Changing Hello and Goodbye screens

[Damion Chaplin]

OK, so I probably already know the answer to this, but I thought I would give it a shot:

I found while exploring my phone the 2 .gif screens that have the Cingular logo-guy saying Hello and Bye. I tried to edit them and replace them with my own pics, but they are apparently in the read-only ROM area. ActiveSync allowed me to overwrite the files (at least, it didn't error out), but it obviously didn't overwrite them because they're still there.

So... any chance there's a workaround that will allow me to replace these screens permanently? Any ideas would be duly appreciated...

[Mike Temporale]

Homescreen Designer allows you to upload new ones, but it never worked on my c500. However, that was a while ago before I had it fully unlocked. IT would be worth trying, anyway.

[Jerry Raia]

I haven't looked into this myself but if Home Screen Designer lets you change them then they are copied into RAM someplace. They may be renamed. If so you can just use a different image using that name.

[Damion Chaplin]

Thanks Mike. I'll look into it, but I'm not expecting any better results with my SMT5600.

Jerry, might it be possible for Homescreen Designer to override the Cingular screens by diverting the OS elsewhere during bootup (a registry entry I suppose) and pointing it to the user's custom files..?

Boy do I hate that Cingular logo! :evil:

[Jerry Raia]

Right you are my friend:

HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Splash Screen

I just tried it and changed both shutdown and startup screens (Carrier screens) They must be .gif and sized right, in my case 176x220 for my 5600 :)

[Damion Chaplin]

OK, so I downloaded smartione, but it won't let me edit the string to point it to my own file... I must be missing something..?

[EDIT] Nevermind... Should have searched for it before I asked. :roll:

[Jerry Raia]

Let us know if it worked for ya then :)

[Damion Chaplin]

YES!!! It works! 8)

Bye bye, Cingular guy!

Thanks again, Jerry.

[Jerry Raia]

Just out of curiosity, what did you use in its place? I used my avatar from here.

[Jerry Raia]

Homescreen Designer allows you to upload new ones, but it never worked on my c500. However, that was a while ago before I had it fully unlocked. IT would be worth trying, anyway.

I think I know why it didnt work for you. Homescreen Designer tries to put the alternate image into "\IPSM\Application Data\Home" which is from wm2002 as you know. I think the registry hack is the easiest way to do it for now at least.

[Damion Chaplin]

For now, just a simple screen with my company logo and the words "Establishing Connections, please stand by" and "Closing Connections, please stand by". I will likely think of something a little more spiffy, but for now this works. And the knowledge of how to change it in the future is invaluable. :)

Also, it may be of interest to note that if you accidently put in the wrong path to the file, there will be no startup and shutdown screens aside from the Windows Mobile screen.

[hiloboy69]

I think I know why it didnt work for you. Homescreen Designer tries to put the alternate image into "\IPSM\Application Data\Home" which is from wm2002 as you know. I think the registry hack is the easiest way to do it for now at least.[/quote]

what are the steps to change these screens?

[Jerry Raia]

If you know how to use a registry editor just change the path at this key:

HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Splash Screen

to point the the image you want to use. Remember is has to be a .gif file and has to be 176x220 in size.