Off the top of my head I believe you go to system, then media folder.
PLace it in there and change the name of the current bootanimation.zip, in case you need to go back to it later.

I did this before using Root explorer and it was with my D2, so not positive everything is the same on your EVO

 

Most ROMs use /system/customize/resource/. You need to place bootanimation.zip there along with SPC_animation_final.mp3 if you want sound. If you're using AOSP, I believe it's in a different location. I think a few Sense ROMs might be different too. What ROM are you on (or stock)?

 

stock froyo should be /system/customize/resource

stock eclaire should be /system/media

make sure to name the files the same as the originals. I usually rename the existing file (rather than overwrite/delete it) and then copy the new file in with the original filenames.

Then there's the obvious stuff: make sure you have nand unlocked so you can actually make changes to /system. You may have to mount it read/write via adb or terminal with this command:

mount -o rw,remount -t yaffs2 /dev/block/mtdblock4 /system

 

No, that's just one way to do it. If you're using a terminal, you have to mount system as rw (to write to it). You can use adb if you have it set up. Or, you can just use root explorer. Just do what was suggested in terms of keeping the names the same. Root explorer has it's own option for mounting system as rw, but I'm sure you know that.

 

Did you put it in /system/media or /system/customize/resource? If you're on 2.2, it goes in /system/custom/resource. Assuming you put them in the right place, what do you see for the permissions of the files? Also, once you've copied the files over, you can remount /system as read only. No need to keep it at rw.

 

SO...if I rename SPC_animation_final.mp3 to SPC_animation_final.bak can I just get rid of that annoying audio on the boot sequence on my rooted, but (so far) stock EVO? It is here:/system/customize/resource

 

Yep . That should do it.

 

YAY! No more annoying boot sound! I figured that would do it, just wanted confirmation Thanks.

(I'll get to flashing a custom ROM one of these days)

 

Yep, it's actually a lot easier to do than you might think .

So you're saying that when you removed the old one, it started displaying a black screen instead (proving that you've got the right location), but it won't play your animation? It sounds like you have a problem with your files. Are you sure you created them correctly?

 

Sounds to me that you have two files with the mp3 extension in the folder...
SPC_animation_final.mp3
Orig_SPC_animation_final.mp3

 

I doubt it matters that much. The system is only going to look for the bootanimation.zip and SPC_animation_final.mp3, exactly. It should just ignore anything else.

 

If permissions aren't correct for resources in /system, the system won't be able to read them for use. The permissions look fine on the file, so that's not the problem.

 

Not sure what that is. Did you ever have an existing bootanimation.zip, and if so, where did you find it? What version of Anrdoid are you on (or more specifically, what's your software version)?

 

Did you ever find one anywhere? This is the stock ROM, you said?