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Change icons in Acronis OS Selector?


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  • 3 weeks later...

I also wanted change the icon in my Acronis OS Selector for OS X from the ugly generic unknown system icon... If anyone finds an easy way to do this, please let us know. Or perhaps some instruction on how to decompile the program and edit it's internal icon files. (I've never attempted anything like that before)

Thanks

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  • 1 month later...
  • 2 months later...

I checked.

 

I found that all the icons are in the main ossmain.exe executable (4.25MB).

They are packed all together in one big 1.75MB zip file at the end of the exe!

This might explain why it's so slooooow to load.

 

I extracted, then unpacked the zip file: 2.37MB of files in which there are 220 png files totalling 1.4MB; the rest consist of 5 small xml files, 2 afm font files, some .dat database and a few other files.

 

Of course the OS icons are in there, but so are all png files for the help section available within the loader.

 

For the OS icons, they come in sets of 3: 16x48pix, 32x96pix and 48x144pix (all 32bpp), each of these consisting of 3 stacked squares (eg three 16x16 squares on top of each other) (probably to represent different push states)... don't think i'm allowed to show one here.

 

I'm no big expert, but since this is one big zip package inside the exe, would it be possible to modify some particular images files (eg OS/2, Turbolinux icons), keeping the same names, and making sure the final rezipped file has the exact same size, and then reinserting at the end of the exe... ?

Unless of course a crc check is done within...

 

On the Acronis forum, the mods said that it might be an option in a future version, but no promises...

So might be safer to wait.

 

:D

 

/edit: pixels, not bits! :)

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In the mean time we can edit the bootmenu_logo.png to whatever we want :hysterical:. Maybe some talented person can create a classy logo with Linux, OS X, and Windows? If loading is too slow, might want to disable cd booting on the app.

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OK I need the exact HEX Address. Is it 0x00227973?. If I extract it form here onwards, and i try to replace icon_sys_os2_48.png it says the archive is corrupt.

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Firstly, the md5 of my ossmain.exe is: 483ea6ea1eede6ecba2e65fb0a2c90ce

The begining of the zip in this one is then: 0x00280880

The resulting exported zip file has this md5: 7e37245df5360b693151587b4d921863

 

For those who also want to try:

Make a copy of ossmain.exe.

With this copy in your hex editor, extract/export from the above address until the end to a file named e.g. resources.zip. Then unzip in a folder to view and work with the files. If there's a message about a corrupted zip, then there was a problem extracting.

 

If you have a different executable (other version), I don't know if the pattern is the same, i.e. if they put the zip at the end. Anyways, here's what to do if they did: search for this hex string from the start of the file: 50 4B 03 04

For me this was the begining of the zip (begining at the "50 4B", which is the "PK" header of the zip). There are other such strings later, but you have to extract/export from the first one until the end to a zip file.

 

Once extracted, one could edit/replace eg the os/2 icons into Apple icons, with the same filename, and rezip. The Acronis people used Adobe ImageReady to make the double-state icons.

(There are some xml files containing a list of these icon filenames... so one could also change the filename of icons and edit the list... maybe...)

 

Of course the zip will be a different size. One could try different zip compression settings to get the same size; or just insert a dummy file whose size is adjusted until the zip is the same size.

But then again, since the zip is at the very end of the exe, only its start address might be important; but I wouldn't take the chance.

Of course the zip will have a different checksum, and if there is an integrity check it's game over.

 

I'll do my own tests in vmware this weekend when i have more time.

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Ok, some results:

Having a modified zip of different size replacing the original at the end of the ossmain.exe doesn't trigger anything so far, so that's good news!

As a later test I slightly modified the os/2 icons (change in colors, etc) and all went well. All tests in vmware.

 

I've picked up some apple icons here and there from google-images to work with.

Screen shots later tomorrow...

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Well, I've made some not too clean but not too bad icons for osx on acronis oss. Could be better.

 

Here's some edited screenshots from vmware:

post-35294-1149978838_thumb.jpg

post-35294-1149978846_thumb.jpg

 

Not obvious from these pics, but the icons are a bit different whether the os is selected or not.

 

This next one is for the full screen menu:

post-35294-1149978853_thumb.jpg

That big acronis logo has got to go :lol:

Will check the xml, maybe something can be done about the colors too.

Hopefully, acronis will let users costumize the looks/logos on a future version.

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I was a first shot I made quickly: used a simple black apple as a bump map. Didn't try anything fancy.

 

I have those two you show.

The first one I like also, it is a thin semi-transparent blueish layer over the white background. Reduced to 48x48, not sure would show as nice.

 

Second one wouldn't make much impact on the blue background fullscreen background, but a nice white-ish glow just outside the apple may make the necessary contrast, like the "DOS" icon you see in the images but not as harsh. Working on it.

 

Then of course a nice "OSx86" just in the middle would be nice.

 

For each size (16, 32, 48) one needs three icons: one for the normal state, one for the selected state, and a third one in grayscale which could be a bump map, don't know its purpose.

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Well, a better look with the blue apple above; no need for a white halo:

 

 

Selected state:

post-35294-1150064236_thumb.png

Unselected state:

post-35294-1150064246_thumb.png

By itself, without the 'default' square:

post-35294-1150064260.png

And here's the full screen, with acronis boot logo modified:

post-35294-1150064266_thumb.jpg

 

Here are the png's I used:

post-35294-1150064848.pngpost-35294-1150064858.pngpost-35294-1150064866.png

 

"Could somebody email me that .zip file i tryed it with a hex editor but i didnt worked out."

You'll have to put it back in anyway. To manage to get it out is a first good step.

Did you find the place where it's located? What exact version of acronis os selector do you have?

What hex editor are you using?

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1) Can the file size of the zip be changed?

2) I am too lazy to find the offset, send me your ossmain along with the offset.

3) I ll post the logo's i made here soon.

4) Can the background color be changed

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The following are instructions to get to the icon files to edit out. I hope they are clear enough.

 

I strongly suggest trying within vmware first: it can be a simple virtual system with multiple copies of DOS, nothing fancy. Nothing as irritating as screwing up the MBR in an unkown way.

If you don't use vmware, then have the Win2000/XP disk ready for the Repair Console, or other tools to fix the MBR. And of course backup the files you will modify.

 

Methods 0, 1 and 2 assume that your version of Acronis Disk Director is 10.0.2117. Otherwise check later.

md5 of my ossmain.exe (v10.0.2117) is: 483ea6ea1eede6ecba2e65fb0a2c90ce

For other versions, use Method 3 (has been verified to work on v.9.0.524). Eventually (i hope) utilities will be provided in Methods 0, 1 and 2 for other versions than 10.0.2117. (2006-07-28)

 

And of course, any responsability is yours only, I guaranty absolutely nothing from the procedure below.

This is just an aesthetic procedure, nothing functional is gained, only some temporary joy! You don't have to risk it.

 

Note also that only the boot menu icon will be changed. If you installed Acronis DiskDirector and you access Acronis OS Selector from Windows, these icons won't have been changed: you will have to use Method 3 on the OS_Selector executable in the install directory.

__________________________

 

Method 0!

This will be the simplest method: after the user provides his own ossmain.exe file, double-clicking aossquickhack.exe will create a new ossmain.exe, with no other user input necessary. This has been successfully tested in Win2000, WinXP and Win98SE.

This will only change the original OS/2 icons with the ones provided; but if the user provides a bootmenu_logo.png file, it will also be included. The user can provide his/her own modified OS/2 icons if desired.

To be able to change more icons, use Method 1 below.

The package is a bit bigger because it includes a zipper (info-zip's).

Package is available here (130KB): aossqkhk.zip aossqkhk.zip

The zip password is: for_osx86.org

Only free and/or open-source material included; info in readme file.

__________________________

 

Method 1

 

This was tested in Windows2000/XP and in Win98se.

Ok, I've made a much simpler procedure for the original method (method 2).

You don't need the xvi32 hex editor this time, just to download the following zip file: aosshck.zip aosshck.zip

The zip password is: for_osx86.org

 

This 57KB zip contains an executable, aosshack.exe, which handles everything better than batch files; it uses another split.exe to split the file. Apart from that, it uses a simple DOS command for the merging.

The zip also contains the modified icons, and a readme file for instructions.

There is no illegal content in that linked file. The executable is made with the open-sourced NSIS installer compiler.

 

You'll just need to follow the instructions, double-clicking aosshack.exe once to split ossmain.exe; and later you use it again to merge the modified zip back at the end of the first portion. ;)

__________________________

 

Method 2

 

This method is the original one, a manual version of the above methods.

 

This tutorial uses the xvi32 Hex editor, freely available here:

http://www.chmaas.handshake.de/delphi/free...xvi32/xvi32.htm

It's small, free, and there's no setup: just use it as it is.

All addresses references are in Hex mode.

 

Again, this is for version 10.0.2117, with ossmain.exe with md5 above.

 

Make a copy of ossmain.exe, name it ossmain.000.

 

In xvi32:

 

The first part of the procedure is to cut off the zip file from the main file.

 

So lets open the main file and go to the begining of the zip file:

  • Open ossmain.000
  • Ctrl+G: Goto $280880 (This is the beginning of the embeded zip file; the cursor should be on the "P" of "PK" in the right panel)

Now we want to select from here to the end of the zip, then delete that selected portion:

  • Ctrl+B (Block Mark: this marks the begining of the zip)
  • Ctrl+G: Goto $441BDC (We now go the the end of the zip file; if this is not the end of the file itself, you don't have the right version)
  • Ctrl+B (Block Mark: we mark this end, which actually selects all there is between the two marks)
  • Ctrl+D (Block Delete: this deletes the above selected block)
  • File > Save As...: We now save the file as ossmain.beg

You will then have the ossmain without its zip file after the above procedure.

 

Now in this second part we will extract the zip file, just like above but this time by cutting off the begining of the main file before the zip:

  • Open ossmain.000 again
  • Ctrl+G: Goto $0 (We go at the begining of the file, but the cursor is probably already there)

We will now again select a portion of the file, delete it and then save it:

  • Ctrl+B (Block Mark: we mark this begining of file)
  • Ctrl+G: Goto $28087F (We go to the spot just before the zip, before the "PK")
  • Ctrl+B (Block Mark: we mark this spot, which also selects all there is between the two marks)
  • Ctrl+D (Block Delete: this deletes that selected block, all that portion which is before the zip)
  • File > Save As...: We then save as acronis.zip

The md5 of this zip shoud be 7e37245df5360b693151587b4d921863 for v10.0.2117.

Now go check this zip file: open it, test it, extract it to a folder. This is the stuff to work with. If the zip is corrupted, it's my mistake or yours.

 

The third part is to modify the content of the zip:

  • You can change the icon image contents without changing file names. I suggest editing the icons icon_sys_os2_16.png, icon_sys_os2_32.png, icon_sys_os2_48.png, if you don't plan installing OS/2 in the future; you could use the ones I posted earlier, or better ones that users might share hereafter;
  • As suggested by domino, you can also change the bootmenu_logo.png to personalize the one you get on the full screen menu;
  • When you're done, zip all these files again. A zip of different size at the end doesn't seem to matter: I've worked with bigger ones, smaller ones in vmware;
  • But it IS important that the zip only contains the rezipped icons, and not the folder where you extracted them in. When you open that zip, you should immediately see all the icons and files, and not the folder they were in;
  • I didn't see any settings for background colors; they might be hardcoded out of the zip. There is a file acrocode.amf in the zip, format unknown (Amiga MetaFile??) which could contain such settings; the header is AMF10. Anyone knows?

.

 

In this fouth part of the procedure, we need to paste the zip back in at the end of the truncated main file, and test the final product:

In xvi32:

First you open your newly made zip file (let's say you kept the same name).

  • File > Open: open acronis.zip; the cursor should be at the begining, don't touch it.
  • File > Insert: With this we can insert a file at the present cursor location; select the ossmain.beg saved in the first step.
  • If all went well after the above insertion, the first string 50 4B 03 04 ("PK" on right panel) should be shown at address hex 280880 (where your cursor will be positioned after the insert)
  • File > Save As...: we can now save the file as ossmain.exe
  • Put in the appropritate BOOTWIZ folder where you took it out, reboot and cross fingers :blink:
    By default this is in the C:\BOOTWIZ, but if you did a custom install it should be in the BOOTWIZ of your install partition.

I stronlgy suggest you do a test first: you could do all the operations above but without modifying the zip file: with the same extracted zip, reinsert it back in ossmain.beg, and if a bit-by-bit compare (or a md5, sha1 or crc32 check) reveals that ossmain.000 and the new ossmain.exe are the same, then you should be confident that you've done it right.

__________________________

 

Method 3

 

Now, what if you don't have Acronis DD version 10.0.2117?

 

I have verified that at least as far as version 9.0.524, Acronis OS Selector has had the same structure with the zip glued to the end of the ossmain.exe file (and in fact, even v.8.0.915 had a similar structure, but with different names in the zip file). So the following should be good at least for from versions 9.0.524 to 10.0.2117, and let's hope Acronis doesn't change that!

 

Note here that I'm talking about retail versions of AOSS, not demos.

 

Here then is a the more general method.

 

Backup ossmain.exe. Make a copy of it and name it ossmain.000.

In xvi32:

  • Open ossmain.000
  • Ctrl+G: Goto $0 (the begining of the file, unless you're already there)
  • Ctrl+B (Block Mark: we mark the begining of file)
  • Ctrl+F: Find Hex string: 50 4B 03 04 14 00 (spaces are important!)
    (Do check the Hex option, direction down, scope from begin)
    (There are more than one place in the file with this string; only the first one is important.)
  • If it found something, it is the begining of the zip file.
  • Check on the bottom left where it's written "Adr. hex:": note down the number (for 10.0.2117 it is 280880). Let's call this number ZIPADR.
  • Now just step one byte before that spot; i.e. with your mouse just click on the square just left of the "P" of "PK" in the right-most panel. The Hex address on bottom left should be ZIPADR minus one byte (for 10.0.2117 it is 28087F). Let's call this address ZIPADR-1.
  • Ctrl+B (Block Mark: marks this spot)
  • Ctrl+D (Block Delete: we then delete all that's before the zip)
  • File > Save As...: save as test.zip

Now go open that zip, and test it: if it's says its corrupted or any other error message, then the above method won't work (it's a different file structure, or I've screwed up my tutorial, or you misread it).

 

But if the zip is all right, then I suggest you do the same as the Method 2 for 10.0.2117, except for the following differences in the procedure:

  • replacing $280880 with the ZIPADR you found;
  • replacing $28087F with ZIPADR-1.
  • the end of the file would be at a different address; dismiss my comment.

.

If you have installed (and kept) Acronis Disk Director and you sometimes access Acronis OS Selector from Windows, then note that the executable called isn't the same that we just hacked. The appropriate exe in this case is named OS_Selector.exe and should be located in your install directory (not BOOTWIZ); do a search for it. Make a backup, then it can be treated exactly as above since it also has an appended zip with a slightly different content (less files), and you can again replace the OS/2 icons (or others).

 

Good luck.

 

/edit 2006-07-28 : changes to reflect some further tests (method 3 successfull, with v.9+).

/edit 2006-09-18 : in method 3, changed string to search from "50 4B 03 04" to "50 4B 03 04 14 00" for compatibility with v.9.x

/edit 2006-10-14 : updated links, local.

/edit 2007-01-01 : links were not showing at right places.

Edited by cbmkgd
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I you have the right version, ie v.10.0.2117, then I encourage you to try the test: using xvi32, to cut the file in two part, then reassemble them again using the procedure I described. It may seem difficult just looking at the instructions, but it's quite straightforward. If you feel there's some ambiguity in the instructions, ask.

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