwork Recovery Image or Amon RA v1.8 Recovery Image
- A font of your choice
- The default DroidSans font (to restore from if needed)
I'm not going to go into this as there are many guides out there and it can vary from phone to phone.
Recovery Image
You will need a system recovery image installed that allows installation of unsigned .zip files. I believe that Amon RA v1.8 allows this (providing your phone is has v1.8 available to it) or Clockwork Recovery.
I have not tested Amon RA v1.8, as it doesn't appear to be available for my phone, however I have heard that is allows unsigned .zips, so should work. If you already have Amon RA v1.8 or prefer to use it, please do so and report back if successful.
I highly recommend Clockwork recovery as the new standard recovery image (as do many Rom developers these days). To get Clockwork Recovery for your device, download the free version of ROM Manager from the market (or here for manual install if market is down). Open the app and choose the first option "Flash Clockwork Recovery". The app will identify your phone and ask you to confirm this. If correct, click on the name of your phone and the app will download and flash the Clockwork recovery image.
Thats the "hard part" done. If you are concerned about changing from Amon RA to Clockwork, please do check out the official site. Clockwork offers everything that Amon RA does, including Nandroid Backup etc. However, Amon RA v1.8 isn't available for every phone at this point. If you have Amon RA v1.8 already, you can skip the above steps and contine from this point.
Also note that you do not need Rom Manager from this point onwards, so you can uninstall it if you wish. Rom Manager does have it's uses, but I won't go into them here, check it out for yourself to see if it's any use to you. See the below "Flashing Your Font" for how to get into the Recovery Console without using Rom Manager.
Fonts
Download this .zip file, which contains the default DroidSans font for Android. You'll need this to restore the font if you need to and also to make a copy of and mod with your font.
Find a font you wish to use with your adroid device. Ideally, you will need a TTF (Truetype) font that has a normal and bold version. When you have selected the font you want, make two copies of the normal font (this is important). Rename one copy "Clockopia.ttf" and the other "DroidSans.tff". Now rename the bold version of your font as "DroidSans-Bold.ttf". Take note that these are CASE SENSATIVE!
Make a copy of the above DroidSans.zip file you downloaded and rename it to the name of the font you want to use. The name of the .zip file isn't important, it's only so you can identify it. Open the zip file and navigate into the system/fonts directory. Here you will see the files "Clockopia.ttf", "DroidSans.ttf" and "DroidSans-Bold.ttf". You will need to overwrite these files with your newly created files. Close/Save the zip file.
Copy the two .zip files to the root of your SD Card.
If you want to use a font that doesn't have a bold version, you still can. However, you will lose the ability to see unread emails and text messages within apps. If that doesn't bother you, just use the normal font and rename it to "DroidSans-Bold.ttf".
Flash Your Font
Before you flash your new font, please do make a backup (nandroid) of your system before you do so. Reboot into the Recovery Console by powering down your phone, then switch it back on by holding down the Power and Home buttons until the Recovery Console is displayed.
If you are using Clockwork, select "Nandroid" then choose "Backup" to make a backup of your system. This will take some time and needs a fair amount of space on your SD card. Now go back to the main menu and choose "Install Zip From SDCard", then select "Choose Zip From SDCard" and select the .zip file of your font that you created. Scroll down to "Yes - Install" and wait until it says the operation is completed. Head back to the main menu and reboot the phone. You are done!
If you are using Amon RA, the method is similar to the above, the menus maybe slightly different. Just make sure you have created a backup before you flash the font.
Special Notes
To revert back to the standard DroidSans font, either flash the DroidSans.zip over the top of your new font, or restore the Nandroid backup from the Recovery Console.
If you wish to try different fonts, you do not need to revert back to the standard DroidSans or Nandroid Backup each time. You can simply flash your new font over the top of the current one as many times as you wish.
Some fonts are described as "Heavy". I am not sure exactly what this means, but if you notice that your phone is a lot slower after flashing a font, try reverting back to a previous font.
You will need to experiment with fonts as they don't all work correctly. For example, some will be too low, missing parts of the letters or may be too large. But that's the fun of modding things.
Don't go flashing any random unsigned zips unless you know they are ok! You could damage your operating system or open op serious security holes on your phone.
Don't forget to post your screenshots in this thread to show off the fonts.