HELP!! Replacing stock launcher with one from older version ROM??

  • Replies:6
3
Biggenz
  • Forum posts: 11

Oct 15, 2014, 1:37:29 PM via Website

For something fairly simple by the looks of it I'm not able to find a solution anywhere and although I've asked this on other forums I've had zero replies!! So I hope someone here can help.

I have a Nubia Z7 Max which came with ROM v1.29. I updated to the latest v1.41 but in this update they have disabled the home screen from rotating in landscape mode. It worked fine in v1.29.

Is it possible to use the launcher from v1.29 in v1.41?

If so, how please.

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sinkster 23
sinkster
  • Forum posts: 610

Oct 15, 2014, 2:13:51 PM via Website

If you have a backup of the original home app or rom (e.g. titanium backup, the apk itself or a nandroid backup) then uninstall the new one (install a 3rd party home like Nova or Apex first or you'll have no home) then restore/install the original. If you don't have any type of backup try and download a 1.29 rom zip, extract it and find the Home.apk (it'll be in system/app or system/data) and do the same as above. You won't be able to install the old home over the new one. Another option would be to try settings/apps/all, find the home app and see if there's an option to uninstall updates. This may work, but chances are the system will upgrade it automatically again.

Sinkster

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3
Biggenz
  • Forum posts: 11

Oct 15, 2014, 2:17:48 PM via Website

sinkster

If you have a backup of the original home app or rom (e.g. titanium backup, the apk itself or a nandroid backup) then uninstall the new one (install a 3rd party home like Nova or Apex first or you'll have no home) then restore/install the original. If you don't have any type of backup try and download a 1.29 rom zip, extract it and find the Home.apk (it'll be in system/app or system/data) and do the same as above. You won't be able to install the old home over the new one. Another option would be to try settings/apps/all, find the home app and see if there's an option to uninstall updates. This may work, but chances are the system will upgrade it automatically again.

Man, I'm new to android and it's been a steep learning curve but I'm sure I'll get there.

So I don't have a backup of my phone before I updated, but I did download the old rom. The first problem I have is, I don't know which is the actual launcher because when I look in the system/app folder, there are 3 different apk's all with 'launcher' in there. How do I know which is the correct one?

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sinkster 23
sinkster
  • Forum posts: 610

Oct 15, 2014, 3:20:59 PM via Website

It'll probably be a case of suck it and see. If they're all named the same then they may be launchers for different apps. Normally stock launchers are either called by their UI name (HTChome, for example) but sometimes the names are a little obscure. The HTC launcher was at one point called Rosie.apk for some reason... Remember, anything you extract from the previous roms system will need to be installed as a system app, so you'll need to use a root explorer app to physically put the apk file in system/app and change the permissions to rw-r--r--.

Sinkster

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3
Biggenz
  • Forum posts: 11

Oct 15, 2014, 3:26:46 PM via Website

sinkster

It'll probably be a case of suck it and see. If they're all named the same then they may be launchers for different apps. Normally stock launchers are either called by their UI name (HTChome, for example) but sometimes the names are a little obscure. The HTC launcher was at one point called Rosie.apk for some reason... Remember, anything you extract from the previous roms system will need to be installed as a system app, so you'll need to use a root explorer app to physically put the apk file in system/app and change the permissions to rw-r--r--.

Ok, so is 'extracting' the old launcher just a matter of copying the apk file?

Also, I read that you can push the new launcher using adb. But I haven't got a clue on what commands to use.

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sinkster 23
sinkster
  • Forum posts: 610

Oct 15, 2014, 7:23:39 PM via Website

If the old rom is a .zip file, you'll have to extract the file(s) to your sd card. You can do this on your phone using a file manager, or on your PC/laptop using winzip or 7zip, or similar utilities. Once it's on your sd card copy it to system/data (after deleting the existing apk) and change the permissions, as I mentioned earlier. If you have adb set up you can pull/push the files while the phone is in recovery and connected to your PC using 'adb push filename /location', eg adb push home.apk /system/data, or pull a file from your phone using 'adb pull location/fileneme \destination eg adb pull system/data/home.apk C:\myPC\Downloads (files/locations have to be named precisely, and notice the use of backslash/ forward slash). I've simplified this to my set up, as I move any files I want to transfer into my adb folder (Android/tools), but it will vary according to your setup.

Sinkster

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3
Biggenz
  • Forum posts: 11

Oct 16, 2014, 9:23:19 AM via Website

Think I might give this a miss until I'm a bit more clued up. Lol

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