Tips & Tricks: Removing Themes
Before I get started on this entry, I’d like to give a big thanks to Tommi at Nokia for mentioning me on his blog. Tommi works in the s60 application development unit at Nokia and pens what is surely the most widely read s60 blog on the net: Tommi’s S60 Applications Blog. I’m sure that you already subscribe and read it religiously but if you don’t, you should! S60.blogs.com gives us all a great insight into the minds of various Nokia team members and provides constant information on the many events and developments that surround the s60 ecosystem. So thanks Tommi!
With that, I’ll move on to the first “Tips & Tricks” installment of my blog. Every so often I will provide what I hope to be some useful information that will help you get the most out of your s60 3rd device. I’ll also try to cover some of the topics that I see constantly questioned on the forum over at mobile9.com and elsewhere. One such topic is a problem that appears to be common to all s60 3rd devices.
Many people have experienced a bug where they will install a theme on their device but when they try to remove it using the Application Manager there is no entry for it. I still see this problem on the latest N80IE firmware and on newer firmware for other devices as well. Don’t despair though, as long as you install your themes to your memory card there is an easy way to remove those unwanted themes.
1. Connect your device to your PC in ‘Mass storage’ mode - or insert your Mini SD card into a card reader and connect it to your PC.
2. Once your PC recognizes your card a new drive will appear under ‘My Computer’. Open it, and browse to \private\10207114\import.
3. Browse through each of the folders in this directory to find the theme you would like to remove. The MBM, MIF, and SKN files in each folder should each be named after the theme - so if you want to remove a theme called “MyTheme”, look for “MyTheme.mbm” etc.
*Note that you may see some MBM/MIF/SKN files named simply “themepackage.mbm” etc. In this case, simply open the SKN file in Notepad and you will see the actual theme name in the first few lines of text. Here is an example:
In the example you can see that the actual name of the theme is N80 Simplified v2 (created by teddymustupo).
4. Once you’ve found the folder containing the theme files you’d like to remove, simply delete the contents of the folder (don’t delete the folder itself).
Now put your card back in your phone you’ll notice that the theme is no longer listed under themes and you’ve freed up some space on your memory card.
Note that in newer devices, theme folders/files are located in two different directories: [!:\private\10207114\import] and [!:\resource\skins] - delete the like-named folders from each directory to remove themes.
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Please tell me what to do. I am desperate...
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I already reformatted my card, I think there are unneeded entries in the install.log file, but I can't access it. Actually, I can't even find it :). Help :)! Can you please give me a hand with that?
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This is a direct result of the Symbian bug that causes this whole problem - the themes are installed and an installation record is kept on the phone, but the 'uninstall' record is not properly created. So, when you manually delete these themes using the method outlined above, the theme is deleted but the is still a record of the theme being installed. Your device won't let you install it again because it thinks there is a previous version but it cannot locate the files to prepare to overwrite them.
Getting around this problem is actually quite easy. Do a quick google search for "unsis 2.5" - it's pretty easy to find. Unsis is a PC app that allows you to unpack sis/sisx files and save their contents on your PC. Once you've installed it, simply follow these two steps (from my guide on the <a target="_blank" title="mobile9 forums" href="http://www.mobile9.com/invboard/index.php?" rel="nofollow">mobile9.com forums):
1. Open uNsIs and load the theme by pressing 'Open SIS', then browse to the theme file on your PC.
2. Press the 'Extract' button. 3-4 files will be unpacked into a new folder with the directory C:\uNsIs\temp\private\10207114\import (if you installed unsis to the default location).
In the directory listed above, you will now find the theme folder (with a long alpha-numeric name) that used to be on your MMC before you deleted the theme. Simply transfer that folder with all of its contents to \\private\10207114\import on your MMC (using Mass storage mode or a card reader). Viola! You're back in business. ;)
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Just another quickie on the topic: is there any way of altering, or actually accessing, the important system files (i.e. install.log) to get rid of the installation record left in the phone after removing applications manually (not via app man)?
The reason I'm asking is because when you have to remove something manually, you always leave traces of it in the memory of the phone (probably it is not only the mentioned installation record). This might make a mess of things in the future. Besides, I really don't like doing only partial cleanup...;]
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As far as your other question goes, OS 9.x is very secure and it's difficult (for me at least) to say exactly where installation and registry data is stored. Personally, I would highly doubt that the user is granted access to these records.
What I can say, is that if you use a file manager such as X-plore, ActiveFile, Y-Browser etc you can have a look around. I see one file for example in the main C: directory called "INSTAPP.TXT" that contains some data but it certainly did not list all installations and I didn't find any of my installed themes referenced in the file at all. I would also be very hesitant to edit it.
I think that your best chance of finding a definitive answer is on the forums at http://forum.nokia.com/.
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Anyway, thanks again for your help, all the best!
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Gentlemen, I don't know why my case is diffrent. I still could,t see some themes I wanted to delete from my phone and memeory card. I connected the phone on MASS STORAGE MODE but nothing was seen. If I backup my phone memory on the card and format the phone it will I lose something? Or is there any other way out?I will appeciate a little more help, I need to get these themes of my memories.
Tx
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As far as backing up to your memory card, most people run into problems when restoring their data. When I get ready to format, I sync my contacts/PIM with Outlook and save all of my personal files. Then I format and restore everything manually. It a PIA of sorts but it's the only way to ensure that it's done properly.
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[*] + [3] + [green] (send)
Most people have problems with backup/restore so your best bet is to back up your data/files manually and then restore everything yourself.
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Start out by putting your MMC in a card reader (or mass storage mode) and use windows search to se if you can find any files with the name of each game. If you do, delete them and let me know how that goes.
Btw, this might be easier to discuss if you start a new topic in the M9 Nokia User Support forum.
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If you've already highlighted the game icons in your menu and tried Options -> Remove then unfortunately you only have two options:
1. Ignore them
2. Backup all of your data and format your phone
With S60 3rd devices you cannot access the hidden files/folders on your C drive so there's no other way to remove them. :(
My only advice is to back up and restore everything manually. Using the Nokia Backup/restore you'll likely run into problems again...
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I tried all the steps but when i connect my phone as mass storage I dont c the folder call private
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Perhaps your private folder is marked as hidden. In your folder window try going to Tools -> Folder options...
Then under Advanced settings on the View tab, make sure "Show hidden files and folders" is checked.
Let me know how that works out.
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Check out this post.
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I have read posts on many forum's that advise 2 things:
1) Remove via App. Manager
2) Remove via Mass Transfer
Most instruct to navigate to /private/...
BUT THE PROBLEM IS THAT I CANNOT FIND THE "/PRIVATE" FOLDER. PLEASE HELP, AM PRETTY DESPERATE.
I have already checked if the folder is Hidden...but it is not. It is just not there.
I am using the Y-Browser software as my file-manager, but i can't seem to find the folder using that either.
Please help!
or mail to ultraswamy .at. yahoo .dot. com
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Have a look at the guide again and I'm sure it will work out for you.
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Any chance you could tell me where I am going wrong? I have loads of themes that I want to delete. Thanks.
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Thank you so much for the above, and I finally got into the folder and deleted all my themes!! What a palaver! Why can't Nokia just make things easy for people?!! I shall definately make sure which themes to download from now on!!
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http://news.mobile9.com/s60apps/2007/05/16/tips...
I still have a question that is there anyway to reinstall the themes that were removed from the memory card back to the "phone memory"? I have a Cingular branded N75.
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and what folders I have to backup using the mass storage option, I dont want to loose contacts and other important things...
By the way thanx a lot for all your nice work here... :)
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In terms of backing up, you can use Contacts Transfer to back up your contacts or you can Sync with Outlook using PC Suite.
The best thing to do is a backup/restore using PC Suite, but to avoid conflicts you should uninstall all apps and themes first from your App Manager.
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Finally I did a [*] + [3] + [green] (send) phone format and that got rid of all my themes (and everything else lol).
Lesson learned, next time I wont be using the backup/restore feature.
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And yes I have NEVER had a good experience with backup/restore. Nokia needs to either fix it or junk it because it's garbage as-is...
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i already install unsis2.5 but dont know how to do it and transfer into private//import.
reallly need helppp
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Note that unsis 2.5 was a bit buggy so I've updated the post to call for unsis 2.7 which is a very stable build.
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I m so freezing with my n73me now.coz when i have a in coming call it atomaticaly stuk and you cant do any thing after,but if you try to call me again,you can here as it is riging 'but phone does not show anything that time,
to get rid of that i always switch it off and restart,
this is new phone,nothing instolld
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few days later, i realise some themes are no longer there and i try to reinstall again.
However, this time till the end of the installation, my phone says "Unable to Install".
I try to u y browser to look file but can?
can some help me
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i canoot find \private\10207114\import
their is no folder under 10207114,i can see private but their no folder as 10207114.now help me,how to delete the themes.....
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@long Where did you delete the file from? If your phone is still working fine I wouldn't worry about it but if you're having problems, formatting your phone will bring it back (back up first!).
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Ps:I followed ur instructions and the only thing that is frustrating is that i cant find the "\private\10207114\import"
And there is no "Mass storage mode"...only "Data Transfer mode" or "Pc Suite mode"....
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please help.. (some of the themes im trying to re-install are reallly special to me)
thanks
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anything to avoid a format, and get those themes back on my screen...
thanks
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You can send it to either email address list on the "About the Author" page.
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but thts not my problem.whenever i recieve a theme application by bluetooth or try to send it to the mobile by pc suite it says unable to install thts the problem happening.plz suggest a solution by which i can install themes application recieved by bluetooth and also install themes application by pc suite as it is a better way than wht u had suggested b4.waiting for ur helpful reply.plz reply as fast a s possible
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Please head over to s60.howardforums.com - this is a much more appropriate place to post your problem. I'll try to head over later to help you but if you describe your problem clearly you'll find plenty of help there.
Thanks for understanding!