Custom boot animation and sound without root

giantpune · Nov 7, 2012

As the title would suggest, this is an app to allow setting a custom boot animation and mp3 for our phone. It came to be after somebody asked about custom animations in the root section, and I was already working on implementing a filebrowser in c++. I created this little program as something of a dummy to help get the filebrowser working. I'm putting it up here in case somebody wants to use it.

How does it works?
When you boot the phone, it checks for a path in the /data partition for a boot animation. If it doesnt find one, it checks on the /system partition. When you got your phone from the store, it has one in /system which is the red rave scene on the Virgin Mobile version. The animation on the /data partition does not exist. This program gets installed at the location needed to be able to access that /data folder. So, without any trickery needed, it is able to write boot animations and mp3s.

How do I use it?
Install the apk from below. It relies on Ministro II to provide some libraries. If you dont have that installed, it should whisk you away to the google app store to install it. Ministro will download something like 5-12MB of libraries, and then this program should fire up.

There is a little section for selecting the mp3, and below it, one for selecting the boot animation. Use the "Search" button to browse for the boot animation or mp3, then click "apply" to copy it to the appropriate folder. If you change you mind and decide you want the stock "Red Virgin Mobile rave with the obnoxious music" back, you can delete either the sound or animation or both using the "clear" buttons.

How safe is it?
This app writes data in the same manner that angry birds does when it saves your progress. So, in that respect, it is pretty safe. However, it does allow you to copy just about anything you want to be used for a boot animation/sound. Giving it a corrupt file, or one of the wrong type can case the early startup processes to crash, and your phone will boot loop as it tries over and over and keeps crashing. If something like this were to happen, it could be fixed by booting into the stock recovery and doing a data reset. It will delete all your apps and games and contacts, and along with it, the corrupt boot animation. Make sure you understand what that means before using this program. Don't blame me or this app if you download some animation using your shakey 3g connection in the middle of a thunderstorm and then your phone starts bootlooping while trying to play your corrupt file. Back up any important data in case you have to perform a factory reset to delete your corrupted files.

As an added safety measure, this apk is marked as "debuggable". This allows you to use the android run-as program to assume the identity of this program should you need to. You can try using run-as from a bootlooping phone or in recovery to remove any borked mp3/animations without having to resort to a factory reset.

LGOE_BootAnimation-debug.apk
md5 1bafae3f048cedc2b002e78dbe3fca5e

It has been tested and works without any bodily injury using this boot animation from cyanogenmod.
Download 320.zip from Sendspace.com - send big files the easy way
md5 c26773dfc8c0c2c0dad569600655c357

HackADevice · Nov 7, 2012

what status bar are u using, it's perfect

Murf1 · Nov 8, 2012

Nice job. I created a some boot animations (from some animated gifs I got from the internet) that I used on a Koby Kyros Android tablet that I have (rooted). I didn't root my phone - afraid of screwing it up and don't want want to try your app in case I mess up, I don't want to reinstall my apps etc. Otherwise I would. Thanks for the contribution!

I wonder though, it these animations would work on the OE? They look like this:

DsyMnapTic · Nov 8, 2012

giantpune said:
As the title would suggest, this is an app to allow setting a custom boot animation and mp3 for our phone. It came to be after somebody asked about custom animations in the root section, and I was already working on implementing a filebrowser in c++. I created this little program as something of a dummy to help get the filebrowser working. I'm putting it up here in case somebody wants to use it.

How does it works?
When you boot the phone, it checks for a path in the /data partition for a boot animation. If it doesnt find one, it checks on the /system partition. When you got your phone from the store, it has one in /system which is the red rave scene on the Virgin Mobile version. The animation on the /data partition does not exist. This program gets installed at the location needed to be able to access that /data folder. So, without any trickery needed, it is able to write boot animations and mp3s.

How do I use it?
Install the apk from below. It relies on Ministro II to provide some libraries. If you dont have that installed, it should whisk you away to the google app store to install it. Ministro will download something like 5-12MB of libraries, and then this program should fire up.

There is a little section for selecting the mp3, and below it, one for selecting the boot animation. Use the "Search" button to browse for the boot animation or mp3, then click "apply" to copy it to the appropriate folder. If you change you mind and decide you want the stock "Red Virgin Mobile rave with the obnoxious music" back, you can delete either the sound or animation or both using the "clear" buttons.

How safe is it?
This app writes data in the same manner that angry birds does when it saves your progress. So, in that respect, it is pretty safe. However, it does allow you to copy just about anything you want to be used for a boot animation/sound. Giving it a corrupt file, or one of the wrong type can case the early startup processes to crash, and your phone will boot loop as it tries over and over and keeps crashing. If something like this were to happen, it could be fixed by booting into the stock recovery and doing a data reset. It will delete all your apps and games and contacts, and along with it, the corrupt boot animation. Make sure you understand what that means before using this program. Don't blame me or this app if you download some animation using your shakey 3g connection in the middle of a thunderstorm and then your phone starts bootlooping while trying to play your corrupt file. Back up any important data in case you have to perform a factory reset to delete your corrupted files.

LGOE_BootAnimation-debug.apk
md5 1bafae3f048cedc2b002e78dbe3fca5e

It has been tested and works without any bodily injury using this boot animation from cyanogenmod.
Download 320.zip from Sendspace.com - send big files the easy way
md5 c26773dfc8c0c2c0dad569600655c357

PUNE!! you ass! I was trying to get around to explaining how to do this and you had to go and be all sophisticated and make an entire app to just do it......haha, lol....oh well guess I don't have to now.
Thanks for the work man.

chickdr · Nov 12, 2012

OK- complete noob here. I was all excited to find this thread as I really hate the boot graphic and music. I did what you said and downloaded the Ministro II app, but do not see it in my applications when I hit the button on my home screen(although it is listed under my apps in the manage apps section). How do I use Ministro to do what you suggest? Also where do I put the apk and gif files to be used on the phone? I used a USB cable and hooked my phone up as "mass storage". I dragged the files to the phone and put them in the DCIM folder(which I think is the MicroSD card?). You also mention a /data partition and /system partition, but I do not see these on my phone when hooked up via USB cable. Could you give a step by step guide for dummies on how to do this modification?

giantpune · Nov 13, 2012

You wont have to start ministro manually. You will go into your phone's application settings and tell it to let you install packages from untrusted sources. Then you will put my apk on your sd card and install it with some file manager, or install it via adb, or really install it any other way that pleases you.

When you connect the Optimus Elite to the computer via USB, it will let you write into the folder mounted at /mnt/sdcard. If you have a microSD card, it will also mount /mnt/sdcard/_ExternalSD on your computer. So you can just drag my apk whatever boot animation you want into any location in those folders, just remember where it is. I don't know what you're planning to do, but there should be no .gif files involved in this whole process. The .gif are animated pictures for showing stuff on a web browser, not on the phone. you need to use a proper bootanimation.zip that is designed for the android phone or else you're gonna have a bad time. Our screen is 320x480, so if you can, you probably want to grab some that are that size.

When you start my program, it will start ministro itself, and ministro will go off to the internet to grab the required libraries if there are any needed. Then browse around in my program to the folder where you saved the boot animation zip file and select it. Then press the "apply" button which will copy the zip file from wherever you have it into the /data partition.

Murf1 · Nov 13, 2012

giantpune said:
Our screen is 320x480, so if you can, you probably want to grab some that are that size.

Good to know. Thanks.

chickdr · Nov 13, 2012

giantpune said:
You wont have to start ministro manually. You will go into your phone's application settings and tell it to let you install packages from untrusted sources. Then you will put my apk on your sd card and install it with some file manager, or install it via adb, or really install it any other way that pleases you.

When you connect the Optimus Elite to the computer via USB, it will let you write into the folder mounted at /mnt/sdcard. If you have a microSD card, it will also mount /mnt/sdcard/_ExternalSD on your computer. So you can just drag my apk whatever boot animation you want into any location in those folders, just remember where it is. I don't know what you're planning to do, but there should be no .gif files involved in this whole process. The .gif are animated pictures for showing stuff on a web browser, not on the phone. you need to use a proper bootanimation.zip that is designed for the android phone or else you're gonna have a bad time. Our screen is 320x480, so if you can, you probably want to grab some that are that size.

When you start my program, it will start ministro itself, and ministro will go off to the internet to grab the required libraries if there are any needed. Then browse around in my program to the folder where you saved the boot animation zip file and select it. Then press the "apply" button which will copy the zip file from wherever you have it into the /data partition.

I appreciate you taking the time to help me with this. I already had the box checked for non-market apps to be used. I am not seeing the "mounts" you listed above when I hook up my phone via USB. I am using Windows XP BTW. I just see the phone as a "removable disk" - in this case "K:". When I click on the K: drive it shows me a bunch of folders such as Notifications, Ringtones, Media, etc. No /mnt/sdcard or _ExternalSD are seen for me.

Also- where would one get bootanimation.zip files other than the one you linked?

"Your Program" is the apk file - right? I can't figure out how to install it. Is adb an installer? an app? This is very confusing to me and I consider myself pretty literate as far as computers are concerned. Sorry if I seem like an idiot. Android is a bit complicated compared to windows for me.

Thanks again.

giantpune · Nov 13, 2012

The /mnt/sdcard and /mnt/sdcard/_ExternalSD are the folders as they are seen by the phone. They show up differently on your computer. In windows, they will be new drive letters like you described. If you dont have a microSD in your phone, then only 1 of them will pop up on your computer, and it will be the fake internal sd card at /mnt/sdcard. If you do have the microSD, and 2 folders pop up on your computer. Nobody can tell you "drive K: is /mnt/sdcard" because every computer will assign them different drive letters based on a bunch of factors that have nothing to do with the phone at all. The only ways to tell the difference between them are by looking at the size and the contents of them.

The fake internal sd card is always 1.9ish GB. The microSD card's size is different depending on how big the card is.

Adb is a commandline program used for debugging android stuff. One of its features is that it can install apps. There are tons of ways to install apps, and adb is only one possibility. The easiest way would be to use a file manager. Pretty much any of them support installing apks. Just copy apk to your phone using the computer, unmount the mass-storage stuff and wait for the phone to scan it, then start the file explorer and browse to the apk and click it.

This is my personal favorite https://play.google.com/store/apps/...plorer&feature=nav_result#?t=W251bGwsMSwyLDNd .

chickdr · Nov 13, 2012

Thanks again for your help. After posting last time I went to google market and downloaded an APK installer. This found your apk file and installed using the Ministro II as you described. This seemed to work but when I turned the phone off and back on, now there is no boot screen. This is better than the OEM VM version but I had hoped to add a custom one. When I loaded the bootanimation.zip file to the sd card I left it as is. Was I supposed to unzip it first? My mp3 file also seemed to load via your app, but I have no sound now.

giantpune · Nov 14, 2012

Sounds like you may have mixed up the mp3 and zip files. Make sure you point the top portion of the program to your mp3 and the bottom portion to your zip. And make sure you use that "safely remove usb" crap on your computer when transferring files to the phone.

Try clearing both of them in this program, then installing just the boot animation.zip I linked in the first post. Then reboot your phone and see if you got the ******ed OEM sound but a new animation.

chickdr · Nov 14, 2012

OK got it working. I figured out what you said in that "K:" was the 16gb microSD card and another drive letter "I:" was the 1.9gb internal SD card. I moved the mp3 file and the bootanimation.zip to the internal 1.9gb DCIM folder and still no go. Then I tried unzipping the bootanimation.zip file while it was inside the phone and two new folders appeared. I reran your program and selected the files again and voila- it worked! Very cool. Just not as easy as I hoped. I won't be messing with it again as it is so much better than before. Thanks again!!!

emath2432 · Dec 3, 2012

This threads a few weeks old, but I just tried this out. I already have both .apk files installed, but when I try to start the boot animation app, it tells me I need to update Ministro II, and takes me to the play store. Only issue is I already have the updated version of it. Just wondering where I am going wrong here.

giantpune · Dec 3, 2012

Did you install the latest ministro II from the play store? There has been an update or two since I posted the apk here. I have tested and this apk is still working with the latest ministro II from the play store.

snorge · Jan 18, 2013

coool thanks the virgin mobile boot ani an sound are hella annoying lol.

Cratees · Jun 5, 2014

Hey Giantpune! I was really grateful and amused to see your app

cause customizations like these always freakin' require root access :mad:

Just a few questions man, When I click "apply" to the boot animation zip and mp3 file, is that the final step already?? Oh and that boot animation link you have up there, it ain't corrupted right?

hamsturcio · Jan 13, 2015

The link is broken!!!!
Please reupload it

MissTechy · Jun 13, 2015

Please, I downloaded the app - does it only apple to LG cos I tried it using a wav mp3 but it didn't work

BR34KF4ST · Aug 22, 2015

I still dont get how it works

313Detach · Nov 30, 2015

It says "Invalid QT Version".

El Tea · Feb 6, 2016

I have installed your program and Ministro. When I launch it it returns an error "Invalid qt version" and then goes away.

Dalton Whalen · Jul 16, 2016

I made a boot animation. When I applied it in the app, it didn't appear when I restarted. Any ideas?

rohan_rindani · Aug 12, 2016

giantpune said:
As the title would suggest, this is an app to allow setting a custom boot animation and mp3 for our phone. It came to be after somebody asked about custom animations in the root section, and I was already working on implementing a filebrowser in c++. I created this little program as something of a dummy to help get the filebrowser working. I'm putting it up here in case somebody wants to use it.

How does it works?
When you boot the phone, it checks for a path in the /data partition for a boot animation. If it doesnt find one, it checks on the /system partition. When you got your phone from the store, it has one in /system which is the red rave scene on the Virgin Mobile version. The animation on the /data partition does not exist. This program gets installed at the location needed to be able to access that /data folder. So, without any trickery needed, it is able to write boot animations and mp3s.

How do I use it?
Install the apk from below. It relies on Ministro II to provide some libraries. If you dont have that installed, it should whisk you away to the google app store to install it. Ministro will download something like 5-12MB of libraries, and then this program should fire up.

There is a little section for selecting the mp3, and below it, one for selecting the boot animation. Use the "Search" button to browse for the boot animation or mp3, then click "apply" to copy it to the appropriate folder. If you change you mind and decide you want the stock "Red Virgin Mobile rave with the obnoxious music" back, you can delete either the sound or animation or both using the "clear" buttons.

How safe is it?
This app writes data in the same manner that angry birds does when it saves your progress. So, in that respect, it is pretty safe. However, it does allow you to copy just about anything you want to be used for a boot animation/sound. Giving it a corrupt file, or one of the wrong type can case the early startup processes to crash, and your phone will boot loop as it tries over and over and keeps crashing. If something like this were to happen, it could be fixed by booting into the stock recovery and doing a data reset. It will delete all your apps and games and contacts, and along with it, the corrupt boot animation. Make sure you understand what that means before using this program. Don't blame me or this app if you download some animation using your shakey 3g connection in the middle of a thunderstorm and then your phone starts bootlooping while trying to play your corrupt file. Back up any important data in case you have to perform a factory reset to delete your corrupted files.

As an added safety measure, this apk is marked as "debuggable". This allows you to use the android run-as program to assume the identity of this program should you need to. You can try using run-as from a bootlooping phone or in recovery to remove any borked mp3/animations without having to resort to a factory reset.

LGOE_BootAnimation-debug.apk
md5 1bafae3f048cedc2b002e78dbe3fca5e

It has been tested and works without any bodily injury using this boot animation from cyanogenmod.
Download 320.zip from Sendspace.com - send big files the easy way
md5 c26773dfc8c0c2c0dad569600655c357

Can you use this on any other phones? For example, an Honor 5x from Huawei?

Kirk Pickford · Aug 31, 2016

I get a error saying invalid QT Error HELP!!!

Mattymontyboy · Dec 15, 2016

[QUOTE=" However, it does allow you to copy just about anything you want to be used for a boot animation/sound. Giving it a corrupt file, or one of the wrong type can case the early startup processes to crash, and your phone will boot loop as it tries over and over and keeps crashing.

[/QUOTE]

Hey so if anyone is able to help me here real quick I don't want to mess up my device. What are the correct file types to copy and paste into the slots where it specifies on the app? One for audio and one for the boot animation. The audio I am assuming is just a straight mp3 file no issues, but for the animation what file format does it need to be? I'm guessing it should not use any audio files. I have an animation I want to use on my computer for my boot on the device but I just want to be sure I apply it to this app correctly. Any help would be appreciated, thanks!

Custom boot animation and sound without root

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