How to - Build an OS2008 Theme Source Package

Theme Maker is great for slicing your template file and making a nice install .deb to install your theme with, but if you want to put it on extras then you need to get a source package and Theme Maker wont do that for you but here is an easy guide to tell you how to do it. This guide will assume you have an n8x0 device and a windows computer. We will also use only free software in doing the steps.


First we need to get you authorized to maintain the extras repository.

  • Go to: Maemo Garage [1]
  • Register for a garage account.
  • Then you will need to email the garage admins to give you rights to maintain packages in extras and extras-devel

Next we will download the software needed to design themes.

Download and Install to Windows Computer

  • Theme Maker download version 1.1.7 [2]
  • Gimp (or other image editing program) [3]
  • 7zip [4]
  • Filezilla [5]
  • Script to build source deb [6]

Download and Install to (n8x0 tablet)

  • Py2deb
  • Gainroot
  • ssh server

Install Gimp and 7zip, and then unzip Theme Maker to a folder somewhere.

Edit the template.psd using Gimp or other program.

Save images in .png format.

Open Theme Maker and Fill out/choose all options on Theme Maker

  • Enter Theme Name Max Length 9 Characters.
  • Enter Your Name or Screen Name if you wish to use that instead.
  • Select Theme Background File.
  • Select Theme Source File (Select the .png formatted file.)
  • Select Font (if you wish to)
  • Select Icon Template (default one is in theme maker folder.)
  • Layout for Theme is Diablo
  • Theme Version (I normally start with 0.1)
  • Top Bar Height need to be at least 45 pixels but I always do 60 so the Top bar is always the same size since home view will always be 60.)
  • System Font:I normally go with 12 -14
  • Large Font: I notice anything over 20 and things start to get misshaped do to font size.
  • Title Font: I normally got with 12 -14.
  • Click Build Theme Tab
  • Click Build Theme!

Once Progress bar hits 100% you will find your theme files in the Theme Maker Folder you unzip earlier.

Extract Data Files

  • Now right click on your .deb file > 7zip > Extract Here

That will give you two files control.tar and data.tar.

  • Right Click on data.tar.gz > 7zip > Extract Here

That will give you data.tar

  • Right Click on data.tar > 7zip > Extract Here

That will give you a folder called usr

  • Now Create a new folder called src and move folder usr into that folder.

Next edit the py2deb script you downloaded earlier

Upload source data to tablet

  • Connect to tablet using filezilla
  • Create folder called build in MyDocs Folder
  • Upload src folder and py2deb script to build folder.

Build Source

  • Open xterm on tablet
  • Type the following commands in xterm 
sudo gainroot
cd /home/user/MyDocs/build
python build_myapp.py
  • Follow the instructions given in xterm

Refresh view on filezilla > View > Refresh

Upload Source to extras-devel

  • Download themename.changes, themename.dsc, and themename.tar.gz files
  • Go to Garage Extras Assistant
  • Login and follow steps to upload files an add files to builder queue. Wait about 30 minutes then your files will be on extra-devel.

Please let me know if you run into any problems following this guide.

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